# Motorcycle Fairing (or General Plastic) Repair **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 15, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-fairing-or-general-plastic-repair/255220 "2004-07-15T05:04:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-fairing-or-general-plastic-repair/255220/1 "2004-07-15T05:04:01Z")
I just bought a used lower fairing (the side plastic, not the windscreen) for my bike, and it has a few scratches on it. The scratches are in the white (base color) plastic area, not the decal area. It looks OK as is, but I figure why not sand out the scratches and spray some white paint on it. It may not look perfect, but should pass the 50/50 test (50 feet/50 mph). Problem is, I’ve never painted plastic before and wonder if there is anything I need to know. I know getting paint to stick to plastic can be a pain, but I’ve never had any first hand experience. What kind of sandpaper would be best? Do I need special paint and/or primer? Any other advice so I don’t wind up making it look worse? The area to be rapired is fairly small, only about 3" x 3". As near as I can tell, the plastic is white (ie there is no paint on it, just decals on white plastic). Bike is a 96 CBR 600 F3 if that matters to anyone. TIA Bill ---
**Author:** ![blinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@blinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinx)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-fairing-or-general-plastic-repair/255220/2 "2004-07-15T10:41:13Z")
I did a bit of googling and found this: [http://sportbikeguy.com/garage/floor/painting.html](http://sportbikeguy.com/garage/floor/painting.html) and [http://faq.f650.com/FAQs/BodyworkFAQ.htm](http://faq.f650.com/FAQs/BodyworkFAQ.htm) It seems they both suggest using a product known as Plastic Adhesion Promoter to get the paint to stick. As for sanding I would start with a coarse paper and finish up with a high grit like 800 or finer, small scratches really show when you apply paint over them, if your scratches are really deep you might need to apply some filler first. // blinx - CB400F with no expensive plastic parts. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-fairing-or-general-plastic-repair/255220/3 "2004-07-15T15:53:34Z")
Thanks Blix. I think those two sites should do me. It’s a pretty small job so I think I’ll skip any filler. Mind if I ask how you Googled that? I Googled for hours and could only get people who sell or repair fairings. Bill ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-fairing-or-general-plastic-repair/255220/4 "2004-07-15T15:54:45Z")
Sorry. Blinx, of course. ---
**Author:** ![blinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@blinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinx)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motorcycle-fairing-or-general-plastic-repair/255220/5 "2004-07-15T16:05:57Z")
Ofcouse you may ask. I just googled for “fairing repair scratch” and the bodywork faq was the second link. The sportbikeguy page was linked from that page. Good luck on the repairs, a coworker of mine has a '99 CBR600F4, awesome bike.