2007 Suzuki GSXR Repair

Smithers · Post by **Smithers** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 9:43 pm

This poor girl was laid over on her right side just enough to bend a few things and cause the owner a big headache. A few new parts, a little bodywork, a reseated tire (hopefully not a brand new one) and she should be back on the road. Oh yeah the front fairing stay or fairing bracket needs a nice bead welded across the whole thing. We'll keep our fingers crossed as that weld get's laid across it.

And of course we can always start a list of things needed:

Right rear cowling/cover
Rearset bracket (attempting to bend back =)
Right clip on tube
Front brake lever (can be cut motocross style instead of replaced)
Rear tire needs attention
Need to make a new bracket for license plate
Fuel tank cover needs some smoothing over
Right fairing trim piece needs work/replacing
Bar end for the clip-on
A charge for the battery
Right mirror
I hope that's it!
Ok a couple more things... Right side rear turn signal
Frame sliders!

It seems like a horribly long list but we'll see what we can do.

Smithers · Post by **Smithers** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:52 am

So the other day we tore the bike down and got a better look at exactly what I need to repair. Since the side farings cost hundreds of dollars I'm going to be repairing them with plastic weld. I got some NICE plastic weld from my friends over at Carquest Auto Parts here in Paso Robles. They always take care of me over there. They actually GAVE me a set of plastic weld repair materials to test out! The stuff is supposed to be the newest thing and the sales rep gave me a package to try out for feedback. I had already bought 2 other packages of plastic weld to test out but I won't even be using them as I this new stuff looks legit.

Here is a shot of the bike with the broken parts off of it. The body panel repair is going to be extensive but strong and will look just like new... besides some paint. I have to recruit my professional painter buddy on this one.

The fairing bracket will be welded and my friend thinks he can also bend back the rearset bracket. Well I figure if he does just one of the two repairs then we will have saved enough money to not worry about buying the replacement piece. The back tire is also flat for some reason so I'll be cleaning that up and taking it to have my friends at SportTire check it out for defects or damage.

Oh and Victoria you need to clean this dirty bike while we have everything off of it! It's filthy!!

Smithers · Post by **Smithers** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:32 am

Fixing all of the body work on this bike was a huge lesson in plastic welding and prepping with Thin Ice body filler before paint. I used a ton of plastic weld and plastic pieces that I shaped to fill in where material was missing. Then I used a body filler which was designed for plastic bumpers and body panels. It's called Thin Ice and it's VERY flexible and easily shaped with your sanding tools. As long as you mix it correctly and prep the area well it really dries fast and bonds nicely. Here is a link to the product website for Thin Ice: http://www.uschem.com/index.cfm?page=produ...&id=59&docCat=2

I'll post more eventually but I just wanted to get this info out there for people to see. This is the best stuff I've ever used for plastic body filling. Here is my thread which shows everything you need to know about plastic welding parts for motorcycle bodywork: http://www.fourwheelforum.com/index.php?showtopic=203

Smithers · Post by **Smithers** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 5:43 am

It doesn't get any easier than this... repairing plastic bodywork? GET the Thin Ice, apply like bondo type material and use a cheese grater to shape it down before fully dry and then sand with fine sandpaper. So easy.