2 questions sorry...

I'm repainting my bike, because the original owner of my 95 f3 had a little spill on one side. and was wondering. I bought aftermarket ABS black plastic fairings with a few knicks and dings, but was thinking if I was supposed to wetsand it down before I primer it, or does it not need to be wet sanded and can go straight to primer? HELP!

AND ABOUT FRAME SLIDERS.

How do you drill holes for the frame sliders? can i just use a regular drill bit? and also, are swingarm sliders really nesscessary? and how effective are frame sliders against a spill at say 15-20 mph or is it only good for tip overs?THANKS!

 

ANOTHER THING, aluminum or delrin material? What type of material works best at higher speeds?

 

and how about extenders?

 

Yea, you should sand the plastics down before you primer. Just clean real well, rough everything down with some 320 grit, clean again and your good to go. Here is a good write up that should tell you all you need to know.

For the frame sliders, I've not put them on my bike, but I'm guessing that you should use a bit for metal. Might even get a cobalt bit. I've not seen many bikes with swingarm sliders, so i'd say that they are not that beneficial. Probably just make it easier to tweak your bike in a spill. But frame sliders seem to work well when installed properly. They may not save every scrap of plastic, but will keep you from getting a salvage title in a low side. If you high side, well, they are not gonna do much good at any speed, but if your lucky they may save you some cost in a slow high side.

 

depending on the size of your sliders, you'll most likely need a 2-inch hole-cutting bit. A wood bit works fine. I found that its best to use higher speed on your drill, and apply light pressure to the plastics and just slowly scrape your way through. Theres a great post in the DIY section entitiled "FRAME SLIDERS" about how to align your hole using a laser pointer. Thats the method i used and it worked out great!

 

My bad, I was thinking he was wanting to drill the holes in the frame and mount the sliders that way, instead of using the engine bolt hole. I wasn't thinking too clearly when I first woke up [X(]

 

There is no need to wet sand the bike at any point. Just like they said rough sand the bike and get it smooth with some 320 grit. after that shoot your primer, sand down any inperfections using 1000 or if its real bad you can use 600 and then step to 1000 (i.e. runs in the primer or dust) My first mistake when i started painting was following the flash times. Its the time between coats so you can let the chemicals do there job and the paint to set up. They said a 15 minute flash time and so thats what i did but the paint wasnt fully dry yet and it got messed up. So i would say 10-15 minutes is the minimum. At my job sometimes we end up waiting an hour or so before the next coat depending on if there were any inperfections we had to fix. SO don't worry about letting the paint sit for to long i think primer is good to shoot over for 7 days, base coat is good for 3. Which should give you plenty of time to make sure everything is perfect. After you shoot the clear you can sand out the orange peel and any runs with 1000 and then go to 2000 depending on how bad it is. If it isnt that bad you might want to start with 2000. Then buff the area out and you should come up with a nice smooth shine. The best advice I can give you is to take your time and don't rush the painting. And remember everything can be fixed with paint so don't worry if you make a mistake or hit the plastics while they are still wet. Just wait for the paint to dry and sand it down smooth and go at it again. If you have any particular questions PM me i'd be happy to answer.