I was a little braver than I should have been on a large very steep hill climb and laid the bike down half way up the hill and got a few scratches on the orange tank plastics and also the back side plastics. SInce I was solo and half way up the hill it was a bit of a challenge to man handle the bike back into a position I could point it down the hill. Also broke both front and rear clear blinker plastics on left side but that is a easy fix. I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions for buffing out the scratches. the ones on the tank aren't deep but the ones on the back plastics are pretty deep. I can live with it and not worry but it sucks having a bike with little over 1k in miles looking so tough so quickly. Also to add insult to injury I was getting hot in my Arai XD helmet and tried to put it down on the ground when I was holding my bike up and trying to keep the hand brake engaged. Needless to say that was a mistake and becuase the grade of the hill was so steep my nice helmet started rolling down the hill. It finally stopped after 300ft or so with some nice big dents and scrathes in it.. Hindsight is 20/20 I guess. Bodi
Leave em be!! Nothing like a few battle scars on a bike to let ya know you are riding it! Lol! My philosophy on that is if you want a show pony buy a shetland! But on a helpful note. I have seen rubbing compound and some plastic renew used to some success after a buddy looped his brothers brand new bike when he was not even supposed to be riding it. Oops!
Ive heard of using a gas torch to melt and blend scratches in. I would certainly test it out first before I would attack my own tank and preferably empty.
Pretty sure Autozone sells scratch removal paste. Never tried it but it might work on plastic. For the big scratches on the rear panel I've no idea. The torch sounds like it might work but it'd probably take a few trial and error's to get proficient using it.
That's why they make them...and you, in particular, having studiously rubbed your bike against a hill(hopefully rock strewn), have now earned the right to adorn your bike with some real cool ADV stickers. Here you go: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=257578
Don't use a torch. These tanks are painted over the plastic. Not just colored plastic like the IMS or Clarke type tanks. I finally gave up on scratch removal.
Bummer there! My personal philosophy is if you don't want to scratch it don't use it! On the other hand it will be a pisser when I get my first scratches on my new bike. It's coming though! steve
I am guessing you are suggesting a knobby tire. Well even on my wr450 this is a tough hill to climb. I just wanted to try it on the 990. Bodi
With the "try" statement and scratched tank means you didn't make it with the 950 either. Just wasn't meant to be. :eek1
YIKES! Sounds like a recipe for an explosion to me. If your going to work with spark or fire around the tank you had better fill it with a non flamable gas - I welded a tank before safely by simply piping the exhaust from my car through the tank. My friend brazed his "empty" tank without taking measures and well he looked funny without eyebrows! (lucky) Buy some stickers?
Ouch. Rub a little salt in that wound! I'm with ya, Bodi. I just had a 1.5mph get-off in the middle of a rock pile. What can you do ? Every ending is a new beginning.
I've hade more get-offs on my 950 getting on and off of it than riding it. The best one was my wife mounting and throwing her weight to the far side. Over we went.
Pretty much anything you try in terms of buffing, sanding, plastic welding, painting will make it cosmetically worse, not better. Replacing the tank protectors if the scratches are low is cheap and fast. New tanks would of course solve the problem but are uber-expensive, then you get to scratch them again. Put a FYYFF sticker on and call it done...
It's a big dirt bike. I know it's painful the first time, but it's gonna happen again. And again. And again. Personally, I wonder about someone with one of these bikes without any deep scratches.
I wouldn't feel bad dude. I just got my KTM 990 Adv in May 2013, and not even 3 months later, this happened: I was devastated at first, but a week later, it looks kinda "cool" and all my friend say it will happen again, so just remember, its those "battle scars" that give your bike character. This is my first post (I think) and Im writing to you all the way from Sunny South Africa. Here are some awesome photos I took shortly after my fall, makes it all worth it now doesnt it. Enjoy!
The best advise yet. Hell, ya might as well throw an M80 in the tank with some of the tool box answers you get here. This place never ceases to amaze me at what folks wth absolutely no farkin clue tell you what to do. Plastic is tough to bring back even for the most experienced restorers, it is not a simple rubbing compound job. Live with it or replace it, but plastic ain't cheap.
Always weird to see something you posted five years ago quoted and brought back from the dark recesses of ADVrider...
