thebigtea Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 As some of you may know (and most of you don't) I had a pretty bad stretch of luck on my VFR(s). BLACK BIKE I had a gorgeous 2006 Galactic Black VFR, until I hit a deer with it. The insurance company totaled it out. RED BIKE Then I got a 2003 VFR in Italian Red that was in even better condition than my 2006. I promptly hit some "fertilizer" (i.e. horse shit) turning left at about 35 mph the day after buying it. To say I was crushed would be a bit of an understatement. THE SHOPPING I then started shopping for plastics and stumbled across Viffercrab's post on buying plastic from China. My interest was piqued. I decided to basically do everything that Viffercrab did, but I just wanted to replace the stock red. So I hopped onto auctmarts.com and ordered up myself this. Because even if they turned out to be horrid junk it is a pretty small drop in the $1800 Honda alternative bucket. The order process was a little more complex than what I am normally used to, but nothing crazy. They basically force you to pay via PayPal, which is OK I guess. I suppose it is better than shooting my CC info over to China. I then got a random bill from PayPal for 25$ which I later learned is for "special" shipping. I paid it because...well why would you pass up special shipping? THE RECEIVING The time from order to delivery was about 3 actual weeks. Not terrible IMHO considering the cost. The packaging itself looked to have arrived in really excellent condition all the way from China. However when I opened it up I ran into a couple of issues: I was a little bummed to find these problems, but decided to roll with it. I got out the super glue! Spoiler alert: It didn't work. So then...epoxy! That sorta worked, until I tried to actually use the tabs on the body work. Then...it did work. This proves to be a bit of an issue as you will see in a bit. Anyway, I contacted Auctmarts and they said they would take care of me. We shall see what that means in the near future I suppose. COLOR So one of my concerns with ordering new red plastics is that I know red is a really hard color to match. I asked about the color and was assured that it should be "pretty" close to Honda's Winning Red. Spoiler Alert: It's not. At all. It has a lot more orange to it. It is actually a really nice red, but not when set next to the tank in Winning Red. These pictures are not the greatest due to the harsh lighting, but here you go: The paint quality was pretty good, with a few spots that are not awesome, but overall I can't complain for the price. The clear coat on the other hand..who ever DUMPED the clear coat on this order needs a lesson in restraint. It had drips and runs all over. I hit those drips and runs with some high grit sand paper, clay barred the entire plastic set and then applied a coat of Mothers wax. This made these things positively shine. So a little bit of elbow grease and..well good enough. The decals on the side are pretty crap. If I would have known I would have told them to leave them off. Or put them over the clear so I could take them off, but they are under the clear coat..for the most part. INSTALLATION Whoever the guy is at Honda that decided that screw needed to be there between the headlights, well, he and I will never be friends. Other than that though, the install was pretty easy. Remember to hook your turn signals back up before buttoning everything up though. Take that lesson from me. =/ Viffer if you read this, I installed both a Puig AND ZeroG windshield onto the bike and that same annoying gap is there. I think they need to adjust the mold there. EMO FEELING TIME I realized that I don't have a good pic of the plastics installed on the bike just yet, I will do that tomorrow assuming there is some decent sun. All put back together the bike looks decent to me. I can't help but stare at the color mis-match, but I have asked other people and they don't even notice. Even when I steer them towards looking at it. So maybe I am over stating it? I will let the board decide when I post. I have some Stomp Pads on order for the tank indents because they are awesome and because they will help break up the color a little as well. All in all how do I feel about my purchase? Pretty good actually. They are not perfect by any means, but for 425$ shipped who can complain? I currently have a good set of left hand plastics in black and a good set of right plastics in red, the upper in red is just scratched and the rear piece is in the same shape. I have plans to send those pieces to a friend of mine for some custom paint, so stay tuned for that. These will do just fine until I get the customs back. TL:DR - Crashed two VFRs in a short period of time. Much sadness. Bought plastics from China because another dude did and I am totally a follower. Got the plastics, had some issues, but over all would buy again. Because they are cheap. Edit: not only am I cheap, but I can't spell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VifferCrab Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 You're damn right I'm reading this. :) Bummer about the broken tabs, but thats exact reason is why I went with that company. Apparently, they're very good at just sending you a replacement panel in two shakes of a lambs tail. You'll be testing that, I guess. They did refund me for the tank cover in 48 hours. I only had 1 clear coat drip and didn't even notice it at first. Easy fix, sd you've figured out, if you have any detailing experience. Sounds like you do... And thanks for the info on the screen. Just sounds like part of the deal, having to slightly shim it way at the top there. So yeah... Basically same as me. Worth the price of admission, right? It's an easy pill to swallow if you wanna even change colors every 2 years