Had the exact same experience. After hours in the garage, a bunch of wasted wet sanding paper(800,1000,2000,4000) a bunch of different polishing compounds and alot of clogged polishing pads all i got were a hazy matt finish. I've polished several cars to perfection but this was different. I later tried heating the plastic with a heat gun which did bring shine to it but it was an absolutely terrible kind of shiny. The rear fender is now in the trash and i will buy a new one for 20 or so bucks. Should have listened to my dad 😂
Hi Steve. Years ago I repaired the covers on my LTZ400. I tried everything you tried back then and it was a nightmare. I then found a post from someone that reccomended a mix of thinners and boiled linseed oil. It worked like a charm. The deep scratches still needed some manual attention.
Need to finish with 1500 grit sandpaper, then go over with a heat gun, finish with a lambswool buffing pad with NO cutting compound or polish, just the pad.
I've used the razor blade like that for years but found a way thats way faster at smoothing out most of the lite scratches and shines the plastic back up all at once.
@@victoroneill4381 I'll try and make a video this week I didn't have a old bike with faded plastics but just bought a old xr600 and just got the supplies yesterday actually.
Another thing that worked good enough for me, take a super strong degreaser scrub the heck out of it, lightly sand the tough spots, then spray paint it, then a layer of clear coat had it looking pretty dang good
You make excellent points. It seems like you can work 40 hours plus $30 of razor blades, sandpaper, polish and other supplies to get your old plastics looking nice--or spend $150 on new plastics.
If you want to speed this whole process up, have it look like new and last. Here is what you can do. Cheap $20 electric orbital palm sander. You can still do the razor blade if you want or just start with water and 180 grit then 220/300/400/600/800/1000. For tight spots you will have to sand by hand, but you will be amazed what you can get done with the palm sander and how fast. Once you have your desired color back, use a sheeps wool buffing wheel on a variable speed drill or buffer. Be careful not to heat it up to much with the wool or you will melt the plastic. For added protection you can use auto polish at the end if you want. I also use a heat gun as part of the process but it is not required, it just richens the faded color if needed. If this not for you and new plastic is available then that is a more viable option. But not all plastics are available and if they are the quality and fit can be terrible.
I was going to say check out TNT MOTO his plastic restorations are like all his quality work looks at all options takes his time for perfect results top notch always.
I decided to go to 1200 to make it supper smooth And I got better results Looking like the smoother the better finish . Drill with sheepwool disk and Mothers mag and aluminum pollish . medium to High revs very low pressure Move around burns quickly .
Another great video thanks for sharing I agree just go by new plastics but it's funny because I've been cleaning up my plastics . They're not so bad where they need replaced but they definitely could use a good cleaning I had a hard time getting the deep dirt out and I was polishing some chrome with something called never dull I'm not sure why but I tried it on the plastic and it worked amazing and took out all of the deep dirt my white plastics were white again 😊
I did the same thing when I got my old banger to get back into riding, after the last sand, instead of a buff, I was told to try running a heat gun over it. Worked ok. Not wrong about it being time consuming though! (a few beers helps pass the time!)
This was very useful to me because i cant buy all Yamaha dt 50 2003-2011 plastics and you can only buy single piece and all plastics can cost over 300$ or 350ish€
@@BrokenSprocket I have a Honda atc that is in really good condition, Looking to spruce up the plastics as they have dulled a bit and I want to keep it as original as I can.
Looks good on tv, but yeah wow a lot of effort , i’m with you. buy new ones 👍👍👊👊 but like you said if you can’t buy them cause to old. it would be satisfying to do this way,🤙🤙
Lol! I think this is the first "how to" video I watched from beginning to end, only to be told at the end, "Don't do it this way...it takes too long...just buy new plastic!" Ha! I sort of thought that from the beginning but was waiting for some sort of magic. Nonetheless, there are times where I just need to clean up a small section of plastic and I think your suggestions are good for that! Thanks!
I need to try this, unfortunately i cant just go buy plastics, my bike is a 1982 xr200r and its the classic red variety at that, that no one makes the colour of anymore. Its incredibly chalky and faded
I can buy replacements yes, after lots of digging ive found a small few that do make them, but in the new red colour not the old red colour. And ive seen comments about from the same company the front and the back are completely different reds even tho they say they are the same.
