'02 CBR600F4i Project
 

This is the story of a bike that needed some lovin and how I did my best to give it to her. It all started with a rather nice looking blacked out '02 F4i:

http://i54.tinypic.com/9hkspu.jpg

Nice bike! But it doesn't really match my gear...

http://i55.tinypic.com/2w3zul5.jpg

So... we must start with a paint job! It needs some odds and ends repaired/replced and even some parts that are completely missing like the ram air covers and the rear seat. I have already replaced the drivers shifter side rearset and as you can see the passenger left rearset is missing as well. The bracket is completely sheered off the subframe! So I will have to figure something out there.

Anyway... on with the repairs!

Tools to fix cracks and splits in the plastics:

http://i51.tinypic.com/2lnj0jb.jpg

Epoxy - I am using 3500 PSI plastic weld 2 part epoxy. This stuff is made for ABS plastic and is VERY strong!

Cotton Buds - Everyone has them and can afford to use them and chuck them out by the dozen. Just cut the cotton off one end and you have a perfect little stirrer/applicator!

Gum Trays - I used to smoke, but I chewed nicotine gum for a while. I have BOXES of the crap that I don't need. The empty trays make awesome little glue pots! Just pull the piece of gum out and use the little well to mix and hold the epoxy. Any gum tray will work, I think Dentyne makes them as well?

http://i52.tinypic.com/2dsh62s.jpg

Dremel - I used a cone shaped grinding bit to dig a channel in the plastic, following the crack. This gives the glue more surface to bond to. If I had just applied glue inside the crack it would not hold long term. This way it will stand up better to stress and last much longer!

http://i56.tinypic.com/k2i904.jpg

In the pic above, the crack had already been repaired, but had cracked again. By digging a groove along the line and giving myself more space to work with I can make a stronger hold and hopefully prevent that from happening again!

http://i53.tinypic.com/10of8e9.jpg

Here you can see the epoxy has been applied to the crack from the front. I have roughed up the surface of the channel and also a bit on either side of it. I then smoothed some epoxy over the entire surface ensuring good contact and a strong bond!

http://i51.tinypic.com/f3gmmp.jpg

This is the back side of the crack. You can see the rapair that had been done. Looks like they used some fiberglass cloth and resin to strengthen the back side. The resin is still fairly tacky and is not bonded well with the plastic but it seems to be holding so I am not going to replace it now. I just cleaned up the top area where there was no cloth so that I could mound some epoxy on the back for added strength.

http://i55.tinypic.com/2a7u828.jpg

Here you can see a mound of epoxy at the back side of a crack. I usually mound it about 1/4 inch higher than the surface and go approx 1/2 inch in each direction of the crack. It is important that you rough up the surface and clean it VERY well before pplying the epoxy. A clean rough surface will give you the strngest bond and hopefully help you avoid redoing the work in the future!

http://i53.tinypic.com/izq8a9.jpg

This is the tail once all the pieces are glued back together. You can see the first coat of mud is already on.

Tips for Mudding - ALWAYS apply fresh mud. Squeeze the required amount of mud onto the front of the paddle and apply in a SINGLE smearing motion. DO NOT go back and mess with it! You can use the back of the paddle to IMMEDIATELY swipe excess off bu holding it at a 90 degree angle to the surface and quickly drawing it across the mud. This will save you some headaches but takes a bit of getting used to.

http://i52.tinypic.com/2cy4f0h.jpg

Sanding Block - This will be your best friend! A good sanding block will show you if you have areas that need to be leveled. It will also make sure that your putty gets sanded flat. Believe it or not even the smallest bump in the putty will show through the paint! Nothing worse than going through all the trouble of painting only to realize you have a spot that is not flat!

http://i56.tinypic.com/95y7no.jpg

One of the fairings with its second coat of mud. Also I started sanding the paint off the windscreen. I have a red zero gravity screen to replace it, but I wanted to have the stock screen in case I ever sell the bike.

http://i56.tinypic.com/foppg5.jpg

The front cowl is in bad shape. You can see the pieces laying there in front of it. Unfortunately I ran outof good weather. It has been freezing cold and raining here in Wisconsin for weeks. All this work happened on the ONE nice day we had! Hopefully we get another one soon and I can show you guys some more work. Also if anyone wants a video of how to do the putty I'd be happy to make one.

Looking good, can't wait to see the finished product. This should also help me in some tail repairs I need to make. Unfortunately my side fairings are beyond repair otherwise I'd be doing the same thing for them. Mine will have to be replaced though. Pretty sure I can save the front and tail though.

nice bro!!

Subscribed!

I vouch abouf the sanding block.

Nice work. I need to do some plastic welding this weekend myself. I think I want to try to plastic weld and then fiberglass over it.

Yeah i need to do some repair on my nose fairing right on the sides where the turn signals are. Theres a little chunk missing though so i might try to jb weld it as much as i can then fiberglass over that and the rest of it to fix it. Let me know how that turns out for you.

But it looks like you got it comin along pretty nicely man. I remember when you first posted after you got the bike about the one rearset and stuff. Definitely interested to see how she turns out in the end.

This is actually the third time I have done this to bike fairings. So the process is fairly proven. I have also done a couple car bumpers with this process and mudded several body panels. JB Weld isn't really worth the extra money IMHO. The cheap $3 plastic weld epoxy is plenty strong if you do it right.

I do have a blanket of fiberglass and a quart of resin which I will use to strengthen the back side of some of the body panels. Especially where it has split. I am also going to strengthen the back side os some areas which I think could easily be cracked/split if there were an impact. Unfortunately I don't have any place to work indoors and it is 42 degrees and raining right now :(