Cleaning up black plastic?

Having Problems with your BMW R1200RT/R1250RT? or have some Maintenance and Service questions?
Post Reply
User avatar
Randyjaco
Posts: 224
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2021 3:18 am
Location: Friendswood, Texas, USA
Bike Model and Year: R1200RT 2017
Has liked: 53 times
Been liked: 46 times
United States of America

Cleaning up black plastic?

Post by Randyjaco »

Damn, dropped my bike today and scratched up mirror plastic. Anybody got any recommendations on removing the road rash from the black plastic?
PXL_20230903_183643090.jpg
PXL_20230903_183643090.jpg (288.17 KiB) Viewed 895 times
User avatar
Doctor T
Posts: 1985
Joined: Tue Dec 21, 2021 10:21 pm
Location: west sussex
Bike Model and Year: 2007 R1200RT SE
Has liked: 1133 times
Been liked: 304 times
Great Britain

Re: Cleaning up black plastic?

Post by Doctor T »

The same happened to me. It's easier to replace than rubbing it down and filling it with plastic filler. For cheapness, i wrapped both of mine in satin black semi.
IMG_20230902_132452~2.jpg
IMG_20230902_132452~2.jpg (243.88 KiB) Viewed 863 times
Trust me I am a retired Doctor and lecturer at Oxford University of Structural and Mechanical/Electrical engineering.
"Blessed are the cracked, for they shall let in the light". Groucho Marx
User avatar
Randyjaco
Posts: 224
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2021 3:18 am
Location: Friendswood, Texas, USA
Bike Model and Year: R1200RT 2017
Has liked: 53 times
Been liked: 46 times
United States of America

Re: Cleaning up black plastic?

Post by Randyjaco »

Thanks. So you used some plastic wrap? How difficult was that to apply?
I was hoping that there might be some way of sanding them down and coating with some magic black product. I checked eBay and a used mirror is going for over $100. :mad:

Yes, it's the same stuff you use for wrapping a car. Am not an arty person but i found it quite easy. Best to remove the panel and a warm day helps, if not a heat gun/hair dryer just to warm up the wrap
burridge01
Posts: 797
Joined: Tue Jul 02, 2019 11:25 am
Location: Basildon, Essex
Bike Model and Year: NUFFINK
Been liked: 321 times
Great Britain

Re: Cleaning up black plastic?

Post by burridge01 »

I'd go down a light sanding then ẅurth bumper dye.Used it for years on plastic trim,T4 and motorcycles, gives a great finish and a little goes a long way.Other makes are available,I can only speak as I found :thumb:

Few on the T4 forum are using this stuff with good results
https://www.vinyldye.co.uk/

I'm going to try it on me T4 door cards at some stage.
User avatar
Randyjaco
Posts: 224
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2021 3:18 am
Location: Friendswood, Texas, USA
Bike Model and Year: R1200RT 2017
Has liked: 53 times
Been liked: 46 times
United States of America

Re: Cleaning up black plastic?

Post by Randyjaco »

As I said earlier, I have some pride in my bike and I really didn't like the road rash look, so I attempted a fix. The fix could have gone better, but it doesn't look too bad for now.

It was easier that I thought it would be. I only had to remove a dozen screws, a hidden plastic rivet, 2 pieces of Tupperware, a speaker assembly and a speaker cover 
As suggested, I sanded the plastic down and covered it with Black Magic plastic conditioner. 

What I learned was, unless you have black filler, don't use any. Plastic conditioner seldom has any tint and is clear. So my red body filler is quite evident, even though I used a Sharpie to color it black. At the beginning and the reason for the query was the black plastic itself. I wasn't sure the plastic wasn't laminated, foam filled, etc. I now know that the black plastic can be treated like any other paint surface.

Now I still have the option to do a wrap or paint  :thumb:
Post Reply