Can i do only with sandpaper and without polish the plastics to put graphics decals on or u prefer polishing to? I heard about the torch version too but i dont have it and it sees complicated :) sry for my bad english :D
Es más fácil limpiar bien, lijar y aplicar vinilo que queda muy bien y protege sino directamente comprar plásticos nuevos en vez de perder tanto tiempo...
So, I guess the moral of the story is to go ahead and buy another set of plastics for your bike, even if you don't really need them just yet, and tuck them away in a safe place for later use. If you wait too long, they may stop making the pieces you need.
I tried this spent hours wet-sanding heating up with a torch all the tricks and it just doesn’t come back to how it was like he said save the time buy a $100 plastics kit you’ll thank me later
I've seen people on youtube use a blow torch that makes old crappy plastic come good. czcams.com/video/4R295730vxc/video.html there a plastic buffing kit with the right compund at bunnings. www.bunnings.com.au/craftright-7-piece-buffing-kit_p6360266
I sanded my plastics down recently and used Carpro Perl (car tyre/plastic colour restorer) with decent short term results but I think I'm going to do it again and lacquer them after instead. Should restore the shine and protect from UV fading.
Literally jus put chemical guys tire shine on my quad. Made it brand new from an off green white to dark green
I appreciate his honesty, thanks for the advice and great video 👌🏾
Had the exact same experience. After hours in the garage, a bunch of wasted wet sanding paper(800,1000,2000,4000) a bunch of different polishing compounds and alot of clogged polishing pads all i got were a hazy matt finish. I've polished several cars to perfection but this was different. I later tried heating the plastic with a heat gun which did bring shine to it but it was an absolutely terrible kind of shiny. The rear fender is now in the trash and i will buy a new one for 20 or so bucks. Should have listened to my dad 😂
Use a heat gun
Very interesting, I love saving a buck, you got my vote on this one
Thanks mate lots of work.
Hi Steve. Years ago I repaired the covers on my LTZ400. I tried everything you tried back then and it was a nightmare. I then found a post from someone that reccomended a mix of thinners and boiled linseed oil. It worked like a charm. The deep scratches still needed some manual attention.
I also did the heatgun method, but only use that when your covers are completely clean. Otherwise you will be left with a nice permanent dirty look.
Thanks for the feedback I will give it a try next time because that was a lot of hard work.
Need to finish with 1500 grit sandpaper, then go over with a heat gun, finish with a lambswool buffing pad with NO cutting compound or polish, just the pad.
^wool pad shined my plastic to extremely close to new. Careful with the heat though cause it will off colour it if you put too much to it.
@@farmermike4278do you think I have to worry with white plastics?
I've used the razor blade like that for years but found a way thats way faster at smoothing out most of the lite scratches and shines the plastic back up all at once.
share your secret?
@@victoroneill4381 I'll try and make a video this week I didn't have a old bike with faded plastics but just bought a old xr600 and just got the supplies yesterday actually.
Another thing that worked good enough for me, take a super strong degreaser scrub the heck out of it, lightly sand the tough spots, then spray paint it, then a layer of clear coat had it looking pretty dang good
Thanks for sharing 👍
You make excellent points. It seems like you can work 40 hours plus $30 of razor blades, sandpaper, polish and other supplies to get your old plastics looking nice--or spend $150 on new plastics.
If you want to speed this whole process up, have it look like new and last. Here is what you can do. Cheap $20 electric orbital palm sander. You can still do the razor blade if you want or just start with water and 180 grit then 220/300/400/600/800/1000. For tight spots you will have to sand by hand, but you will be amazed what you can get done with the palm sander and how fast. Once you have your desired color back, use a sheeps wool buffing wheel on a variable speed drill or buffer. Be careful not to heat it up to much with the wool or you will melt the plastic. For added protection you can use auto polish at the end if you want. I also use a heat gun as part of the process but it is not required, it just richens the faded color if needed. If this not for you and new plastic is available then that is a more viable option. But not all plastics are available and if they are the quality and fit can be terrible.
I was going to say check out TNT MOTO his plastic restorations are like all his quality work looks at all options takes his time for perfect results top notch always.
Thanks for the tips TNT
I decided to go to 1200 to make it supper smooth And I got better results Looking like the smoother the better finish . Drill with sheepwool disk and Mothers mag and aluminum pollish . medium to High revs very low pressure Move around burns quickly .
