cleaning plastic

[atkkid250]

hey, anyone know how to clean old plastic, to buff out and scratches, what products to buy, what to do etc. any help would be appreciated as riding season is coming up soon, and i want my bike to look like new :)

 

[mmz77]

I use armor-all, it makes mine look like new and the scratches are less visible. :cool:

 

[atkkid250]

thanks

ive tried some armour all makes everything look pretty shiny were it isn't scratched, were it is it doesn't do anything :( i heard that wd 40 and goo gone works well but i dont know if it will damage anything.

 

[snb73]

I've had good luck with this method;

Wash the plastic with a good degreaser/detergent, something like simple green.

Once clean, I deep clean using a rag dampened with acetone. This gets the deep stains out of the pores in the plastic.

Then I coat with 3M Marine Outdoor Vinyl Cleaner, Conditioner and Protector. I got it from a boat store. It cleans the plastic, and you buff it to a dry shine which doesn't collect dust.

I to have used WD-40, very good for cleaning spooge, and Armor-all. Amor-all tends to collect dust.

Your results will depend on the plastic you start with, but it has worked well for me.

 

[atkkid250]

thanks

thanks, im gonna have to igve that a try, my plastic is 10 years old now and has quite the many scratches, but its in over all good condition and the plastic is a rare find for my bike.

 

[detox250kx]

i forget what its called but there is some kind of plastic re finisher that you can buy at most bike shops basically you sand your plastic down with a real fine grit sand paper and then apply that stuff and it gives it a new glossed layer supposed to work pretty good. although its like 30 bucks so if you just need to do one midaz well just buy a new plastic

 

[Rooster]

Sctaches = hard riding. Live it, learn it and love it. I used to try to keep my bikes looking like new, but I finally figured out, if you ride in the rocks, roots and trees, it's not going to look like a brand new BMW off the showroom floor. Embrace the scratches and dings, they are good.

 

[atkkid250]

yeahh

i used to never try, but this year i figured id start the season with a bang

 

[sixds]

i forget what its called but there is some kind of plastic re finisher that you can buy at most bike shops basically you sand your plastic down with a real fine grit sand paper and then apply that stuff and it gives it a new glossed layer supposed to work pretty good. although its like 30 bucks so if you just need to do one midaz well just buy a new plastic

PC Racing Plastic Renew or something like that.

 

[ysr89]

Scratches only? If it ain't broke, (and by that I mean torn off, in which case you'd have that exaggerated crash story that EVERYONE is guilty of telling at one time or another,) Don't fix it ;)

 

[BigRedAF]

This may sound a bit nuts but it has work for me for several years.

Clean the plastic very good with a cleaner like simple green or 409 and a high pressure washer. Use a very fine sand paper sponge like 600-1000 grit with water to smooth out all the imperfections. Make sure there is no dirt or grit in the plastic.

Here is the part that requires patience:

Use a propane torch and go back and forth over the plastic to gloss all of the surfaces. You need to hold the torch about 6 inches from the plastic and move it fast. You can actually see the plastic turn shiny. Too slow and you'll burn the plastic, too fast and nothing will happen.

Once you have done the above steps you can spray an Armorall type of plastic spray crap on it and let it soak over night, wipe it off in the morning and it will shine really nice.

Good luck...

 

[atkkid250]

thank you

haha thank you bigredaf, that actually worked quite swell, only have a small burn where i first started and held it to long, but thats fine compared to what it did look like.

 

[2strokerfun]

Brilliant idea! I have some old plastic that I just can't bring myself to throw away that I'll try that on.

 

[atkkid250]

haha

yeah, i would never have thought of that, but it really worked, and to clean it in the first place, i didn't have have any cleaners made for it so i used a product called oops, its an aerosol that really cut through the grease, haha that sounded like a commercial but hey, it worked haha

 

[BigRedAF]

I'm glad you guys gave it a try. It's a secret that I've used since the mid 1980's. Spend a little time with very fine sand paper and water and you can restore almost any plastic once the heat gets applied...

Be careful around the fuel tank!

If you choose to restore an old tank take it off and fill it with water before you do any work...

 

[atkkid250]

lol

luckily my tank had been replaced not to long ago, so its still in really nice condition., but next time i will keep that in mind. any secrets on polishing the metal? haha. how did you find out that worked? just playing around or an accident haha.

 

[BigRedAF]

I drilled holes in my front fender for ventilation and used the torch to smooth the edges. I noticed that the surrounding area was smooth and shiny...

 

[DannyB728]

The Maxima SCI Clear Coat spray is pretty awesome. I crash alot, and my plastics reflect it, but it makes them look really nice after you clean the bike and use the spray