Plastic repair vs. replacement...

[reg71]

Some of you guys have probably already been following the thread about repairing plastics. I sent off an email with pics of Scratch and got a quote from empiregp.com. Here's the reply I got back...
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Reggie I guess the good news is that you managed to get both sides of the bike, I say that because the Honda VFR Red is one of the few colors that we have had terrible luck trying to match. I recommend that anyone with your color paint the entire bike if you want it to look right because I can not do a partial repair.

To make the repairs to your bike and paint a single color, with Honda on the tank and the large Honda on the lowers is $950 plus return shipping, I do not stock the VFR decal for you bike so you would have to add that if you wanted it back on..Bob
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What do you guys think? I'm thinking a few things. One, I'm a cheap bastard. Two, That's probably reasonable considering he's talking about painting the whole shebang. Three, I can replace most of the plastic for just a little more then use the old for a track set. Four, I can try the methods listed in the plastic repair how-to in our 'Texas VFR Garage' section then see how well it goes. Five, I can say to hell with it and keep riding it scratched! :) I wish I knew someone who had a dent puller. I almost bought one the other day called the ding king to fix the dent in my tank but I think it's too big... I'm gonna attach the pics I sent to empire for you guys to peruse... take a look at the tank and let me know which kind of dent puller will fix that...


p.s. if the colors look a little funy, it's because I decreased the colors to 256 to make the file size smaller for upload

[SLOVFR]

Which dent? ... Dont worry I got 2 small dents from my laydown. I dont think any dent puller would relly do the job. I needs to have one of those wel dent pullers to pop those out the mud and paint.... I would keep those for track days and just keep an eye out on ebay .. I saw a front headlight cowl on there the other day for 75.oo. I got some new/old pieces to put mine back together and the red is different (does not look as deep or pearl), but Im going to live with it till I can paint her YELLOW

[reg71]

The dent is in the gas tank from when I dropped it doing the forks way back when... I learned a valuable lesson about pulling the front end that day.

[WhiteKnight]

I, too, sent bob some pics of my busted left mid fairing. Quote was $254, plus the cost of return shipping (and obviously the cost of me shipping it to them) and no decal which I would have to buy myself. For about $50 I get a new one, with a decal. Only drawbackis I still have to paint my new one since it is a different color. I might consider sending it to him still, but I need to think on it.

[reg71]

Yeah, their work looks pretty good, but I don't think I'll go that route. I'll prob jusr ride her as-is for now...

[DANIMAL]

Reg,

Bob at empire gt did my tailpiece on my 86 1st gen. his work is impeccable. and if he tells you what he can and can't do the you can believe him. i would recommend his work to anyone. cost to repair and repaint my tail, LOL , $125 plus shipping.

[noel2913]

i'm a newbie to this discussion board, and since joining, have found an incredible wealth of information about bodywork repair, and replacement. I have a couple of missing tabs on my rear side cowls where the grab rails bolt through to the subframe...not a huge problem, but one that annoys me...couldn't find OEM replacements anywhere for my 1990, so I was going to buy white 1993 cowls, and have them painted by my local shop, about a 400 - 500 job since they have to be stripped, and prepped...then was going to replace the entire rear tailsection with an RC30 kit from Thurn Motorsport in Germany...580.00 USD to get the kit over the pond then another 500 - 600 job for painting, and installation...either way about a 1000.00 to restore or change my tail...besides, the RC30 kit looks kind of bulky, and i like the sleeker lines of the OEM fairing with seat cowl better...so now i read about www.empiregp.com and shoot them an email about just fabricating a couple broken mounting tabs, and it looks like an incredibly easy job for them...if all goes well, they'll make me some tabs, paint the two gelcoat seatcowls i got from vfrchuck on ebay, and maybe the whole bill will be 500.00 or less...i get restored ass end for half of my two original solutions...i can then take my saved nickels, and work on changing the nose on my 1990 to an endurance style single 65mm round headlamp...couldn't have figured out the best solution without all youse guys help here...

[Vlad Impaler]

Has any shop mentioned filling that dent instead of pulling it? If it's not awfully deep it may be easier and cheaper.
My non-expert $0.02, for what it's worth (maybe less than 2 cents).
If you end up painting the whole bike it may make sense.

[MrDe]

How about doing the bodywork yourself. I've done cars and some on bikes and it really isn't that hard. It's the paint that seems to be the major step. If red is not an absolute ... how about a flat black. You could paint it that color no problem. Then if you have to have red, buy the pieces already done and use the black for track days or just as a change of pace. That way you'd gain the experience and knowledge of repairing your plastics. And if you screw up ... hey, it's just the track set! Crazy thought huh .... :)

[Bubba Zanetti]

I plan on starting my plastic repair again this weekend!

The only problem is I have quite a few steps and I want to post pictures and the whole sha-bang!

Noel2913: Look up "Plast-Aid" It's a product out in Colorado, and it's awesome for making tabs. I bought a cowl for my 97 on e-bay for 30 bucks and it had a broken tab and I used plast-aid to make the new tab, actually part of the new tab, and it is some strong ass stuff. Worked very well!

Reg: The Honda red is hard to match because it is a pearl red. It requires the pearl coat then the top coat. Its so subtle on the 94-97's the bikes look just red until you get up and look close. Go to www.color-rite.com. Their products match awesome, usually...I have seen a few colors be a little off. Give them a call and ask the tech people if the 94-97 colors have had any issues. Great people and great product.

Be patient everyone! How to fix plastic 101 by Bubba Zanetti is coming soon to a thread near you:-)!

BZ

[noel2913]

Originally Posted by Bubba Zanetti

I plan on starting my plastic repair again this weekend!

The only problem is I have quite a few steps and I want to post pictures and the whole sha-bang!

Noel2913: Look up "Plast-Aid" It's a product out in Colorado, and it's awesome for making tabs. I bought a cowl for my 97 on e-bay for 30 bucks and it had a broken tab and I used plast-aid to make the new tab, actually part of the new tab, and it is some strong ass stuff. Worked very well!

Reg: The Honda red is hard to match because it is a pearl red. It requires the pearl coat then the top coat. Its so subtle on the 94-97's the bikes look just red until you get up and look close. Go to www.color-rite.com. Their products match awesome, usually...I have seen a few colors be a little off. Give them a call and ask the tech people if the 94-97 colors have had any issues. Great people and great product.

Be patient everyone! How to fix plastic 101 by Bubba Zanetti is coming soon to a thread near you:-)!

BZ

...hey, thanks bubba zee...see, i never knew about all this stuff until you guyz came along...

[Ferris]

Another route you might consider for the tank is Paintless Dent Repair.

Lots of companies are out there doing it - I use Dent Wizard. A good PDR guy can work miracles with a smooth (not creased, paint not broken) dent. The cost is typically a fraction of regular paint / body time.

[reg71]

I have called a few shops around here but no one has helped yet. One gave me a number to a place that does bikes, but no return call when I left a message. I'll start the process again when I return from MO. (I'm also trying to get remodeling done on the house at the same time which is a PIA in Cali)

[SLOav8r]

It's easy to buy THE Honda red paint you need. But what can't be matched is the fade that's occurred on the rest of the bike... Gonna have to repaint the whole thing.