Back On The Road

[BIG O]

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[BIG O]

The crash story:

So back in the middle of May I had a low side while in Arkansas. We were coming back from having lunch in Oark and was I going around a blind right hander. Wasn't pushing it at all. As I was coming into the apex of the corner I noticed a pile of sand sitting in the inner third of the lane. As I adjusted my line I ended up going into the oncoming lane. I normally would have had plenty of time to correct and get back in my lane but then a Jeep came around in the oncoming lane. I had no choice but to stand the bike up and go for the shoulder. Although I wasn't going that fast and had scrubbed off most of my speed I still had to try and stop the bike as the shoulder quickly ran out and then turned in to a down hill with tall grass, weeds and trees. The front tucked on me and down we went. I honestly dont know how far the bike slid on the level ground before it started the down hill slide. Most of it might have been while on it's side while going downhill considering the minimal damage and grass stains on the side fairing. All I know s that I was on the level ground when I got up and the bike was down the slope. I was able to pick the bike up and get it upright and pointed toward the road but couldn't get any traction due to the extreme angle of the hill and lack of rear tire traction due t the grass and thick weeds. I was finally able to stop a few guys on Adventure bikes and they helped me get the bike back on level ground. Looked the bike and myself over and decided the only mechanical issue was the now inverted rear brake lever. I don't use the rear brake anyway so I fired it up and continued the rest of the ride for that day as well as the remaining days. Even rode the bike home 400 miles with no issues.

Now for the repair story:

I had planned on buying a used peg bracket with brake lever on E Bay which I did for about $40. Pulled the old hardware and put on the new in an hour and was good to go. I tried to source a used right side bellypan but couldn't find any anywhere. A new one was $170. So I decided to try my luck at plastic repair. Fortunately, the bellypan isn't as brittle as the front fairing. I was able to heat up the plastic to get the two sides of the crack to line up. I then bought a Bondo brand bumper cover repair kit ( $25) specifically for plastic bumpers. After a little trial and error I was able to get it to "bond" to my bellypan. I then let it harden and hit it with some 180 grit and then some 320 grit sandpaper. I attempted to paint it with some rattle can Rust O Leum paint I got at Wal Mart but just couldn't get it to look good. There is a reason that paint is only $8 a can . I bet I painted and sanded that panel four different times with the cheap paint trying to get it to work. No dice. I finally broke down and bought a rattle can of GM paint ( Carbon Flash Metallic) for $28 ( $40 with shipping) It went on so much better I wish I would have used it in the first place. Would have saved me a lot of time plus $8. Hit it with some Meguires rubbing compound ($11) and Meguires Polish ($11) and looks as good as new. For the nose fairing, I was going to bite the bullet and buy an OEM piece from Kawasaki ($640) but I figured it'd be easier and faster than going the aftermarket route. I ordered it on Thursday from Ron Ayers. I got an email on Monday stating that it was on back order until at least August! Couldn't find one in stock ANYWHERE! So, off to E Bay I go . I ended up settling on a non painted Chinese knock off for $74 including shipping. It came in black, unpainted, ABS plastic. I then had to order the 3 stage paint from Color Rite. The Pearl Stardust White base coat, the pearl mid coat and then the clear coat. The base ($40) and pearl ($40) ended up being about $100 shipped. Luckily I already had some Color Rite clear so I didn't have to buy it. I believe they are 12 oz cans. I taped off the area on the fairing where the ram air duct is located as I wanted to leave it black. I sanded the fairing with some 320 grit and then shot it with some dark grey primer. I let it set up overnight. I then shot it with several coats of the base color allowing it to dry overnight and then shot the pearl allowing to dry overnight and finally the clear coat. It looked and felt pretty smooth but decided to go over it with some 2000 grit to really smooth it out. I could definitely tell a difference. I then used the Meguires compound and polish to shine them up. BTW I didn't have an orbital buffer so I just used old fashioned elbow grease. I'm very pleased with the result. While not "factory" finish, it's pretty close and I highly doubt any one could tell the difference unless they new the bike had been wrecked. As for fitment of the Chinese fairing, I'd give it a 8 out of 10 in fitment but a 10 out of 10 in PITA/DIFFICULTY to get it to fit. It is definitely not a simple bolt on affair. Most of the mounting holes were 1/8" t0 1/4" off. A lot of cussing, tightening, loosening, retightening, pulling, twisting, drilling and Dremeling to get it to fit.. Kinda like putting n a window or door. If it isn't plum and square it isn't going to fit without a lot of adjusting. I believe the key is to get all of the bolts and screws started and then start tightening things up. That was just to get the nose mounted. Now that the nose was off 1/8" to 1/4" in certain places, those measurements transferred to the rest of the panels. Hell of a time trying to get the tank cowl and "gills" to push into the rubber grommets and the mounting screws into their holes. Had to Dremel the tabs on the "Gills" to get them so slide into the slot on the upper side fairing. However, with trial and error I was able to get them to fit. Between sanding, painting and putting all of the panels back on (including bellypan) I spent about 5 hours. I had a lot of dead time just waiting for the paint to dry. As for the "stained" and scratched side panel, I used a small paint brush to touch up the scrapes and scratches that went through the paint and then hit it with Meguires. As for the dented midpipe, I'm just going to leave it alone for now. I don't have any reputable body shops that I trust to try and pull the dent out. I'd then be stuck with having to figure out a way to paint that area of the pipe to get it to match. I don't know how hot that area gets and therefore don't know if I'd have to have it ceramic coated or what. No luck on trying to source a used right side of the system. I guess if I could find a pipe or repair this one for less than $100 I'd probably do it.

