MorganR715 Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 I definitely appreciate the advice. I learned from my mistake very quickly that day. I am taking the advanced course for abate next year, as well as any other useful classes they offer(group riding would be nice). I understand that hearing all the negative decisions I made might make me look like a kid who has no idea what he's getting into, but I am a very defensive rider. I ride slowly in town, always assume I'm invisible, and while there are definitely things I have yet to learn, and while I don't want to sound cocky at all, I try to prioritize my safety over the adrenaline rush from speeding in town, or taking a corner at 30. I will always concentrate on learning, but I'm an old fart at heart. Excessive speed is overwhelming for me, I like the cruise so much more. :P Edit: Got the pictures! The list was to get the bike started, replace some foot pegs, and replace my bent shifter. One of the foot peg brackets came in(It was cheaper to buy the whole thing than just the peg, and I love spare parts) but the other didn't, and the shifter hasn't come in either. burnt male end melted positive lead for the solenoid Silly, ebay pegs. Did the trick for the last bit of the season, but time for some real ones. Old shifter that hasn't been replace yet. I understand I can bend it, but I found a perfect one for cheap, and I will be cleaning the bike this week :P new solenoid in. Again, had to switch some of the wiring. Not sure if anyone else had that experience, but definitely fixed my issue! new peg and bracket installed. Love it, so much. And the video of it running. We did let it warm up before revving, made sure it was running well before this. Sounds better in person, but I'm just happy to hear it run at all. Also took the majority of the plasti dip off, old owner had that aftermarket pearl white paint job. It might not be apexandy sized mods(Which I am very jealous of, by the way. Your bike looks amazing. Made me think about whether or not I really want matte black)but I'm just excited to start pulling this thing back together the way I think it should be. Ill be cleaning the metal here and there, and update once I have more noticeable results. I was wondering if I could take the silencer, if there is one, out of that slip on. I don't want it to be obnoxious, but I love free mods, and I'd like a little more tone. Could not find any pictures or videos of that exhaust, so if anyone has experience with that, I'd love to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrwt644 Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 I saw a moron on a moped checking texts the other day...oooyvay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer RollinAgain Posted April 15, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted April 15, 2014 As for mirrors I would recommend EMGO mirrors made for the 2000-2001 VFR. They don't have the ugly rubber condom sleeve and they bolt right on with no modification needed and are reasonably priced compared with OEM. ($28 each on Amazon) Part Numbers: 20-37341 (right side) 20-37342 (left side) Here is a pic on my 3rd Gen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganR715 Posted April 15, 2014 Author Share Posted April 15, 2014 I like those! Hopefully I can pick some up before this trip. My next thing to tackle is repairing the body. Anyone have any experience with Plastifix vs. plastic welding? I got quoted $500 to paint all of my bike from the best, but most expensive body shop in Ft Wayne, not sure if I should try to go cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer RollinAgain Posted April 16, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted April 16, 2014 $500 is actually pretty reasonable for an entire bike especially if it is being done by somone who does good work. OEM decals may be difficult to find but you can check out Xtreme Decals for decent quality aftermarket decals but just to warn you it may take some time to get them. Rollin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted April 16, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted April 16, 2014 As for the EMGO's, do give the main bolt a dab of clearcoat right away. Mine rusted within 1,2 weeks... But the mirrors themselves are good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted April 16, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted April 16, 2014 Morgan your doing great , don't worry about the negative crap here. Your learning, your right and your were not born perfect . Kept up the good work .. I always like a pat on the back ever and now again .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganR715 Posted April 16, 2014 Author Share Posted April 16, 2014 Rollin, I guess I'm just cheap when it comes to paint. That price is if I repair and sand it myself, but if $500 is a good deal I might just do it soon. I had a change of thought, I might be going with a gloss gunmetal grey, but we'll see. I think if I were to do OEM style decals I'd try to get them to match the paint, find someone who can custom make them. Try to mix it up a bit :P Dutch, ill definitely do that, great tip! Switchblade, I appreciate it. I've made dumb mistakes, ill admit, but I always try my hardest to not repeat them. I start to prep the plastic for repair today, hopefully getting some pics in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganR715 Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Got to work on it a bit more, my rear left turn signal came in. Pics! Just got a new rear right fender in, gonna be working on that as well. Time to go pick up my clutch diode! