Riders Of Vision

Well, while the tank was soaking in the phospho stuff I decided to get started stripping the old paint off the plastics. Why strip you ask? Let me see if I can get the geneology correct.. the side panels started their life as Star Silver with a nice Clear coat, but apparent somewhere along in life someone decided they didn't like Star Silver (the fastest color, ask H2O). They stripped the Star Silver off and painted the panels black. Then decided they weren't happy with black either so they painted them blue metallic to match the then blue metallic color of the tank and front fender. Well, I guess they wanted to get artsy and painted OVER the blue AND black with... get this... YELLOW.

I'll start a new paragraph here so it doesn't get too wordy. Anyway, the yellow must not have gone to well with the blue metallic tank and fender cause then someone decided to paint over the black, blue, and yellow with another coat of flat black. Now all of this probably would have been ok if 1. It had been professionally done or 2. They used the same kind of paint each time and prepped properly. But they didn't. So at some point the original black paint bubbled causing the blue, yellow and flat black to bubble and crack also. I thought it was a defect in the shape of the plastic until I started stripping layer after layer. And the yellow paint turned to absolute goo and went everywhere, it didn't just bubble and strip like most paints, its just goo'd. (my scientific word for that occurence).

Now... I applied copious amounts of Superstrip that I purchased at Lowes. Its the same as Tal Strip, just a different company. It worked great on the tank, so why not on the plastics. Oh it worked great alright... at taking off all the paint and the plastic... OOPS. Note to self... on a bright yellow sticky in the very front of my brain... SUPERSTRIP EATS PLASTIC. But not all plastics. The battery cover came through beautifully, the others... well.. uhm... they will need some body filler.

The worst part of it all... the dingbats painted OVER the chrome Vision logos. "Hey man.. this thing is stuck on there." "Tis ok bro... just paint over it." "But dude... its chrome yo." "So what.. that black/blue/yellow/flat black will look way more sick than some chrome logo." "Sweet.. lets go smoke some pot."

Needless to say... the Vision logos didn't make it. I'm sorry. It was a tragedy and I tried everything I could to save them, but alas, I couldn't.

Now what? Well... I have already begun using 80 grit sandpaper to remove the remaining paint and level up the plastics as best I can. I'll then follow with 150, 220, 400, 800 then some paint. Of course any needed filling will be done along the way.

Nothing can be easy. Oh.. and how did I know the panels were once Star Silver? Well... I figured they were since the tank was, and when I removed the fatally wounded Vision logos a very beautiful and smooth Star Silver shined up at me. A hidden gem of what the bike once was. Don't worry my dear... you'll be beautiful once again.

Why are my posts always a mile long? Geez... I need someone to talk to other than my cat.
Tiff.

EEEEHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGG!!!! I learned the hard way that tal strip dissolves plastic.  My last set of panels got the hand and sandpaper treatment and turned out quite nice.  I needed a little body filler to fix some deep scratches but in the end, it was pretty good.  If you need some new panels, I have a couple as long as you like yellow and I may even have a "Vision" logo.  PM me if you are interested.

David

I'm pulling most of the logo's off my new one, let 'em guess & ask.  it's a conversation starter...  ;)

I see a pattern emerging here between the tank lining and the fairing repaints...   ;)

It'll be a long road before this XZ550 is ready to go out.  I'm glad that you have the Z1K to ride in the mean time.   ;D

Actually, when I decided to repaint my Vision's plastic, I took the paint and gelcoat off with a disc sander, and will reapply gelcoat before it is painted.  Mine had been out in the weather, and that did a fairly good job of partially stripping the finish from the tank and plastics, are were faded...   :)

Quote from: Lucky on November 11, 2007, 09:19:32 PM
I'm pulling most of the logo's off my new one, let 'em guess & ask.  it's a conversation starter...  ;)

:) When I put "The Mistress" back on the road in her then new custom "Orange Pearl" make over, I left off ALL the decal's/badge's...Whats that?? Who make's it?? A what?? A Vision, never heard of it...and that was at the Yam' dealer's :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D...
So I put on ALL new Decal's/Badge's and I made a "Yamaha XZ550rj Vision" label that I put at the bottom of the gauge pack and yer know wot...People Still ask me what the hell I'm ridin' ::) ;D :D :D :D

8) Tiff', keep at it girl...You will get there in the end... 8)

                       

Thanks guys. As of now I think I'm going to run her "incognito" and see how many people ask what it is. If I go through with all of my plans for the bodywork it will surely turn heads... don't worry... she'll still be a vision... but with a few... "extras".

Dave... what kind of body filler did you use and did it stick well? I'm wondering if the standard Bondo style of filler will work or if there is something made especially to adhere to plastic.

ironb12s... I wish I had a disc sander to use... but I don't... so its the old hand treatment for now. Plus I like being able to kinda gently "finess" the edges a bit, I would be worried a disc sander would get carried away and take off too much leaving flat spots or ridges and valleys. With the hand sander I'm in control.

Tiger... I think that's what I'm going to go for. Even with the Vision badges people would still probably ask what it was, no one has ever seen a Vision.
TO THE SHOP! I hear some sandpaper calling my name... and my house smells like POR-15. Ick.
Tiff.

Quote from: Tiffanator on November 12, 2007, 06:37:53 PM
... so its the old hand treatment for now. Plus I like being able to kinda gently "finess" the edges a bit, With the hand sander I'm in control.

Tiff.

:) This IS the best way Tiff...Sure it takes a wee bit longer, but you can achieve a good finish by hand...Sand the part, wipe off the dust and very softly run your finger tip(s) over the work area...you can feeeel, as well as see, the finish you are getting... stay with it girl 8)

                         

Tiff, you really have to be cautious with a power sander  , its easy to take off too much.  I hand sanded  all my stuff and used paint stripper on the  fairing lowers , NEVER AGAIN,. what a mess it was only partially effective  and required scraping , which required more sanding and filling . Mine had been painted twice before  and I wanted to start from fresh , it wasn't worth it  The louvers will never be the same ! Next time its lots of sanding. and no stripper.

Tiger , I've been asked it its some kind of new Buell !!!  I found  a "vision " emblem at pick-a -part  on the back of a Eagle Vision . I have one on either side of my fairing now , they look like brushed stainless, but most will still not know what it is!

Rick and Tiger... thats exactly how I feel. For stuff that I cast from resin that has to have a lot taken off or rough sanding first I'll use a power sander. For something as delicate as the plastics on this bike its all hand sanding. I use a sanding block for most of it, but a single bit of sandpaper in my fingers for any rounded edges or tight spots. I sand a little, then rub over it with my hands to make sure I have a nice smooth curved surface, then sand a little more to fine shape it. Using such a rough grit to remove the paint its even more important to use a hand sander and work slowly because that rough grit will take off a lot of material pretty quickly if you aren't watching.
Yeah, I'm going without the emblems, or maybe I'll paint in a vision emblem and yamaha logo with a drop shadow on the side of the tank.
Oh, and 4 of the 5 side panels are stripped, have 1 more to go then the fender. I won't be using any stripper on the fender, learned that lesson.

I don't remember the name of the stuff I used but I got it at Advanced autoparts and it was in a "toothpaste" style tube.  It was burgundy red in color and dried really fast.  I think it was made by 3m.  Dabbed a little on, let it harden then sanded it down.
I did all my sanding by hand.  Thats how I got my Popeye forearms.  ;D

David