After cleaning my bike, I noticed what I thought were a few small grey mud splashes I had missed on the black plastic at the front of the beak. They didn't want to wipe off so I scraped one with my fingernail. Oh ho - not a mud splash at all but an area of a very thin greyish, translucent plastic film that had de-laminated from the plastic beneath.
I guess it's some sort of lacquer that may well cover the whole bike for all I know. Certainly I would expect any black plastic like the front of the beak and this includes the front mudguard, fork protectors etc. to be similarly coated.
I have no idea what it does or if it's important but I suspect one should leave it alone rather than start peeling it off.
A separate observation is that the black plastic on the sides of the back (aft of the radiator) is painted black over what appears to be a yellow undercoat (I have a bumblebee). A couple of scratches I hadn't noticed earlier have revealed this.
I guess it's some sort of lacquer that may well cover the whole bike for all I know. Certainly I would expect any black plastic like the front of the beak and this includes the front mudguard, fork protectors etc. to be similarly coated.
I have no idea what it does or if it's important but I suspect one should leave it alone rather than start peeling it off.
A separate observation is that the black plastic on the sides of the back (aft of the radiator) is painted black over what appears to be a yellow undercoat (I have a bumblebee). A couple of scratches I hadn't noticed earlier have revealed this.