Kicks Korner #19
With Blair Elliott
Ok,... now it’s time to use that bondo for cosmetics. Sand the
areas around the repairs with a coarse paper creating a slight
Hello. I had a bit of a close call with my Kawasaki Ninja and
low area to provide tooth for the filler. Mix your bondo,... apply,...
ended up with a rather bad crack in my lower fairing. I got
and block sand smooth. Apply your primer, (preferably 2 stage)
a price for replacing it, but we’re talking a lot money and I
block that smooth, and you’re ready for paint. If you don’t want
don’t want to lose all the artwork I’ve had done on it. I’ve done
to refinish the entire cowling,... check out our back issue from
some paint work before and I’m wondering if I could fix this October 2005, (I think it was issue 10) where I cover painting
with some bondo and save some money. What do you think? over a repair like this without ruining graphics or artwork on the
Tom D.
rest of the bike. Good luck,... I hope it works out for you.
Hi Tom,... thanks for the letter. Yes, you can repair the damage
yourself,... but bondo alone won’t do the trick. The first time any Great magazine guys, love it!
pressure is applied, or the area is flexed, the bondo would re- After doing a bike tank and fenders for a friend, his first ques-
crack and your hard work would all be undone. If you want it to tion for me when he picked it up was, “How do I look after this
last, you need to make the repair with fibreglass. Most automo- to keep it looking this good”? Other than being careful with it,
tive parts stores, or boat accessory outlets will carry fibreglass I wasn’t sure what to tell him. What do you tell your custom-
repair kits that contain both the fibreglass cloth, resin, and cata- ers? Drew H.
lyst that you will need. Make sure that you read and follow the di-
rections for mixing the resin,... sometimes amateurs think that Thanks for the kudos Drew. Unfortunately the first thing that
mixing in extra catalyst will speed things up, but it will usually most customers want to do when they get their new paint
only cause problems like staying sticky for ever,... or generating jobs,... is the worst thing they could do,... wax it! Fresh paint is
extreme heat. You also need to wear a mask when sanding it, still drying for weeks after it’s dry to the touch. Even with baking
and it’s a good idea to cover up as well, those tiny little fibres on at 140/150 F. the paint is still out gassing, the solvents are
your skin can cause a lot of itching. still flashing. You don’t want to put anything on fresh paint that’s
The first thing you need to do is clean the fairing (inner and out- going to inhibit the drying, flashing, or out gassing processes.
er) with both soap and water, and a wax and silicone remover. Different paint companies have various recommendations as
Now take either a box cutter type blade,... some coarse sand- to the time it takes their paints to cure,... but there are a lot of
paper,... or a small grinder and vee the cracks out to provide variables and a safe rule of thumb is,...don’t use wax or anything
a channel for penetration of the resin and matting. After the else that promises to seal or protect the paint for about 60
edges are cleaned up, use 40 grit sandpaper to rough up the days. By sealing the solvents in the paint, you could run into
surface for several inches on either side of the damage. Take problems down the road ranging from a dull hazy finish to wrin-
your glass matting and cut it to size before mixing your resin. kling of the finish if later repairs are made.
You want it to extend well over the damage, but remain within Of course until they can get some sort of surface protection
the area that you have sanded. It is this cloth that is going to on there,... they will have to be very careful to keep the surface
give the repair the strength it will need to keep from cracking clean. First and foremost, bird droppings. If you don’t get them
again. Depending on how bad the damage is,... you may need to off in the first 5 minutes, it will etch the paint to a point where it
place some masking tape on the opposite side of the repair to will have to be sanded and buffed,... and I’ve seen cases where it
stop the resin from seeping through, once it has set, you can has taken the finish off right down to the primer. Bugs should be
remove the tape. removed as soon as possible,... and dew and rain drops should
Time to mix your resin,... just make sure to only mix the desired be removed or the sun will cause them to etch into the paint
amount because once the catalyst is added, it’s to late to stop causing water spots.
and what you don’t use will go to waste. The specifications that A new high quality wash mitt or a new sponge rinsed frequently
come with the kit should recommend the amount of hardener are less likely to scratch or cause swirl marks on the paint,...
for the temperature that you are working at,... the warmer your but if the inevitable happens,... tell them to use a good quality
area,... the quicker the resin will set up. Make sure you stir the swirl remover that doesn’t contain harsh abrasive compounds.
resin and catalyst thoroughly and saturate the repair area with Companies like 3M and Meguiars have swirl remover and hand
the mix. Now lay the glass matting on top, and saturate it with glazes which will give you a nice final finish but contain no sili-
more resin tamping down the matting with the resin filled bris- cones and allow the surface to breath. Thanks for the letter.
tles of your brush to remove any air bubbles from under the
matting. Please e-mail your questions to: kickskorner@sympatico.ca
Once the repair has hardened you can sand off any access
cloth, and if you want extra strength, you can repeat the pro-
cedure, preferable on the inside where a build up will not be
noticed as much.
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