Pannier Cases scratches

[marcopol]

Plastic BMW touring side pannier lids. Mine are scratched and I realise that the scratches cannot be removed but is there any proven way of making them less noticable other than putting stickers all over them. One suggestion was to use a black shoe dye, anything else.

Thanks

 

[how much]

Marco

the panniers come in two variety's........


the ones that sit in the back of the wardrobe unused and are scratch free.....

or the ones that get used...... and look great.....


"oh yeh! last time i was in Morroco..........................




how much

 

[JoeC gs1150se]

BUT, In the cool light of day ,,does it really matter ,, do you give a toss?
Whatever you do and how ever many you buy ,,they'll all end up the same way, lol.. We need to accept that whatever goes on these bikes is going to get mullered in one way shape or form, so best to just enjoy . IMHO.
Happy days , Joe C

 

[mikepg]

They look much better with dents in them too!!!!

(sorry marcopol - you can't keep them looking brand new forever!!!!)

 

[MIKE R]

Plastic BMW touring side pannier lids. Mine are scratched and I realise that the scratches cannot be removed but is there any proven way of making them less noticable other than putting stickers all over them. One suggestion was to use a black shoe dye, anything else.

Thanks

Try using a black 'scratch fill in' crayon from Halfords, with 'Back to Black'. To lessen the chances of future scratches use a silicon spray like Silkolene Pro Prep......clumsy boots etc have more chance of sliding off rather that gouging the plastic.

My panniers are still like new after about 60K miles. I like them that way and don't concur with the damaged looks cool point of view. All IMHO of of course.

Mike

 

[mpjbiker]

Rub down with fine wet and dry, fill if necessary with flexible filler, respray with plastikote satin finish black, job done!

 

[Jonny_L]

That's better, I can post on this thread now. Thanks Bryn
First ever post in the old bangers section too Sorry, I'll keep it on topic...

Right, here's a little trick I learned from the guys over on R1150R.net. Get some car shampoo (like autoglym shampoo) in water and some fine wire wool. Clean the cases thoroughly so you don't get any more scratches from grit and stuff. Lightly work at the scratches with the wire wool in a circular motion, keeping it nice and wet with the soapy water. Dry it off, you might need to do a couple of bits again, but only use the wire wool on scratches, not on the smooth bits or you'll wear off the finish. Scrub lightly for the light scratches and a bit more heavily for the deeper ones.

Get it all nice and dry and polish them up with some autoglym vinyl and rubber care, the stuff that comes out bright green. You can probably use other brands but I'm an autoglym freak.

Not all the scratches go completely, but it's a very easy way of making them much less obvious, you really don't notice unless you look closely. What you end up with is instead of scratches, some overly smooth bits. The polish then brings it all to a nice uniformed shiny black. I bought some proper ratty panniers off ebay and they ended up looking superb. I'll see if I've got a before and after piccy somewhere later.

The other route is to sand them down and paint them, you can go the matching colours route that way which is cool, but this one takes about 15 mins, 20 if you're being thorough and costs maybe a tenner, worth a go

 

[BikerBob]

Good post from Jonny. The other approach I've used on plastics is to use Halfords Rubbing Compound (in a tube) or similar. Slightly more abrasive than T-Cut but very good at polishing out scuffs in plastic.

Whilst some people might think scuffed panniers look "cool" it won't be what buyers are thinking when you come to sell! They'll be more likely thinking the owner hasn't been taking due care & attention and what else has been neglected! Only my opinion of course

Regards Bob

 

[cookie]

i sanded out the scratches on one once, applied cellulose thinner, then stippled with a rag while tacky.

worked ok, but risky

 

[marcopol]

Eureka

Best result has been to lightly abrade the scuffed areas with some carbide steel wool and then apply a Turtle Wax product called Black Chrome. Big improvement.

 

[marcopol]

Sorry,"some carbide steel wool" should have read as "a nylon scouring pad containing silicon carbide". These are available in most tool shops are through Radionics (RS catalogue)

 

[ahebron]

On the set of panniers I got with my R1150GS I used automotive filler to fill scratches and holes, sanded the cases smooth then painted with black bumper paint after masking badges and locks. Looks great.

 

[Packer]

Try using a black 'scratch fill in' crayon from Halfords, with 'Back to Black'. To lessen the chances of future scratches use a silicon spray like Silkolene Pro Prep......clumsy boots etc have more chance of sliding off rather that gouging the plastic.

My panniers are still like new after about 60K miles. I like them that way and don't concur with the damaged looks cool point of view. All IMHO of of course.

Mike

That's not a working GS it's a museum exhibit Should look more like this although the picture fails to do justice to the various scratches and marks on he panniers

Taken on arrival home from East Midlands 2007!