I guess that's about it.

This was my first attempt at a painting project like this.

The keys in my opinion are preparation and patience.

If I would have replaced the panels with new OEM (if they were available) I'd been looking at close to $2000.

So for around $300 and 10ish man hours I was able to get it looking pretty good.

Thanks!

[spedxprt]

Looks awesome!

[BrettZZR]

Sho' does!

[spectreman]

That looks awesome, MIke. You did that work yourself? Kudos to you!
Lee

[Mark]

Looks good!

I didn't know you had lowsided her.

[BIG O]

The crash story:

So back in the middle of May I had a low side while in Arkansas. We were coming back from having lunch in Oark and was I going around a blind right hander. Wasn't pushing it at all. As I was coming into the apex of the corner I noticed a pile of sand sitting in the inner third of the lane. As I adjusted my line I ended up going into the oncoming lane. I normally would have had plenty of time to correct and get back in my lane but then a Jeep came around in the oncoming lane. I had no choice but to stand the bike up and go for the shoulder. Although I wasn't going that fast and had scrubbed off most of my speed I still had to try and stop the bike as the shoulder quickly ran out and then turned in to a down hill with tall grass, weeds and trees. The front tucked on me and down we went. I honestly dont know how far the bike slid on the level ground before it started the down hill slide. Most of it might have been while on it's side while going downhill considering the minimal damage and grass stains on the side fairing. All I know s that I was on the level ground when I got up and the bike was down the slope. I was able to pick the bike up and get it upright and pointed toward the road but couldn't get any traction due to the extreme angle of the hill and lack of rear tire traction due t the grass and thick weeds. I was finally able to stop a few guys on Adventure bikes and they helped me get the bike back on level ground. Looked the bike and myself over and decided the only mechanical issue was the now inverted rear brake lever. I don't use the rear brake anyway so I fired it up and continued the rest of the ride for that day as well as the remaining days. Even rode the bike home 400 miles with no issues.

Now for the repair story:

