I was headed back home 1200 miles when at the first gas stop I let my bike fall over. I tried to park it away from the gas pumps to get off and stretch my legs. The spot I chose (poorly) was unleveled and the wind caught it and pushed it over. The tip over scratched the saddle bag and broke my brake lever. At my next stop I found an auto parts store for some steel stick epoxy to temporarily ‘weld’ the lever back together. I let it cure for a few 30 minutes before setting off angain, and then a few hours before using it properly, but that only lasted a few hundred miles. Everything is an easy fix, but damn I was utterly deflated the rest of the trip with my scratches of shame.
They are scratches of character and lessons-learned.
I mean, we’ve all been there and shit happens. My Triumph dealer has small paint tubes to fix stuff like this. Is that available for you? It was an easy job in my gas tank.
Yeah. I can get some touch up paint, but the shell is painted plastic (the deep scratches) so it’s beyond my DIY skills to go that route and do a good job. An OEM replacement panel is like 400-500$. Since it’s a 35K bike I’m just gonna replace it this winter for peace of mind. It will only take 30 minutes to remove and replace thankfully. I already have a parts order in for a new brake lever so I can ride a little more before cold weather sets in.
If you’re going to buy a new painted panel anyway, use the one you take off as practice to prep and paint. For next time. Because … yeah.
Great idea. Definitely gonna try it. I’ve got a couple of tiny chips in the front faring from rocks or bugs I could use the practice to see how a repair on those would go.
I haven’t done a whole lot myself, but I like to watch restoration channels. It’s time consuming and fiddly. Patience and a lot of fine sandpapers is key, I think.