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer RollinAgain Posted April 23, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted April 23, 2014 I'm really looking forward to seeing the final product. Rollin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganR715 Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 I really am as well. I cant decide on a color, though. I've always loved gunmetal grey(metallic) but someone said it would just make all the imperfections pop more. I understand that at the end of the day it's whatever I want, but I could really use some suggestions. Here's an album of my current ideas. Ranging from mean, to simple, to ridiculous. http://s53.photobucket.com/user/Morgan-UFC/library/Paint%20ideas?sort=3&page=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer JETS Posted April 25, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted April 25, 2014 Morgan, read up on ABS repair. Regular Bondo is not going to adhere well and some of your hard work, once painted at cost, may crack. peel, split. Here is a link, and they sell an excellent book on how to repair ABS, highly recommended. http://www.urethanesupply.com/howtorepair.php I've done it all, and if you follow good technique, there is no reason you can't come out with great results! I'm glad you are so into fixing up this classic bike. Good on you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganR715 Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 That's a bummer! Oh well, I've been using Plastifix from Urethane Supply, all I really need is something as an alternative to Bondo to reshape a few corners that got ground off as well as flattening the crack spots we've fixed. Do you think I need a book for that? That's an honest question, not me being a jerk :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted April 25, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted April 25, 2014 Look up the topics from member resin here on vfrd. Lots of info ans pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganR715 Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 Thanks, Dutchy! Just got the front fairing off and taken apart. We'll get the cracks all fixed within the next few days, provided no complications, the tabs next week, and then sanding and off to paint the week after that! Decided on French Racing Blue, and I was thinking about powdercoating the rims black, but I'm not sure how that would look without hitting the frame too. Time to spend a few hours googling :P Again, thank you all for your advice. Keeping me from making some serious mistakes and wasting money, I've learned a lot these past couple weeks. Trying not to lose any momentum, but as we pull plastic off we keep finding more broken tabs and cracks, hours of repair keep adding up. Also found some clear front and rear turn signals, but they're 55 and 60 euro. Thats a lot of money for a small change. I know visibility is very important, but I wonder if a couple coats of night shades might work well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer RollinAgain Posted April 26, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted April 26, 2014 Are you talking about the clear signals that are available from Thurn Motosports in Germany? If so they are pricey but look good IMO. I went with the smoked lenses from Thurn and love the way they look Night shades is more of a dark purple color and to tint them correctly you will need at least 4 or 5 coats with lots of fine sanding in between. I did my tail light as seen below and even though it looks dark the brake light is still very visible when lit. Rollin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganR715 Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 Yep, those are the ones! I'll think about em, 30-40 a piece is about the same as what I've seen some ambers go for. Your bike was what made me want them :P I have some experience with night shades, used it on my Focus with some good results, and did my friends Jetta for him. It's good stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganR715 Posted May 2, 2014 Author Share Posted May 2, 2014 Instead of buying the turns I bought side mirrors, saddle bags and tail bags. totaled at 160. Picked up some smaller cycle case bags for 100 from motorcycle superstore, and the mirrors for 60 on amazon(went with the 2000 vfr mirrors). My tablet won't let me link them, but if you are interested just go to the closeout section and look for cycle case brand. I'm thinking they'll work pretty well, I didn't want massive ones, my dad is bringing his trailer on the back of the Golding, so this is just for wiggle room. Still making progress on the plastic, and I was told by a painter here that as long as you don't use bondo on the cracks, and just use it to flatten out spots, that cracking paint won't be an issue. Any truth to that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganR715 Posted May 8, 2014 Author Share Posted May 8, 2014 So we have most of the plastic ready for paint, but we realized we bought the wrong rear fairing. So, we have an extra rear right fairing, fully repaired, no tabs broken, ready for paint. If anyone is looking for one let me know. If not, it goes on EBay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganR715 Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 So were on the home stretch for prep work for the paint, the decals are in, we just have a little more forming, sanding, and rebuilding tabs, then were done! Should be to paint by Thursday, then, reassembly and pics! I have one more thing I ran into, I'm trying to figure out what I need for my license plate bracket, but I'm not sure. Here's how it sits now: So do ya know what I need? