For reasons which are beyond my comprehension, the first owner of my 916 SPS decided to chop down the factory carbon number plate hanger. I know it's not very visible due the number plate obscuring the cut but it annoys me to know that it (well 1/2 of it anyway) is lurking there. So can I re attach the piece which was removed (pictured) and if so, how? Or am I better to call it a day and shell out for another if I can even find one? I appreciate the topic of CF repairs has been covered before but couldn't see anything concerning a repair this drastic. Also, my front factory CF fender has gone matte with age, I was considering having a clear coat applied in order to restore its original look - would this work and is it easy to DIY? Cheers in advance.
You can attach the cut off part of the number plate and you would need to "glue" the two halves together and possibly back up the repair with a layer or two of carbon fibre behind the join. This company can supply what you need at a decent price. Carbon Fibre Cloth, Epoxy Resin, Kevlar, Diolen, Equipment and Supplies for Advanced Composites - Easy Composites With regard to the mudguard, yes you can flat off the mudguard and refinish it with a 2 pack lacquer and it will be fine as long as the original clear coat gel on the mudguard has not yellowed with age or heat\sunlight. If it has then you will just end up with a shiny yellowed mudguard!
Brilliant thanks for the link. The colour on the mudguard seems ok, it's just gone matte towards the front where the light has aged it. It's lasted 18 years so not bad buts definitely needs refreshed as it lets the rest of the bike down a bit.
I've tried polish then wax which gave it a bit of a sheen, then later on tried t-cut but not a huge improvement. I'll have a good look in the daylight (rather than in the garage) to check there is no yellowing as suggested by red998 then I think it'll be time for some lacquer. Over the course of the year I'm going to address the small things that can bring the bike up a bit and show some attention to detail then next winter will probably concentrate on trying to restore as much of it as possible to its original condition. The bike has approx 8000 miles on it so hopefully will be to turn a very nice bike into an excellent example. It will still be getting its tyres dirty though!
re-attachment is easy. Just laminate a strip along the back of the two with a strip as Red said. what's the cut like between the two? if its not too clever you may have to sand the surfaces a little to make the split line a bit more sympathetic. If the mudguard hasn't been lacquered it might well be the resin has bloomed after prolongued UV. try rubbing a bit with some 2000 and then polishing back - don't bother with t-cut, use something with a coarser cut like autosol in the first instance. If you have a polishing mop then all the better. can we have a pic of the two components showing the cut and the reverse and also of the mudguard to see the state of it? E can give a clear course of attack then
#157 I'm guessing if you're bothered by a cut down plate hanger and dull mudguard you'll not be over the moon with a stuck together plate hanger either. So just buy a replacement and be done with it. Nothing worse than that 1 bit that lets the whole bike down.
I went to take photos tonight and now realise that there is no way the two parts will join cleanly. One side has been cut at an angle and the other side is straight. On the shortened hanger both sides are angled so there is a alas triangular piece missing. On reflection 1037 is probably correct. It would still annoy me that it wasn't as good as Possible. In reality no one without a nerdy attention to detail will notice the hanger is shorter than it should be so I may revisit this one should a replacement pop up for sale.
I used to run with a 6X1.5 inch plate stuck over the rear reflector with indicators behind the vents in the seat unit. Took the hanger off completely. Yes I got a couple of tickets for it, but only after I'd already drawn attention to myself, and probably not in keeping with getting a bike back to standard.
