250R Polished Plastic

[82 250r]

I have a new found respect for Mr. Clean and others who have polished tanks and fenders for their trikes. This is very time consuming but definitely worth it.
I've been putting it off for about a year, and finally started last week...glad it's over.

Need someone to splash mud on it quickly or it may never leave the garage!



http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk261/bmwic155/250R/P1010088.jpg (http://s282.photobucket.com/user/bmwic155/media/250R/P1010088.jpg.html)


http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk261/bmwic155/250R/P1010089.jpg (http://s282.photobucket.com/user/bmwic155/media/250R/P1010089.jpg.html)


http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk261/bmwic155/250R/P1010092.jpg (http://s282.photobucket.com/user/bmwic155/media/250R/P1010092.jpg.html)


http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk261/bmwic155/250R/P1010103.jpg (http://s282.photobucket.com/user/bmwic155/media/250R/P1010103.jpg.html)


http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk261/bmwic155/250R/P1010100.jpg (http://s282.photobucket.com/user/bmwic155/media/250R/P1010100.jpg.html)


http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk261/bmwic155/250R/P1010101.jpg (http://s282.photobucket.com/user/bmwic155/media/250R/P1010101.jpg.html)


http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk261/bmwic155/250R/P1010111.jpg (http://s282.photobucket.com/user/bmwic155/media/250R/P1010111.jpg.html)

[jays375]

Very nice and time consuming!

[Worden18]

Wow that is sharp! Nice work :)

[aldochina]

awsome machine dude! Be nice to see a before shot for comparrison.

[JasonB]

Looks fantastic! Did you put new decals on there or just sand/polish around them?

[christph]

Very nice. This is on my to-do list. Just curious, do the fenders polish up the same as the gas tank? I'm asking because the tank may be made of a different plastic than the fenders.

[82 250r]

The fenders do not polish as easily as the tank. Tank was, by far, the easiest and for some reason shines the best...fenders take more work and time.

New decals from Harlen.

[ceaserthethird]

Is this a rider? If so I would at least remove front & rear fenders. Look really clean!

[Canyon Man]

What did you use to polish? I just saw some dude on youtube use boiled linseed oil and paint thinner and it worked great.

[82 250r]

I used sandpaper. ALOT of sanding. 600 to 1500 grit - then polished with a buffing wheel.

[honda atc guy]

I used sandpaper. ALOT of sanding. 600 to 1500 grit - then polished with a buffing wheel.

Just curious what you used with the buffing wheel and was it a wool wheel?

[Canyon Man]

WOW. That had to take a while

[honda atc guy]

I'll ask again, what compound did you use and what kind of wheel, wool?

[loshe191]

Looks awesome great job:cool:

[ceaserthethird]

How many hours of work did the rear fenders take to do?

[82 250r]

Here is some of what i used.
Not pictured is wet/dry sandpaper and a soft sanding block.
The buffing/polishing takes literally 30-45 minutes. The sanding took me 5 days.
To make it look right, you have to take the time to wetsand 600-1500 grit with 400 in the rough spots. If i had to do it again, i would go to 2000 grit. I did that on the front fender and it made a difference.

3M Rubbing Compound 05973 (ordered from O'rileys auto parts)
3M Machine Polish 39061 (ordered from O'rileys auto parts)
Meguiars Mirror Glaze Cutting pad W7006 (Use with the 3M Rubbing Compound 05973)
Meguiars Mirror Glaze Polishing pad W8006 (Use with the 3M Machine Polish 39061)
Harbor Freight 2 speed sander/buffer (be careful not to use high speeds and burn your plastic!)

The 3M compound and polish idea was from Mr. Clean. They work, but i suppose other products may work as well.
Mr. Clean uses "Eagle One Nanowax" as a final step. I couldn't find it anywhere (Discontinued product?) so i used "Eagle One Nanowax" spray, and it doesn't do much of anything as far as i can tell.


http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk261/bmwic155/250R/P1010117.jpg (http://s282.photobucket.com/user/bmwic155/media/250R/P1010117.jpg.html)

[honda atc guy]

Thank you Marc. This helps me and I'm sure a few others out there that want to tackle this in the future. You did a fantastic job! :beer