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350TSS · 04-12-2020, 04:32 PM

Two steps forward today and the inevitable one step backwards. The seat and the fly screen got a rub down with 2000 and 4000 grit abrapads then a couple of coats of lacquer each. Subject to a cut back with 4000 grit and some polishing compound the seat and fly screen are now as good as they are going to get. I am only very slightly disappointed with the outcome on these two parts.

Tomorrow I will remove the masking tape/ paper from the seat and connect up the rear light harness and fit the seat. Subsequently with the camera mounted I should be able to complete the wiring for the rear view camera and test the monitor on the instrument panel.

The fly screen will probably take a little longer as a) I cannot remember how I fitted it during the dry build (it is so long ago) and b) I will have to make sure the interface with the headlamp and the bezel is as tidy as possible. I have some 10mm x 3mm x 10mm U shaped rubber moulding which I hope to use to finesse the gap between the slightly elliptical hole in the front of the fly screen and the very definitely circular headlamp bezel. I have a small amount of up and down and fore and aft adjustment on the headlamp shell mounting but I can see this job being a bit fiddly although the slightly domed profile of the bezel should help.
The step backwards was taking the decals off the tank. These were not lacquered in and the adhesive onto the tank was strong. I tried peeling it with my fingernail but after an hour or so had only manage to remove about 5 square centimetres of one decal. So I tried gently warming the decal with a heat gun. This was a big mistake, all it succeeded in doing was making the adhesive very, very strong, so strong in fact that when the decal was lifted it pulled the paint with it. Worse, where it did not remove the paint the remnants of the adhesive were baked on yet still sticky to the touch. I tried all sorts of available solvents (brake cleaner, methylated spirits, white spirit, Hammerite thinners, petrol. I stopped short of using acetone as that would have ended very badly). The only way to remove it was with wet and dry. The whole tank will now need re-painting. It is not as if I have anything better to do.

04-12-2020, 04:32 PM	#1299
350TSS Too much time on my hands member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Shipbourne Bike: M900 Posts: 1,419	Two steps forward today and the inevitable one step backwards. The seat and the fly screen got a rub down with 2000 and 4000 grit abrapads then a couple of coats of lacquer each. Subject to a cut back with 4000 grit and some polishing compound the seat and fly screen are now as good as they are going to get. I am only very slightly disappointed with the outcome on these two parts. Tomorrow I will remove the masking tape/ paper from the seat and connect up the rear light harness and fit the seat. Subsequently with the camera mounted I should be able to complete the wiring for the rear view camera and test the monitor on the instrument panel. The fly screen will probably take a little longer as a) I cannot remember how I fitted it during the dry build (it is so long ago) and b) I will have to make sure the interface with the headlamp and the bezel is as tidy as possible. I have some 10mm x 3mm x 10mm U shaped rubber moulding which I hope to use to finesse the gap between the slightly elliptical hole in the front of the fly screen and the very definitely circular headlamp bezel. I have a small amount of up and down and fore and aft adjustment on the headlamp shell mounting but I can see this job being a bit fiddly although the slightly domed profile of the bezel should help. The step backwards was taking the decals off the tank. These were not lacquered in and the adhesive onto the tank was strong. I tried peeling it with my fingernail but after an hour or so had only manage to remove about 5 square centimetres of one decal. So I tried gently warming the decal with a heat gun. This was a big mistake, all it succeeded in doing was making the adhesive very, very strong, so strong in fact that when the decal was lifted it pulled the paint with it. Worse, where it did not remove the paint the remnants of the adhesive were baked on yet still sticky to the touch. I tried all sorts of available solvents (brake cleaner, methylated spirits, white spirit, Hammerite thinners, petrol. I stopped short of using acetone as that would have ended very badly). The only way to remove it was with wet and dry. The whole tank will now need re-painting. It is not as if I have anything better to do.