I've got scratches on the plastic of my new 650 Kawi and it is driving me nuts! You guys have any special tricks or cleaners you use to get rid of scratches, or at least fade them?

Mitch

red 02 650 Kawi

 

Use very fine sand paper, like 600 grit. It will take off the shine and you'll have to figure out the best way to get it back. You can try Plastic Renu, Mop n Glo, etc.

 

A propane torch, and keep it moving. I do it all the time[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

It's made to ride. Not to look pretty.

 

It's only new the first day!!!

 

try melting it

 

I had the exact same thing happen to my 650. I tried steel wool, and Plastic Renew, and all I can say is don't do it! What ever you do it will just make it worse. I messed mine up to the point that I just decided to buy new fenders. That cost me $430.00. So take my word for it, just wash it, and Armor All it, to give it a nice shine, then stand back and be thankful that it isn't any worse than it is. Trust me, anything that you do to it to try to make those scratches look better, will only make it look worse. I am speaking from experience!

 

maybe try some motorcycle windshield cleaner, it will help take some of the fine scratches out, I have tried Novus, Yamaha cleanre & Plexus, on the shields of my bikes, all with some degree of help.. do not use anything abrasive or it will be worse..
############ NOTE: I HAVE NOT TRIED THIS ON PLASTIC...ONLY CLEAR LEXAN ##########

 

Plastic renew works excellent but you have to be prepared to put 5-6 hours in it at the very least. A lot of sanding and several coats. You can't half A do it and expect good results, you get out of it what you put into it, as the box says. Honda red is supposedly the hardest color to use Plastic renew on, but it made mine look almost new (it looked terrible before).


01 250ex (SOLD!)

 

use wet sandpaper starting at 600 grit and work up to about 1600, stepping up 200 at a time. make sure you get out all of the scratches from the previous grit. to make sure try moving each grit across the previous one until you can't see ANY scratches running other ways. when you finish the 1600 use windex to clean the area. buy a butane "pencil torch" (found at most hardware stores) to heat the surface of the plastic just enough to melt an outer layer of the plastic. if you heat the plastic to quickly or keep it hot to long you can discolor it more than you want. this process will very slightly darken the area but if you do it right it will be unnoticable to every one but you. this might take alot of time but when you're done you will love the results. btw, i learned how to do this because i was a plastic fabricator for a year or so.
another thing you can do for old dirty plastic: smear liquid Dove soap on the plastic then mist Fantastic cleaner over it. let it sit for 3 minutes then scrub and rinse. i didn't think it would work, but it cleaned up my old '89 yz125 like new.
one more thing. lightly spray Pledge on your plastic and wipe it off. it makes it shinny and gives a protective wax layer. those are all of my tricks for plastic work. at least the ones i'm willing to share. have fun and be patient.