Scratched screen

[gipsymagpie]

My bike decided it loved my car so much that it wanted to give it a kiss as I wheeled it out of the garage. Sadly both car and bike decided kissing was bad. Now they are both looking a bit worse for wear.

Don't much care about the car (its old and I'll get it fixed eventually) but the bike is a bit more deserving of attention. An indicator popped off (brilliant design BMW ) which took 2 secs to put back on with no damage. The front screen mounts snapped (saving the screen from cracking...again nice one BMW ). New mounts £8. So cheap so far. (wonder what would have snapped if I'd fitted those Touratech hard parts?) But...

Big gouge in the screen. Got some scratch removal stuff (lots of very fine sandpaper blast yes I know!!!) like stuff) and it removed the scratch perfectly. Sadly the finish is not just quite right. Lots of very fine scratches left. Damn.

So...can I use anything to get rid of these scratches? I'd like some suggestions before I either:

A. Buy a new screen.

B. Put something even worse than sandpaper on the screen.

Cheers. BTW its an original GS screen.

 

[MIKE R]

I had a MRA Vario (not touring) screen on my standard 12GS. Much better than the original for about the same price and almost as good as the screen on my 12gsa.

It also means that if you sell your trusty steed (esp p.ex) you have the option of putting the standard screen back on and selling your MRA to another GSer on this site. Far cheaper in the long run.

Mike

 

[The White Rabbit]

I think the screens were only about £40 +vat if that is any consolation. I bought a spare as I chopped mine (before aftermarket shorter ones were available to take away my cash :-( )

 

[Hookster]

My bike decided it loved my car so much that it wanted to give it a kiss as I wheeled it out of the garage. Sadly both car and bike decided kissing was bad. Now they are both looking a bit worse for wear.

Don't much care about the car (its old and I'll get it fixed eventually) but the bike is a bit more deserving of attention. An indicator popped off (brilliant design BMW ) which took 2 secs to put back on with no damage. The front screen mounts snapped (saving the screen from cracking...again nice one BMW ). New mounts £8. So cheap so far. (wonder what would have snapped if I'd fitted those Touratech hard parts?) But...

Big gouge in the screen. Got some scratch removal stuff (lots of very fine sandpaper blast yes I know!!!) like stuff) and it removed the scratch perfectly. Sadly the finish is not just quite right. Lots of very fine scratches left. Damn.

So...can I use anything to get rid of these scratches? I'd like some suggestions before I either:

A. Buy a new screen.

B. Put something even worse than sandpaper on the screen.

Cheers. BTW its an original GS screen.

Toothpaste. Works on scratched CD's and DVD's too. Ot Brasso, Duraglit other fine abrasives will also be an improvement. Elbow grease or Dremel polishing/buffing bits. All good fun.

 

[Booth]

I second toothpaste. Use it annually on both our car's headlights & tail lights, really smooths out all the nicks from road grime getting kicked up into them. Also helps on "smoky" or oxidized plastic. Cheap too! Just make sure you use the paste, the gel doesn't work.

 

[Jonny_L]

Did you use cutting compound? That'll probably mess it up

I'm in the same boat, not as bad but I've got a load of horrible little scratches on my screen. Toothpaste sounds like an interesting idea for smaller scratches, might give that a go. If all else fails at least my screen will be minty fresh

Edit: Oh yeah, if you did use cutting compound, it might be worth trying some autoglym paint renovator on a small patch. It's a very very smooth grade of compound designed to finish the job after you use the tough stuff.

 

[TheWarlock]

I used Solvol Autosol metal polish and a polishing mop to remove scratches from an RT screen. Did the job nicely.

 

[Dave Cr]

I removed some scratches on my screen with Meguiars 'PlasteX'. Costs about £6 a bottle at Halfords. Worth a try, I reckon. Good luck.

 

[Doofus]

Hi

A minor word of caution about using a Dremel instead of elbow grease - I once tried a cotton bud in a Dremel with a plastics polish (the sort for PVC convertible car rear windows) on a plastic watch face. With only a little pressure - but high speed - it went like a hot knife through butter.

Low speed and low pressure I'd recommend.

Darren

 

[Husky]

Xerapol plastic polish

I did something similar with my 1150. It had a deep gouge so I used a file on the area to get it flat and then moved up to 1200 grade wet and dry. The miracle cure was final polishing with Xerapol from Hein Gericke. It certainly worked for me.

 

[gipsymagpie]

Autoglym Super Resin Polish

Decided to experiment a little...tried Autoglym's Super Resin Polish (red square on bottle). And shock of shocks it worked an absolute treat. Hurrah. And now water beads up and rolls off as an added bonus.

Cheers for all the advice though (and I still secretly want an ADV screen...)

 

[Jonny_L]

Sweet, thanks for experimenting, I'll give it a go on mine sometime

 

[John Gates]

Spare standard GS screen

PM me and make me an offer, brand new unused.

 

[gipsymagpie]

I'd love to PM you but it won't let me! I would like a nice brand new screen but I'd rather not make a public bid!

 

[camel_landy]

Screen???

Oh... So that's what that thing, covered in sh1te, on the front of the bike is!!!

Don't worry, after you've dropped the bike a couple of times it'll fall off anyway...

M

 

[andyclift]

The finest wet and dry followed by Solvol Autosol applied with cotton wool balls and finish with silver polish wadding and lots of time. It's worked so well on visors and screens that the finish is arguably better than the original.

 

[STUBBS]

leave them and make up a fantastic off road incident