Another great video thanks for sharing I agree just go by new plastics but it's funny because I've been cleaning up my plastics . They're not so bad where they need replaced but they definitely could use a good cleaning I had a hard time getting the deep dirt out and I was polishing some chrome with something called never dull I'm not sure why but I tried it on the plastic and it worked amazing and took out all of the deep dirt my white plastics were white again 😊
Yeah I often try different products just to see what happens. On white plastic wax and grease remover also works.
The problem is that the shine doesnt come back like new. Lots of products will clean the dirt, but nothing seems to get that shine back.
Great video was thinking about giving this ago. Good effort,
but you have saved me a lot of time and I've decided to go for new ones
It's lots of work and only worth it if you can't buy new ones.
I did the same thing when I got my old banger to get back into riding, after the last sand, instead of a buff, I was told to try running a heat gun over it. Worked ok. Not wrong about it being time consuming though! (a few beers helps pass the time!)
Yeah my heat gun is broken.
So glad your honest about it. Yeah for $20 i’m buying new
Try putting a bit of heat on the plastic
It shines it very good
And also amazing video as always😀😁
Thanks mate my heat gun packed it in so I had to puff it instead.
using a heat gun boils out the plasticizers/softeners, so it will start to crack after a few weeks. Had this problem on my Honda XL...
I've used PC Racing Plastic Restoration Kits before with REALLY good success.
Thanks mate I will check it out.
Hey mate what a video I’ve always wanted to try and clean my plastics on my bike and this video really helped thanks mate
Glad it helped but its a lot of work..
Broken Sprocket yeah it was but I like the results thanks for you video mate
Looks mint. He must own a plastics making factory as he kept saying it’s garbage
A heatgun would help! It melts the old plastic and reactivates it. I get great results
I wish I had a purchase option for my 1984 XL project. Thank You for sharing.
i am dong a 83 XL. same issue. did you find any solution?
@@nigebake Unfortunately nothing after market. I purchased used in very good condition.
I guess you finally hit your limit of how much time you're willing to put in refurbishing a part, it's just not worth it.
No it's not worth it when you can grab new ones for a good price.
@@BrokenSprocket well this video is helpful since the bike I'm restoring you can't buy plastics for good video mate
This was very useful to me because i cant buy all Yamaha dt 50 2003-2011 plastics and you can only buy single piece and all plastics can cost over 300$ or 350ish€
@@BrokenSprocket I have a Honda atc that is in really good condition, Looking to spruce up the plastics as they have dulled a bit and I want to keep it as original as I can.
it is if you cant buy plastics for your bike
When you were doing it I was thinking this is a lot of work, I have an entire bike to do 😁
Mate it was a lot of work so good luck with your bike lol...
@@BrokenSprocket your video convinced me ti just buy a set, they are only $189 AUD. thanks for saving me a lot of frustration 👌
I,d only do this if new parts are not available.
Thank you very much , you are great guy.Greetings from Czech rep.
Wow this is great! I know it's an old video but thank you for the tutorial.
Thanks mate appreciate the feedback.
Looks good on tv, but yeah wow a lot of effort , i’m with you. buy new ones 👍👍👊👊 but like you said if you can’t buy them cause to old. it would be satisfying to do this way,🤙🤙
Thanks mate up close you can see imprefections way to much work for some plastics.
Thinking about doing this can’t find plastics for my bike just gotta get the wrap off
Lol! I think this is the first "how to" video I watched from beginning to end, only to be told at the end, "Don't do it this way...it takes too long...just buy new plastic!" Ha! I sort of thought that from the beginning but was waiting for some sort of magic. Nonetheless, there are times where I just need to clean up a small section of plastic and I think your suggestions are good for that! Thanks!
Yeah it's good for fuel tanks or plastics that are not available any more but to much work for the everyday plastics.
Very helpful bud thanx 👍
Instead of a razor blade I've use stealwool pads, keep them wet as your working. Then rinse, dry.. lightly hit with a heat gun.
Cheers bro, was what I needed to see 👍
You think a heat gun would help?
Why didn't you apply clear coat without having to polish the guard with si many different buffing heads
Thanks For Your Video…. Very Helpful….
Nice!! What backing track did you use? adds a really calming feel to the video?
Lightly grazing it with a torch will bring the shine back.
Bloody mint video mate
Thanks mate appreciate the feedback.
Quick scrib and flash with blow torch take seconds vs hours
Great video like always 👍🏻
Appreciate that.
I need to try this, unfortunately i cant just go buy plastics, my bike is a 1982 xr200r and its the classic red variety at that, that no one makes the colour of anymore. Its incredibly chalky and faded
I can buy replacements yes, after lots of digging ive found a small few that do make them, but in the new red colour not the old red colour. And ive seen comments about from the same company the front and the back are completely different reds even tho they say they are the same.