or so. And the headlight engineer? Yeah. Effff him..... I feel ya Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rectaltronics Posted October 22, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted October 22, 2015 FYI most of those cracked/broken mounting bits can be fixed with the stuff that plastic model hobbyists use for some of their assembly/repair... http://www.amazon.com/Plastruct-Plastic-Weld-applicator/dp/B00FDFWJD8/ref=pd_bxgy_21_img_2 Don't use it on visible cracks unless you plan to re-paint as it'll make the color of the underlying plastic bleed out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VifferCrab Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Fantastic write up. Entertaining read... I dig it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Terry Posted October 22, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted October 22, 2015 Thanks Big Tea. I'm just a little behind you, doing much the same thing for my 5th gen. Hope they don't break tabs on mine! http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/82308-terrys-chinese-fairing-adventure/page-2#entry1017009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebigtea Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 So I have some more pictures to post but the firewall at work doesn't let me access imgur for some strange reason. I will report back that I have heard back from Auctmarts and I feel like they are going to do me a solid. I mentioned doing some custom paint and the told me they would give me a "good deal" on another set of plastics and they would be sure the colors match and also give me a 50$ refund. I am not sure what constitutes a "good deal" just yet because they want to see my design idea first so I will continue to update, but I have to say that I am pretty impressed with their customer service. Even if they do the custom paint (no tank cover though!) and bill me 350$ - $50(refund) = $300 shipped for custom painted plastic of decent to good quality is a deal. So that would be two full sets of plastics for 725$. Still a deal considering the OEMs would be 1800$ No, the English is not perfect, but you can get your point across with some patience. I have also adopted the "one email = one question" philosophy espoused by Viffer. >>Rectaltronics - (I lol'd at the name pretty hard btw) - thanks for the link, I am actually going to give it a shot. The gap up from between the upper and the right hand fairing really annoys me. It is not terrible, but it is there. If I can get the tabs to hold it will fix it right up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer FotoMoto Posted October 22, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted October 22, 2015 I can't help but stare at the color mis-match, but I have asked other people and they don't even notice. Even when I steer them towards looking at it. Years ago, I fixed up this 4G when used plastics were still reasonably plentiful and occasionally a good buy on ebay. You can't tell from the pic but nearly every panel had a slightly different hue to my eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebigtea Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 I miss my 4G so much. Best sounding motorbike I have ever heard. The sound of the V4, the whine of the gear driven cams. Please bring back the gear driven cams Honda! I don't care if they were less efficient! Here are the pics of my bike, for comparison sake =) Tank Side Shots So it actually doesn't look nearly as bad in the pics. I think I am probably being overly worried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted October 23, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted October 23, 2015 It looks good! If you notice it, some sort of tank pads (like Techspec or similar) and a tank bag on it and no one would know the difference. My guess on the disappearance of GDC's is to thank the EPA. There are probably regs for the amount of noise that can be emitted so they killed them. They could be spiral cut for quiet operation - not sure why they didn't go that route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Yokel Posted October 23, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted October 23, 2015 It looks good! If you notice it, some sort of tank pads (like Techspec or similar) and a tank bag on it and no one would know the difference. My guess on the disappearance of GDC's is to thank the EPA. There are probably regs for the amount of noise that can be emitted so they killed them. They could be spiral cut for quiet operation - not sure why they didn't go that route. Not to go too far off-topic, but likely torque generated by the helix. They would have to re-do the bearings completely to deal with the lateral load. Just my .02 :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebigtea Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 I am in a pouting moment, so the reason they are gone means little to nothing, the fact that they are gone from the new bikes leaves a hole in all our lives that nothing can quite fill. Just my opinion of course. So here is the idea I have for custom paint on the bike, comments and ideas are MOST welcome: The Red would be the Italian Red (R157) that is currently on the bike. After talking to Auctmarts.com again they assured me they could get the color 98% this time. The white would be Pearl Sunbeam White (NHA66P), the color of the pearl white VFRs. All blacks would be the Cosmic Black of the old bike (NHA64). