Hiding scratches

Coyote Chris

Coyote Chris

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Joined
Aug 25, 2011
Messages
3,771
Location
Spokane
Bike
10 Red NT 14 FJR, 17 XT
When my VFR rolled off the side stand, it scratched the pannier lid. The scratches are 1 1/2 inches wide and 5 inches tall. How best to cover them? Reflective tape?
Ignore them?
Stick on reflector?
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Coyote Chris said:
When my VFR rolled off the side stand, it scratched the pannier lid. The scratches are 1 1/2 inches wide and 5 inches tall. How best to cover them? Reflective tape?
Ignore them?
Stick on reflector?
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no. Although covering up the lower ones with touchup paint isnt a bad idea. The only people here with real money have a spotless garage. LOL!
 
How deep is it? A light wet sand w/3000 will clean up the clear coat scratches, then a good polish will show what damage is left. A lot of that is just clear coat.
 
Mellow said:
How deep is it? A light wet sand w/3000 will clean up the clear coat scratches, then a good polish will show what damage is left. A lot of that is just clear coat.
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Looks deep to me. I am thinking stick on reflector or touch up paint.
IMG_20250625_190921966_HDR_copy_1184x1764.jpg
 
I would try wet sanding first, then cut/polish compound.... then, touch up paint and repeat. A lot of it will blend in.. if you don't like it, yeah a reflective decal would be good too.
 
Chris, the 3000 grit abrasive is hardly abrasive at all. It is the final abrasive step in clearing up fogged headlamps. It would be the most gentle, least noticeable repair IMHO. Use lots of water and apply very gentle pressure. As Joe said, you can always cover the repair up with reflective tape.

Mike
 
Is the pannier paint matched to the bike? If so... Somewhere on the frame or subframe should be the paint code. Take that code over to Color Rite's webpage figure out what touch up pen you need
 
Or just go for a ride somewhere neat and grab a sticker and cover scratches with it. My bike has stickers all over from places I've been.
 
NewTo700V said:
Is the pannier paint matched to the bike? If so... Somewhere on the frame or subframe should be the paint code. Take that code over to Color Rite's webpage figure out what touch up pen you need
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No chart?

NewTo700V said:
Is the pannier paint matched to the bike? If so... Somewhere on the frame or subframe should be the paint code. Take that code over to Color Rite's webpage figure out what touch up pen you need
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Panniers match bike

NewTo700V said:
Or just go for a ride somewhere neat and grab a sticker and cover scratches with it. My bike has stickers all over from places I've been.
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No
 
I believe you're overthinking this Chris. I'd try what Mellow said. Just sand it out with 3,000 grit under a moderately soft sanding pad and see what you get. I think you'll be surprised at how good it will look. Then you can consider painting.

I had a similar incident with my new Subaru complements of some "bump and run" a Walmart parking lot when my car was about 1 month old. I read up on repair techniques on YouTube University. I didn't want to deal with it myself so I took it to a local good body shop. He quoted me a price of $50 (cash, no insurance or credit card) to fix it up using the same technique. After he was done with it I couldn't see the scratches at all. AND he only charged me $40. And wouldn't accept a tip. Replacing the body panel under an insurance claim would have been over $2,000.

Another technique that I've used (or maybe lack thereof) is to just let your motorcycle get dirty enough and the scratches will disappear into the filth. Chuck Henderson wouldn't allow my bike within 100' of his "garage"
 
junglejim said:
I believe you're overthinking this Chris. I'd try what Mellow said. Just sand it out with 3,000 grit under a moderately soft sanding pad and see what you get. I think you'll be surprised at how good it will look. Then you can consider painting.

I had a similar incident with my new Subaru complements of some "bump and run" a Walmart parking lot when my car was about 1 month old. I read up on repair techniques on YouTube University. I didn't want to deal with it myself so I took it to a local good body shop. He quoted me a price of $50 (cash, no insurance or credit card) to fix it up using the same technique. After he was done with it I couldn't see the scratches at all. AND he only charged me $40. And wouldn't accept a tip. Replacing the body panel under an insurance claim would have been over $2,000.

Another technique that I've used (or maybe lack thereof) is to just let your motorcycle get dirty enough and the scratches will disappear into the filth. Chuck Henderson wouldn't allow my bike within 100' of his "garage"
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I do have a polishing kit. I will see if I can try and polish a little of the lower portion with 3,000 grit. Getting ready to go to Wisconsin in two weeks (yuck) and then when I get back from Oshkosh, I go on a bike trip to Cody Wy and ride the roads for three days. And camp out a bit. Still thinking about riding to Southern Utah in Sept.

Bike coral, Oshkosh

Night air show
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Had one of these in a scrambler
a honda.JPG


Once upon a time you could work on Motorcycles and not worry about chains. They were made of metal.
a bike.JPG
 
My buddy made an enclosed chain case for a Honda 650 Hawk. It took a lot of trial and error fitting to get it right. But it worked great. However he was unsure whether it was worth the effort or not.
 
junglejim said:
My buddy made an enclosed chain case for a Honda 650 Hawk. It took a lot of trial and error fitting to get it right. But it worked great. However he was unsure whether it was worth the effort or not.
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I can tell you that in Asia, this type above is very common due to roads. But I can tell you this and you can take this to the bank. I had a Yamaha sport touring bike called an XV920 RH with a chain in a lithium grease bath. After initial adjustments, the chain slack didnt change one bit. 15,000 miles. If they offered this 65 hp screamer for sale again, I would be all over it like stink on a monkey. Easy to set valves, easy to get off wheels, comfortable at 80 mph, etc. I put on an oil temp gage and I never saw it rise to anything like really hot till I took a Bighorns mountain pass at high speed on a hot day.
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I had one of those Honda 350's back in the day. Mine was blue. That is the one I ignored cam chain noise and had some repairs after that. It seems strange to look at pics like that with the itty-bitty looking drum brakes.
I had a buddy that had one of the Yamaha 920's with the enclosed chain. Same timeframe I bought a Yamaha 750 Midnight Virago. Shaft drive, was the prettiest bike I have owned.

Arknt
 
Mellow said:
I would try wet sanding first, then cut/polish compound.... then, touch up paint and repeat. A lot of it will blend in.. if you don't like it, yeah a reflective decal would be good too.
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OK! I have the 3000 paper on order and the R334/2880 victory Red touch up paint on order. I have a polishing compound and a drill adaptor for polishing I used on car plastic headlights. Curiously, all sorts of touchup paint can be ordereed from Lithuania at fair prices. Mine is $20 and is american based. Any good vids on how to use the 3000 wet or dry?
 
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ARKNT said:
I had one of those Honda 350's back in the day. Mine was blue. That is the one I ignored cam chain noise and had some repairs after that. It seems strange to look at pics like that with the itty-bitty looking drum brakes.
I had a buddy that had one of the Yamaha 920's with the enclosed chain. Same timeframe I bought a Yamaha 750 Midnight Virago. Shaft drive, was the prettiest bike I have owned.

Arknt
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I owned two 750 Viragos as well. Shaft drive. The footpegs werent ridiculasly far forward like a Harley. Good seat height. (28 in)
 
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