What's the best way to fix stripped out fuel tank plastic bolt holes. Like the ones for the radiator shroud bolts.
Plastic glue.
for the shine buff with linseed oil
Where you find them wheels for the drill bit at? What they are call looks like a eraser but looks like cotton like fabric at the end of it?
Thank u
Is there a easier faster way to take the scratches out with the blade
when you sand it is the chalkyness sposed to come back?
Can i do only with sandpaper and without polish the plastics to put graphics decals on or u prefer polishing to? I heard about the torch version too but i dont have it and it sees complicated :) sry for my bad english :D
That's freaking great work man that looks shiny to me man that's outstanding
Thanks mate appreciate the feedback
Good review. I’m not into polishing a terd💩 either.
Es más fácil limpiar bien, lijar y aplicar vinilo que queda muy bien y protege sino directamente comprar plásticos nuevos en vez de perder tanto tiempo...
So, I guess the moral of the story is to go ahead and buy another set of plastics for your bike, even if you don't really need them just yet, and tuck them away in a safe place for later use. If you wait too long, they may stop making the pieces you need.
It's not worth doing if you can buy new plastics for your bike that's for sure.
@@BrokenSprocket You'll never have to twist my arm to buy parts to replace perfectly good other parts. It's a man thing, I think. LOL
🤣😂👍
I might have to do this... I’m trying to find plastics for a 1986 Yamaha XT600 and can’t find any
Good luck lots of work ahead.
Broken Sprocket Thank you and wouldn’t some clear coat finish on the plastics fill the cracks and chips?
@@rv_jumpshotz1139 I'm not sure if it will flake off over time.
Would not recommend. Definitely not in curved and narrow areas. It will makes deep cuts and look worse
unfortunatly this didnt work for me on my suzuki plastics, hope other people where more succesfull tho!
anyone else try to blow that bug away from their computer at 0:55?
Yeah I was doing that when I was editing the video lol.
How did it hold up?
Why not just grab a da sander hit it with that and just heat it up with a torch
Thanks mate that could also work appreciate the feedback...
good job brod
Mabe heat it up with. Heat gun to finish it?
Man that looked heaps better 👌
Thanks mate looks good on camera up close you can see imperfections .
Good tutorial, but unless you’re doing a classic restoration... just buy the $20 fender
And don't forget, wax on wax off...
I would use a SOS pad afterwards with oil on it
I'm sure if you put a clear coat on it after it'd be shiny
Gotta be happy with that
G'day guys!
what bike is that plastics from?
2003 RM125
I tried this spent hours wet-sanding heating up with a torch all the tricks and it just doesn’t come back to how it was like he said save the time buy a $100 plastics kit you’ll thank me later
Well done quick fix I reckon
You can put some grease or something on it if you want the extra shine
Idk a fenders like 20 or 30 bucks, I'm sure you used that in materials or more doing this, good try though
Awsome! But Takes to long
Good on ya for having a crack.
Thanks mate appreciate it.
Change this video title to........ Don't try to restore this plastic, just buy it new.
plastic is cheap.. buy a new one.. good experiment though... but nah, ill throw the old one and spend more time in my dirt bike
How to restore old plastics..
Buy new ones 🤣🤣🤣
Lol on the camera it looks new
Museum work. You'd hate to get any dirt on it after spending $100 of your time on it.
😉👍 for sure
Kurde chłopie, przyjedź do Polski
Meh, good enough for me
I've seen people on youtube use a blow torch that makes old crappy plastic come good. czcams.com/video/4R295730vxc/video.html there a plastic buffing kit with the right compund at bunnings. www.bunnings.com.au/craftright-7-piece-buffing-kit_p6360266
Thanks for the feedback I will look for the buffing kit next time I'm at Bunnings .
So this video is mislabeled then - it should be "Don't even attempt to restore plastics..."
It depends on how much time you have lol...
My poor ass can't buy new ones thanks
Shoin
Change the title to something honest, not clickbait
WTF. wasted time again
🤣😂🤣 I'm good at that.
I sanded my plastics down recently and used Carpro Perl (car tyre/plastic colour restorer) with decent short term results but I think I'm going to do it again and lacquer them after instead. Should restore the shine and protect from UV fading.
Yeah mate should work well..
Any updates on this? lol