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Thanks for posting the report & those pics, and +1 on the major bummer about the broken tabs! Since the boxes looked in good nick when they arrived, do you think the damage could have been caused in the packing process, or by insufficient padding that allowed it to move around inside the box during shipping? About the color, if your bike is an '03, then won't your original paint be the deeper Italian Red rather than the Winning Red (from '05-'06)? Looking at the first of your pics, it reminds me of the Winning Red I had on my '05 - I remember it being quite a bit more orange than the older VFRs... If the color difference starts to bug you, maybe a Bagster tank cover will camouflage it? That's what I'm thinking of doing if I go ahead and order a red set for my silver '03, since the Auctmarts tank cover seems to be a waste of $$. The mismatch would be a bit more obvious for me, though. But either way, let us know how the custom design ends up. Loving your first draft! Just for fun (and not to hijack), here's a bad photochop job of the sort of custom paint job I'd go for, taken from my gallery: (ignore the comments underneath - does not apply to your design!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebigtea Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 The damage was caused not by the plastics being poorly packaged, but by being placed oddly. They way they were placed in the box allowed them to rub on the very edges of the box. There was only one tab that is really super important to putting on the plastics and that is the one right below the turn signal on the right side. Did I put Winning Red? If so, I am very doh! It is in fact the Italian Red, which I prefer to the Winning Red. I have some Grip Stomps coming. And then toss the tank bag on there and I should be able to shut my whining face up, maybe. But I will still KNOW it's there..you know? =) First I would not say that is a bad Photoshop job, second I really like that, though I would like a brighter red than what you have. I think the lines on the VFR beg to have simple, low color count paint on them. Similar to a Ducati or MV, which I see a hint of in your design. I quite like it! I say go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 The damage was caused not by the plastics being poorly packaged, but by being placed oddly. They way they were placed in the box allowed them to rub on the very edges of the box. There was only one tab that is really super important to putting on the plastics and that is the one right below the turn signal on the right side. Ah, bummer. Guess that's always a risk of shipping something so far, if it's not quite protected perfectly in the box! At least it wasn't a critical issue and they still went on. Did I put Winning Red? If so, I am very doh! It is in fact the Italian Red, which I prefer to the Winning Red. Me too! However, if you look at their Ducati fairing sets they have a deeper red on their 748/916/etc. set, so I guess someone could specify that color as part of a "custom" job. <hmm... > I have some Grip Stomps coming. And then toss the tank bag on there and I should be able to shut my whining face up, maybe. But I will still KNOW it's there..you know? =) Yeah, these things can eat at you sometimes. Perfectionism is a heavy cross for us to bear. First I would not say that is a bad Photoshop job, second I really like that, though I would like a brighter red than what you have. I think the lines on the VFR beg to have simple, low color count paint on them. Similar to a Ducati or MV, which I see a hint of in your design. I quite like it! I say go for it. Thanks! It was inspired by the MV F3 Tricolor but is based on the RWB VFR. I couldn't figure out how to get the tool I was using to change the colors to match the MV. I wanted something closer to Italian Red up top and a deeper green below, non-metallic. However, the results are still quite nice and Auctmarts could duplicate the look with colors they already sell on other sets. I'm not sure I'm brave enough to go custom, though as I said in the other thread I'm in no rush, and after VifferCrab's generally positive experience with that, I'm v. curious how yours will turn out, too. I'll maybe see how that goes before I decide on plain red or something fancier... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebigtea Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 I honestly feel like they would do a better job on the "custom" jobs than they did on mine. But with some rubbing and clay barring this paint turned out pretty damn nice actually. you can bet I will post that set up as soon as I get them :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Mohawk Posted October 23, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted October 23, 2015 Many people knock these Chinese fairings, but when you consider the alternatives, they are pretty good. The alternatives being;- 1. Run with damaged fairings 2. Fix up damaged fairings & have resprayed 3. Spend forever trying to find secondhand replacements in perfect order 4. Have custom GRP or Carbon ones made & then painted All of the above cost more than the Chinese options. Unfortunately shipping large thin plastic items internationally has a high chance of damage, unless you make custom cartons which would bump up the price considerably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted October 23, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted October 23, 2015 At that price I will take a set for my 4th gen............. if only they would make them.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted October 23, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted October 23, 2015 At that price I will take a set for my 4th gen............. if only they would make them.... Never hurt's to send a letter to Honda and ask if the modes are available for a company to purchase . See what I did there . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebigtea Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 At that price I will take a set for my 4th gen............. if only they would make them.... Never hurt's to send a letter to Honda and ask if the modes are available for a company to purchase . See what I did there . Well I sent them (Auctmarts) a link to this thread so they are looking at it. Motivate them! =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted October 23, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted October 23, 2015 I'd bet that Honda does not make the plastics - it's probably sub-contracted to an outside firm, similar to wheels (Enkei), exhausts (Senkai) or electrical (Denso). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VifferCrab Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 I'm still waiting on my clutch cover and pressure plate to return from powder coating, but I'm already thinking about a whole second scheme for the bike, for when the mood hits me. I'll find a tank on eBay this winter and just store it... then maybe in the Spring, start the process of having another completely different setup made for me by Auctmarts. Honestly guys, for $400 bucks shipped to your door, you can't really go wrong. Looking back, if my red tank was in amazing shape, I'd have thought hardly about leaving it with the custom fairing I got done. Looked kinda goofy, which matches my personality. I think I'd have the new set COMPLETELY look whack, but still utilize my white wheels. $400 is the price of what, 2 or 3 dinners out with the wife? And now that I have some confidence in tearing one of these things down and rebuilding it, I could do it in 1/2 the time of the first one. Auctmarts is going to do some good business here, and good for them. They delivered, what they said they would. The next guy up needs to talk to them about tightening up their mold of the nose piece though, right were the windscreen attaches at the top. Glad it worked out for ya, T. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer 007 Posted October 28, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted October 28, 2015 Many people knock these Chinese fairings, but when you consider the alternatives, they are pretty good. The alternatives being;- 1. Run with damaged fairings 2. Fix up damaged fairings & have resprayed 3. Spend forever trying to find secondhand replacements in perfect order 4. Have custom GRP or Carbon ones made & then painted All of the above cost more than the Chinese options. Unfortunately shipping large thin plastic items internationally has a high chance of damage, unless you make custom cartons which would bump up the price considerably. This one guy on here just rattle can paints everything flat black. Seems easy enough... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebigtea Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 I'm still waiting on my clutch cover and pressure plate to return from powder coating, but I'm already thinking about a whole second scheme for the bike, for when the mood hits me. I'll find a tank on eBay this winter and just store it... then maybe in the Spring, start the process of having another completely different setup made for me by Auctmarts. Honestly guys, for $400 bucks shipped to your door, you can't really go wrong. Looking back, if my red tank was in amazing shape, I'd have thought hardly about leaving it with the custom fairing I got done. Looked kinda goofy, which matches my personality. I think I'd have the new set COMPLETELY look whack, but still utilize my white wheels. $400 is the price of what, 2 or 3 dinners out with the wife? And now that I have some confidence in tearing one of these things down and rebuilding it, I could do it in 1/2 the time of the first one. Auctmarts is going to do some good business here, and good for them. They delivered, what they said they would. The next guy up needs to talk to them about tightening up their mold of the nose piece though, right were the windscreen attaches at the top. Glad it worked out for ya, T. :) So I got the order rolling on the new, custom painted fairings I have posted. I will post the pics that I am sure to get from them when they get the paint on. I have to agree with you, the idea about pulling the fairings I JUST put on there doesn't scare me in the slightest anymore, in fact I am looking forward to it. I think I could do it in about 1/3 the time and do a better job while I am at it. I think this time I am going to buy all new hardware though (The snap "plugs", metal threaded "things etc) because the kit they sent along didn't do a damn thing for me. I was fortunate to have a tone of spares because I um...had two sets of plastic to steal from. I am hoping that the custom painted fairings have a little more attention to detail and a little more evenly sprayed clear. I have to say after thinking it over, riding the bike (bonus November riding time!) that I am 100% satisfied with my purchase as will be (obviously) buying again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VifferCrab Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 I should have mine buttoned all back up with clutch cover and pressure plate painted, on Wednesday. I know as soon as I see it, I'll have an idea for the second fairing set I want, based around the clutch cover. Whatcha doing for the new schema? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebigtea Posted November 3, 2015 Author Share Posted November 3, 2015 I for one am quite excited to see your beast all dressed up again. For my paint I am going with something similar to what I post last page, but with some slight differences. I will post the pic up once I am not behind silly work firewall rules. I am in contact with Auctmarts and they are going to be color matching to Honda color codes so the paint should be pretty spot on..I hope :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.