Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > Supersports: SS / SuperSport / Supersport 950 > whoops

[Richard]

Hi,
Your advice please.
My 1000DS SS toppled over and has put a small j shape split in the fairing just on the recess where the indicator bolts on.
There is no real damage to the paint, and the split is barely visible, but i notice it every time i look at it. The bike basically landed on the indicator, and not the fairing.
My local dealer says he can plastic weld the split, but this will damage the paint and the fairing will need repainting which is somewhat extreme.
I reckon i could glue the joint, and a small ammount of touch up paint would probably mask the split.
What type of glue would i need and is there a Halfords car paint that matches (the red one)?
The other option would be to bolt a fairing indicator over the recess area.
Does anyone have any experience with doing either?

[Richard]

PS
Kind of shutting the gate after the horse has bolted, but what make of crash bobins would you recommend and are they easy to fit???

[Jools]

Well I'm not a professional, but I just sprayed up the whole of the right hand side of my bike and the nose fairing after a lowside. I reckoned I'd give it a go and give the job to a pro if it was complete cack. Here's the benefit of what I learned. Somebody who's more experienced might think this is crap but....

Halfords are the kiddies with a plastic repair kit. I've just used it succesfully on a small split in the lower fairing of my ST, basically it's superglue plus a bit of glasscloth plus some spray on hardener. Easy to use, gives a strong enough repair and seems to work well. Just put it behind the split and you should be OK. the only downside I found was that if the split is on a bit of panel that overlaps another panel (like mine did) even the extra thickness of a piece of glasscloth makes it sit a bit proud, but you have to look hard for it.

Don't bother with Halfords for paint. Look in the index of your handbook and there will be "available colours' somewhere near the back of the book. Then find a local paint factor and they'll be able to make you up an aerosol of the exact colour for about a tenner - you might also want to take a piece of your bike, like a mirror or something so that they can see the colour for themselves. Ducati paintwork is comprised of base coat and clear lacqeur. So, once the split is mended level any bumpy filler off with something like 230 grade wet and dry, then 800 grade wet and dry to get a flat smooth surface. Mask off an area round the split, wipe it over with degreaser, then give the damaged area 3 or 4 coats of red base coat. You want to practise with the aerosol first to make sure you can apply paint that's not too 'dry' which happens if the aerosol is too far away or you move it across the area too fast and it gives a dull powdery finish. On the other hand you don't want to apply the paint too thick or it might sag or run, and even if it doesn't do that there will be a thin skin of touch dry paint which will fool you into thinking it's dry when it's still soft underneath. So you're aiming for the minimum amount of paint that will give you a glossy finish. Don't worry if it looks a bit translucent on the first few coats, just keep building up the layers until it covers nicely. Don't hurry it, wait at least 15-20 minutes between coats - longer if you've got any imperfections in the coat you've just put on. Don't hurry it, if you put another coat on top of paint that's still soft it'll get an orange peel effect. Not a complete disaster cos if you need to take any imperfections like this out make sure the paint is hard enough then sand it over with 1200 or 1500 wet & dry (used wet) you may want to do this anyway to make sure you've got a good base for the next coat. Wipe the area down with degreaser and a 'tack rag' (the paint factor will have those) between coats to get any dust or fibres off, then give it another shot of base coat. Try and feather the paint towards the edge of the masked area so that there's no hard edge of paint building up. When the base coat is to your satisfaction leave it to harden for a day or two, then flat it off to a matt finish with your 1500 wet & dry again, then spray it with clear lacquer and it will all go glossy again. Leave each coat of lacquer to harden, then repeat flattening and lacquering as neccessary.

After the final coat of lacquer, if it's already nice and shiny, leave it to harden for a week or so, then give it a little T-cut and it should blend in nicely with the rest of the fairing, otherwise if the surface is a little imperfect you can repeat a gentle rub over with 1500 wet & dry followed by the T- cut.

Oh yes, this is best done with the panel off the bike and watch out for overspray - my mirrors were of the bike and 10 feet away from where I was spraying but they still got a fine dusting...

[Iconic944ss]

R&G products do nice mushroom kits for most bikes - I'll look up a link..........

Frank

[phillc]

Or......................

You could just leave it like I have with mine for the last year. I've got fairing damage in the exact same spot. You just know that with Ducati suicide stands it's going to happen again.

Excellent tips on the paintwork application though!

[Michael J]

Bad luck Richard. I know how it feels. My Gixer600 dropped of it's stand on my driveway a year or two ago. It taught me never park up on any kind of downward slope. It's heart in mouth time I'm afraid but it sounds like you've got things in hand.
Mike.

[Rattler]

Simply buy one of the Bike monthly mags,

enjoy the quality features and pictures,

then quickly apply one of those free stickers that they give away over the damaged area and the job's a goodun!!

Saves all that pi55ing about with lacquers, polishing, rubbing down etc!

Tim

[Jools]

Originally posted by Rattler
then quickly apply one of those free stickers that they give away over the damaged area and the job's a goodun!!

Saves all that pi55ing about with lacquers, polishing, rubbing down etc!

Tim

Good advice from someone who's dropped it even more than me

Tim, you mean to say that lovely shiny fairing on your bike is actually a sticker? What mag did you get that from?

That's given me an idea. You know those big vinyl stickers you see on the sides of trucks? I think I'll get a couple of lifesize 749R stickers made up. One left hand side, one right hand side - Slap 'em on the ST, Voila!!! Instant Gratification!!!

[Rattler]

Or if you damage a fairing panel, simply throw it away and buy a new one!

'tis blindingly simple if you think about it!

Tim

[Richard]

All very sound advice, thanks.

I think i'll try a combination of attempting to repair it with glue and touch up paint, and follow that by slapping a big sticker over it to hide the bodge.

If it goes over again, then its is time to trike the duke. :P