I had planned on buying a used peg bracket with brake lever on E Bay which I did for about $40. Pulled the old hardware and put on the new in an hour and was good to go. I tried to source a used right side bellypan but couldn't find any anywhere. A new one was $170. So I decided to try my luck at plastic repair. Fortunately, the bellypan isn't as brittle as the front fairing. I was able to heat up the plastic to get the two sides of the crack to line up. I then bought a Bondo brand bumper cover repair kit ( $25) specifically for plastic bumpers. After a little trial and error I was able to get it to "bond" to my bellypan. I then let it harden and hit it with some 180 grit and then some 320 grit sandpaper. I attempted to paint it with some rattle can Rust O Leum paint I got at Wal Mart but just couldn't get it to look good. There is a reason that paint is only $8 a can . I bet I painted and sanded that panel four different times with the cheap paint trying to get it to work. No dice. I finally broke down and bought a rattle can of GM paint ( Carbon Flash Metallic) for $28 ( $40 with shipping) It went on so much better I wish I would have used it in the first place. Would have saved me a lot of time plus $8. Hit it with some Meguires rubbing compound ($11) and Meguires Polish ($11) and looks as good as new. For the nose fairing, I was going to bite the bullet and buy an OEM piece from Kawasaki ($640) but I figured it'd be easier and faster than going the aftermarket route. I ordered it on Thursday from Ron Ayers. I got an email on Monday stating that it was on back order until at least August! Couldn't find one in stock ANYWHERE! So, off to E Bay I go . I ended up settling on a non painted Chinese knock off for $74 including shipping. It came in black, unpainted, ABS plastic. I then had to order the 3 stage paint from Color Rite. The Pearl Stardust White base coat, the pearl mid coat and then the clear coat. The base ($40) and pearl ($40) ended up being about $100 shipped. Luckily I already had some Color Rite clear so I didn't have to buy it. I believe they are 12 oz cans. I taped off the area on the fairing where the ram air duct is located as I wanted to leave it black. I sanded the fairing with some 320 grit and then shot it with some dark grey primer. I let it set up overnight. I then shot it with several coats of the base color allowing it to dry overnight and then shot the pearl allowing to dry overnight and finally the clear coat. It looked and felt pretty smooth but decided to go over it with some 2000 grit to really smooth it out. I could definitely tell a difference. I then used the Meguires compound and polish to shine them up. BTW I didn't have an orbital buffer so I just used old fashioned elbow grease. I'm very pleased with the result. While not "factory" finish, it's pretty close and I highly doubt any one could tell the difference unless they new the bike had been wrecked. As for fitment of the Chinese fairing, I'd give it a 8 out of 10 in fitment but a 10 out of 10 in PITA/DIFFICULTY to get it to fit. It is definitely not a simple bolt on affair. Most of the mounting holes were 1/8" t0 1/4" off. A lot of cussing, tightening, loosening, retightening, pulling, twisting, drilling and Dremeling to get it to fit.. Kinda like putting n a window or door. If it isn't plum and square it isn't going to fit without a lot of adjusting. I believe the key is to get all of the bolts and screws started and then start tightening things up. That was just to get the nose mounted. Now that the nose was off 1/8" to 1/4" in certain places, those measurements transferred to the rest of the panels. Hell of a time trying to get the tank cowl and "gills" to push into the rubber grommets and the mounting screws into their holes. Had to Dremel the tabs on the "Gills" to get them so slide into the slot on the upper side fairing. However, with trial and error I was able to get them to fit. Between sanding, painting and putting all of the panels back on (including bellypan) I spent about 5 hours. I had a lot of dead time just waiting for the paint to dry. As for the "stained" and scratched side panel, I used a small paint brush to touch up the scrapes and scratches that went through the paint and then hit it with Meguires. As for the dented midpipe, I'm just going to leave it alone for now. I don't have any reputable body shops that I trust to try and pull the dent out. I'd then be stuck with having to figure out a way to paint that area of the pipe to get it to match. I don't know how hot that area gets and therefore don't know if I'd have to have it ceramic coated or what. No luck on trying to source a used right side of the system. I guess if I could find a pipe or repair this one for less than $100 I'd probably do it.

I guess that's about it.

This was my first attempt at a painting project like this.

The keys in my opinion are preparation and patience.

If I would have replaced the panels with new OEM (if they were available) I'd been looking at close to $2000.

So for around $300 and 10ish man hours I was able to get it looking pretty good.

Thanks!

[BIG O]

After:

[NotDeadYet]

Looks good Mike. Painting is an art. You did well.

[gregness]

Well played, Mikey! I like to tell myself I would try some of the same techniques on my rashed Zx14R panels after dropping it in the driveway if only I had just white paint to deal with, and maybe I would. But with red, gray, and the gold pin-stripes it is more than I want to deal with. I will probably just order the color-matched parts and pay the monay.

But your ride looks awesome- 10 hours well-spent, and if you drop it again you won' t feel so bad next time!

F

[BIG O]

Well played, Mikey! I like to tell myself I would try some of the same techniques on my rashed Zx14R panels after dropping it in the driveway if only I had just white paint to deal with, and maybe I would. But with red, gray, and the gold pin-stripes it is more than I want to deal with. I will probably just order the color-matched parts and pay the monay.

But your ride looks awesome- 10 hours well-spent, and if you drop it again you won' t feel so bad next time!

F

Thanks Greg.

So you'd have to paint all three of the colors?

Got any pics of the damage?

Also, I only carry liability insurance so I had to pay out of pocket for the repairs.

Had I had comp/collision it might have been a different story.

Another big factor is the lack of availability of parts. Just couldn't wait four months for the nose to be available MAYBE.

[CHARLIE]

Good job Mike. My fall over was very minor compared to your Massey Ferguson plowing adventure. Hell, I'm just glad
you are in one piece. I might tackle my repairing later on in the winter when I'm not riding so much. Mine is mostly just a
scuff here and there, no real bad cracks. You did a damn good job on yours.

[ramblin66]

Preparation and patience almost always pays dividends.

Looks great!

[CrazyTrain]

Looks great, Mike!

[BIG O]

Added the “modern” Kawasaki emblem to the front of the bike. The silver goes well with the other silver decals I think.



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[14Junkie]

Excellent job. You could have saved yourself a lot of work by not crashing.........