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Anyone ever successfully removed paint from a cherry bomb airbox

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sinikl

Well-known member
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Dec 2, 2017
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Took my airbox cover off today to do plugs. I knew it had been flat-blacked by PO. I thought it was blue if anything, because the bike has blue gauge faces and a blue cheese grater. Lo and behold it's red where the seat has been scuffing it.

I planned to get a new cherry bomb airbox anyway, so score? Maybe.

Anyone ever successfully removed paint from a translucent airbox?

I found a thread somewhere that I now cannot find again where someone recommended mineral spirits, I think?

I could also try sanding but I think it would have to be polished after with a buffer?
 
Lacquer will work, As Buelly said Tread lightly, Once removed if the PO sanded it you will need to start the whole process starting with fine paper and getting finer up to 1200 to 1500 then buff with polishing compound.
I did it to a blue bug screen.
 
Heck, you know way more than me Buelly! I have an old CherryBomb Lightning windscreen I'm cutting up. Maybe I'll try it on the wasted parts and see?
 
Once the paint starts to soften up rub off with a rag, to min too long of Lacquer contact with tank. Should be ok.
 
Last edited:
dumb followup q: My airbox lid has what looks like an air filter top secured by two hex bolts, with a nifty Thunderstorm 984 logo. removing it shows ... .nothing... underneath, it is literally a plate on top of a solid plate.

Is this something that would have come on a translucent airbox just for looks from above?
 
my airbox has nowhere near this many 'windows' in it, but in the circled area is a (apparently to me) purely cosmetic cover. the little funnel shaped doodad seems to be solid on my airbox lid, but i'm guessing it would have an effect inside the box coupled with the velocity stack.

I can see no reason why they would have made a separate plate in the circled image below.


I've seen people who cut away all of the airbox *except* an area that corresponds with the top of the filter, and i get that, but that is not what i'm talking about.

airboxtop.jpg
 
The more windows with a K&N , helps it breath , With a Race ECM to matching exhaust is the norm.
 
That flat area should mount the actuator for the stock exhaust. If you have aftermarket exhaust. Someone probably tossed the actuator. Open air box mod is fine, and looks good under a translucent cover. Basically you would just cut out and keep the circled area and toss the rest. Makes the intake a bit louder as well, especially at WOT:)
 
Mine's only a 9 so I don't think it ever had an exhaust actuator? thought that was only a 12 thing?

I'll take a pic of the plate when I get home. It goes on top of the piece Silverrider shows (and I get the idea behind "cut the rest of the airbox away, leaving just that lid"). Where the piece in the thread is concave, this is convex and has a raised "Thunderbolt 984" logo.

Maybe the plate I have is to blank the mounting holes for an exhaust actuator that the XB9SX never got?
 
Dunno the state of the ECM, exhaust looks stock to me (albeit wrapped?) I can take some pix.

I'm thinking this is just a cosmetic piece. Funny tho, if it was on a CityX, the "X" would have blocked it off from view. If it were on a 9S with a translucent tank it provides some flair when you look thru the tank, maybe?


IMG_20171211_184723533.jpg

Googling the part number comes up with "Exh Valve Actuator boss cover" (but i can only find hits from germany and UK)
IMG_20171211_185217307.jpg

Since i'm dorking out about airboxes, is there a thread that chronicles the various vent holes that were factory? Mine has 4 'gills' on the right side, but google searches for xb9 airbox show some with holes on the left top and left side, some that appear to be solid, etc, and then the XB 12 airboxes seem to be full of holes (which makes sense i guess?)
 
I believe all (9 and 12) stock airboxes are interchangeable. Someone knows much more than me here, but what I've found is:
The early bikes had a hole in the frame that the left side scoop would feed air through the bottom plate and have a solid top (Pressurise maybe?) the later bikes that got rid of that hole in the frame for fuel capacity increase, had an airbox top that gradually got more holes in it as the years went on. Some of the late ones (2009-2010) had almost no structure to the top at all, but would still be a place to mount the exhaust solenoid (XB-12)

IMO, If you have an XB with a translucent airbox find a stock lid that has no mounting bosses for the actuator on top (XB-9 I believe). It still has the big nipple on the bottom, center of air filter. cut out that part, drill a hole and mount it with a stud through the center of the filter. That is a clean, 'open airbox' mod. You can see the K&N through the translucent airbox cover, but the intake is mostly unchanged because you left the stock velocity stack and nipple.
 
So i tried lacquer thinner on the airbox top tonight! Only on the bits that are covered by the seat, for now.

It got rid of the paint but did seem to soften the plastic underneath a bit. I tried two methods....

1. rub the paint with a soaked rag (took a while to show results, still was foggy once dried, plastic seemed softened after)
2. paint lacquer thinner on with a brush (seems gentler than rubbing a rag, still foggy but less so)

at this point i'm thinking buying a new airbox cover is the best way forward in terms of time and energy. I do want to, and might (let's be honest, i'm pretty lazy) strip the airbox top i have and try to figure out why it's hazy after stripping -- it looks a lot like it was scuffed with 400 grit or 800 or 1000 or whatever before being flat-blacked, and that makes sense.
 
as far as airbox internals go, i plan to cut away a 'hat' for the K&N eventually and dispense with the rest of the airbox top.

Though, to be fair, a skeleton airbox top could maybe be cooler? I like the idea of gills/drillium (bicycle thing) there...
 

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