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer gll429 Posted May 21, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted May 21, 2014 So were on the home stretch for prep work for the paint, the decals are in, we just have a little more forming, sanding, and rebuilding tabs, then were done! Should be to paint by Thursday, then, reassembly and pics! I have one more thing I ran into, I'm trying to figure out what I need for my license plate bracket, but I'm not sure. Here's how it sits now: So do ya know what I need? your plate and 2 bolts to hold the the plate on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganR715 Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 I have both of those :P the license plate isn't long enough to reach the holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer ggathagan Posted May 21, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted May 21, 2014 So were on the home stretch for prep work for the paint, the decals are in, we just have a little more forming, sanding, and rebuilding tabs, then were done! Should be to paint by Thursday, then, reassembly and pics! I have one more thing I ran into, I'm trying to figure out what I need for my license plate bracket, but I'm not sure. Here's how it sits now: So do ya know what I need? What about scrounging up to longer pieces of scrap metal like the two in the picture? Get them long enough to reach the existing holes in the bike and the license plate and drill as needed. It's not pretty, but it'll work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganR715 Posted June 5, 2014 Author Share Posted June 5, 2014 ggathagan, thanks for the tip, wound up just buying a whole new piece :P now for a little update...Realized the plastic that runs past the tire that holds the plate was cut off by a previous owner. Just one more thing that I'm fixing on this thing because someone didn't want to do it the right way(probably an overreaction, but we keep running into stuff that was not done the right way and I'm worn out from it...) So I ordered a new inner fender with that piece actually intact, should be here tomorrow.Also, completely finished all of the plastic, had it sanded and ready to go to paint! The main fixer we used was called Plio Grip, and this is some serious stuff. In general we used Plastifix to repair the cracks, then Plio Grip on the front and back to strengthen and smooth out the fixes, then fiberglass mesh on the back to make them indestructible, because why not! Warning: This post will have a few pics, and they arent as organized as I would like.. :P Here's what we used Broken tab before(upper fairing) The tab, not shaped but repaired, and some rebuild on that corner(had to reshape the edge running towards the top. That took a while to get right... The other side with a broken tab. Took a mold from the opposite side using putty and fitted it to this. most of the shaping done to that same tab, not dremmeled out yet A piece missing that we had to use fiberglass and plio grip around it to build up. There might be an easier way, but man this piece is solid now!(rear fairing) All of the black was 100% rebuilt from a putty mold. Obviously not sanded yet Another rebuilt piece with some plastifix on a crack and both of the sides needed these tabs rebuilt. And I'm not sure how this is going to turn out when finished, but we decided to mold the whole rear together. How do you think it will look? It was my dad's idea and I was VERY hesitant, because I like OEM styles, but it's sturdy as can be, flexes just fine, should be sweet! The back And finally, rebuilding every tab on the seat cowl! And that's all the in-progress pictures I have.. We had finished pics, but they got lost with a laptop dying... All in all I'm proud of the repair work we did, I'm hoping they last for a loooong time :D Now, the bad news... The paint was supposed to be done on the Friday of Memorial weekend, but they ran into a TON of issues from people who did not take the proper steps to repaint pieces.. Each one varied, as probably none of them were the original pieces from the bike, but some of them had between 8-10 layers of paint. We discovered this when the guy doing my paint primed it, baked it at 100 degrees(he normally does hotter, but he wasn't sure what the threshold was for the plastifix, and he didn't want to melt any repairs) and let it sit over Memorial weekend. Came back tuesday, to find bubbles all over the place in the primer from someone using cheap ingredients on a previous paint job. He spent a couple days getting all of that out, because it would gum up any sand paper he would use on it almost immediately, and then tried again. After 4-5 days of dealing with that, he was confident it was all gone, and put a final cleaning chemical, primed it, and picked a piece up, immediately causing hairline cracks that were very visible through the primer. That was today. Now, he is media blasting every piece, going back to original plastic, then going from there. He quoted us $500, and while he didn't cut corners on the work he did, he didn't blast any pieces he didn't think needed them to keep costs on par with the quote. Had we told him to do that from the get-go, it probably would have been done in a few days. Unfortunately, if the paint wasn't so built up, it would have been a LOT easier, but now it is going to be done right, and whoever decides to re paint this after us(if we ever sell it!) will have a much better time. It's officially crunch time, as we leave next Saturday for the trip, and I have about one hour of riding in this season, and this is only my second season. Needless to say, I'm nervous about being prepared for a trip this long, but all should go well. Hope this post wasn't too boring, and maybe to spice it up, I can show you two things I didn't think we would be getting... Birthday presents can be sweet :P The screen is OEM, I was pretty happy about that. The light is at the end of the tunnel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Great update. Nice work with the plastic repairs, that Plio Grip looks the goods - Seb also recommended it. I have Plastex and a USC airless plastic welded, but the Plio Grip has gone onto the shopping list. Sorry to hear of the paint mishaps, but that OEM screen looks fantastic! As does the bike in general. This is a great restoration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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