Sand Blasting The OEM Plastics ?

[stellio78]

Hi all,
I'm not happy how easily the shiny black OEM plastics on my bike get scratched and scuffed from general use and was thinking of painting them satin black but then I thought maybe a light sand blasting would give them a textured flat black looking finish.

Wanted to see if anyone has done this or your thoughts on the matter.

If I'm being stupid let me know but I thought it might be something different.

Thanks, Stellio.

 

[xtremelow]

I would like to know as well. I have a from fairing already painted and I feel the easiest way to remove the paint to allow me to repaint it would be to just blast it off. I would think you could just use nut shells or just lower the air pressure to remove the paint and not hurt the plastic but I could easily be mistaken.

 

[twoguns]

i used to wet ndry sand my panels for the satin look all the time. i love hte look and the feel.

 

[twoguns]

 

[upthemaiden]

They also make paints that are meant to bond with plastic. I doubt you'd have to do anything to the cover if you tried using something like that.

If you want to test it out, just try sandblasting the inside of your airbox cover and see how it looks.

 

[tuneport67ss]

Hydro blasting would be better on plastics. Uses water instead of air and also leaves a smoother finish. When you use the air, it builds heat (even with the shells. Heat is the last thing you want. If you have a preasure washer, you can search online and find the attachments for the wand to be able to hydroblast. It is fairly cheap as well.

 

[stellio78]

Thanks for the input guys.

twoguns what grade wet & dry did you use?

Also looks like you've owned a few Buells in your time.

 

[Paloma1974]

Hmmm... I would like to know what you used as well. Like to paint the scoops on the CR as I just took a tumble and only the plastic got scratched.

 

[twoguns]

ive used 600 wetn dry' and 320 when i wanted more the 'fur panther' look as the girls have said when they stroked the airbox. used to carry a bunnings sanding block( think a rectangle piece of foam with four different grades on it. used that when on tours to bring the finish back rather than washing.

have owned 5 xb's stellio. but i ahve had one white and black panel set extra for all makes from early on.

you can also pretty much sand the scuffs out and bring the panel back to a good shine paloma. a mate did that when he low sided his CR

 

[kalifornia]

rustoleum or krylon make plastic paint no sanding required. just give it 4 or 5 days to cure real well. It comes in flat, semi gloss etc. IMO its no more of a hassle than any other paint system you'll use and you can remove it with paint thinner a whole lot easier when you get tired of it.

 

[twobuells]

I have sand blasted for 32 yrs now and would not advise it for several reasons. Even using a fine grade abrasive with low pressure the surface you are blasting will have a very illregular surface that will show right through the paint. If you use this method find someone with a glass beader turn the pressure down hold the part as far away as possible from the nossle and sweep nossle back and forth never stoping on surface being prepared for paint.

 

[xtremelow]

My issue is I already have paint on my plastics so I cant just use the plastic paints, but [up] tuneport67ss I will have to look into the hydro-blasting, I might even be able to just pressure wash the piss out of it since the paint is already cracked.

This is the piece I need clean up for my bike.