I been contemplating adding some extra protection since buying the bike, Evotech hand guards and possibly SW Motech crash bars or similar. I'm always very careful with my bikes and like to look after them. Gone away for a holiday went out for a ride and thought, when I get home from this holiday I shall sort that protection out. So I parked the bike under a car port on gated private grounds that have gravel on the floor where I am staying. First night fine, second night torrential rain, no bother i'm under the car port i thought? Anyhow off goes the phone with a text to say your bike has fallen over!! How can I be so unlucky to put the bike side stand on the only small section of floor that turns to swamp when it rains? (It was torrential). The rest of the car port floor remains rock solid. Gutted is an understatement as i been riding all day on roads covered in farmers crap and field run off, a given for a spill but got the bike back unscathed for it to decide that it was unhappy where I parked it and would rather be lying on its side. So thats the rant. 'Act of God' not worth claiming on the insurance though the damage is in excess of £800 if I replace all the bits. So the new hand guard and Evotech guards are on order but I'm still undecided about the crash bar thing (What ones to get). I'm pretty sure any bars would have saved most of the damage to the fairing. Has anyone had a go at T-Cuttting these panels to remove scratches? I have used a fine cutting compound before on minor blemishes and that seems to cut very easily (a bit too easily for my liking). The paint does seem very soft on these panels! Has anyone had any repairs done to theirs with any success or am I about to waste my time trying to save not just a few, but a lot of bucks on tidying them up. They are quite badly scratched but but i'm up for trying a repair first to save some hard earned. Appologies for the rant and thanks in advance for any advice on scratch removal.
Ouch, I feel your pain. On the crash bar front, I think they look hideous so went for the EvoTech frame sliders, might be worth a look. Think you've got nothing to lose by trying the T-Cut. As far as repairs go, I had good results on cars using a local specialist similar to Chips Away, or as an alternative, would it be worth considering a wrap? Don'y know if it's cheaper than painting or not, but looking at the ones on the front page I wonder if it's worth considering? Good luck.
Yer a wrap crossed my mind and I did contemplate the Evotech sliders but tbh i don't think they would have helped in this case as its more gravel rash. I guess you never know until the inevitable happens if it ever does?
Try some G3 compound on the scratches. It's awesome stuff. I've fitted the sw motech crash bars mainly due to not having to remove panels to get them on. They look ok too imo.
Feel for you buddy, did similar on my dvt, I had R&G crash bungs fitted so when I got off the bike on my drive and hadn’t deployed the side stand properly, over she went, R&G saved the water pump but I bust hand guard and scratched mirror and gauged the tank fairing, the big lobster shaped one! I was recommended a company by @Robarano in the north who did a fantastic repair & respray of fairing and mirror
I feel for you too... I dropped my first DVT and scratched the same place. I added some black pinstriping to the tank to cover it, a bit ghetto but it worked!
Thanks for all the info. Lots of options to try. I'll try the G3 first and see how it goes. If I have any success I'll post some pics.
Indeed you don't. Just offered them as a cheaper & prettier (imo) option, but I take your point fully regarding whether or not they would work. Good luck with the G3, I look forward to the results.
So I had a go at polishing the marks out with some G3 and the correct supplied velcro backed pad with a polisher on low speed and had some pleasing results. Its good stuff, some of the scratches were very deep and you can still see them but they are far less visible than before. I took a bit too much of the edge in a couple of areas where the paint is thinner but it's still imo passable for the time being. The crack also is still visible but glued together from the back so hopefully that will hold? I would definitely recommend giving it a go if you find yourself in the same situation, just make sure the polishing pad and the panel being polished are always wet using a spray bottle. Note to self though...cover the bike before attempting to polish the tank
Perhaps keep an eye on eBay for a replacement panel. I got a spare tank cover when the price was right... would like a full set of bodywork to trip over in the loft as insurance for future drops.
