Possible To Buff Out Faded Fairings?

I have a red 1991 VFR that I want to "freshen up." My dad actually is a professional-turned-hobbyist body shop and painter extraordinairre, so we like painting projects. :cool: My viffer has some faded panels on it. The main areas are the tail and the semi-horizontal parts of the mid-fairings (the area you see when seated). The thing is, this bike will never be perfect. There are some small chips in the tank, and the front fairing has already been replaced/repainted. So it would take some work to get the paint perfectly matched on all of the fairings. I am not looking for a full resto, just enough to make the bike a better "20-footer."

I know I will paint the tail of the bike. The question now is if I can revive the "upper surfaces" of the mid-fairings without having to paint them entirely. If I paint them entirely, I will have to hope for a good paint match and I will have to remove the VFR decals and get new ones.

My main question is, what sort of paint am I up against on these fairings? Is this a single stage, or were these bikes painted with clear coat? How much luck has anyone else had with polishing out the faded parts of the fairings? I have an orbital buffer, but i need to buy pads for it. Right now the color of the faded mid fairings is a faded red, they look kinda pinkish when contrasted with the nice, glossy red of the front fairing that they sit next to.

The other option I have considered, if the OEM was indeed a single stage paint, is to just paint the faded upper parts of the mid-fairings. I can spray it in such a way as to fan the paint across the top, keeping the paint away from the other parts. This would not work with a clearcoat finish though, since clear coat cannot be blended.

Here is a pic, you can sorta see the difference between the front fairing paint and mid fairing paint (just below the clutch lever in the pic).

[image: Posted Image]

Matching older red paint can be really tough. I say paint the whole thing if it is an option.

Give that girl a fresh coat and you won't regret it. It's really easy if you don't have any damage, you could have her done in a day if you have a painter set up in the family!

Scuff all the parts with scuffing paste and a red Scotchbrite pad, prime/seal/color/clear, done. Enjoy!

I am not going to repaint the whole bike. At least, not anytime soon. Blending everything well would be my priority. I don't want to mess with all that unless I have this bike for a while, and then I know my heart will be in it. That's the reason i will paint the tail; it doesn't have to match anything else because it has no adjacent panels. If I like the way that turns out, I will paint the rest at another time.

I am really just looking for buffing advice on the mid fairings. With this much fade, is it even worth a try?

Geez, that`s my year(90-93) pick for the prettiest VFR. If my dad was a painter I`d ask him. And then I`d paint the entire bike.

I am not going to repaint the whole bike. At least, not anytime soon. Blending everything well would be my priority. I don't want to mess with all that unless I have this bike for a while, and then I know my heart will be in it. That's the reason i will paint the tail; it doesn't have to match anything else because it has no adjacent panels. If I like the way that turns out, I will paint the rest at another time.

I am really just looking for buffing advice on the mid fairings. With this much fade, is it even worth a try?

Buffing isn't going to help you one bit if the pigment is faded. You'd be cutting away all the clear to get a new layer of red out, and, by the way, factory paint is very thin. Blend it if you must, but believe it or not, it's easier to repaint the entire bike.

I will give you Timmy's advice: Paint it flat black. Otherwise, what you have already heard. I have done a fair amount of painting and it will be too noticeable if you try and blend in a new red to the old. You could try one of those color match computer deals at the auto paint store but I have never had good results with them when it comes to motorcycle colors. IDK why, it just doesn't seem to work that well when it comes to bikes. Good luck.

Yeah i know that blending is not really going to work. But right now the fairing looks pink when compared to the front fairing, so anything red is better than what it has now.

I have painted two different items on a car on different days, using the same exact paint, and gotten a different shade. Temperature, humidity, it all affects paint color. I do know that. What I am proposing is a solution for the short term. Because if I decide to paint the whole bike, it probably won't happen until next spring.

I'd just wait till the spring then, if I were you. But, it's your bike.

Buffing isn't going to help you one bit if the pigment is faded. You'd be cutting away all the clear to get a new layer of red out, and, by the way, factory paint is very thin. Blend it if you must, but believe it or not, it's easier to repaint the entire bike.

I gotta agree here. Blending seems like a huge PITA when compared to simply repainting everything. You could easily spend much. much time trying to blend than simply taking everything off and spraying it with a fresh coat. Red is notoriously difficult to match and blend.

Just my two cents, but that sounds like A LOT of work.

Sounds like your not getting the answer you want here so I will give it a shot.

You will need a variable speed buffer, a variety of cutters (start with a medium to light cutter, better to do it again than take too much off at the first try), when finished with the cutters you will need a variety of polishing compounds. There is a processes to the polishing compounds as with the cutters. You will continue to go lighter and lighter finishing with a carnuba based finishing polish, etc.

One good thing you have going for you in this process is your Dad. If he is as compitant as you say, then he will have all the cutters and polishing compounds you will need lined up in order of cours to fine. With the cutters, start light in an area not too noticable. If it looks like it is not doing the trick then go to a heavier cutter. I would not take the plastics off the bike since this is just a "quick fix"...just more work. The results will vary yet, you will end up with a deeper red than pink if you do it right. There are also color compound cutters and color polish that you could try to get a deeper red. No match or anything but better than pink.

Like most have mentioned it may take you quite awhile to get remotely close to the results your looking for...that is why everyone is telling you to just paint them. It may take you longer to complete this process than it would take to repaint everything but, you never know. Color Rite has the closest match to OEM that I have found. Still temp, humidity, gun, flow, etc. all plays a role in the results. You have the ideal set up because your dad probably has access to a paint booth...lucky bastage.

Anyway...Good luck and hope this helps.

Brand new red fairings from honda dont even match. I bought a new set and every panel is a slightly diffirent color. It is not real noticeable but I can see it even if others dont.

Okay, thanks for all the replies. i think i will just wait until i am ready to paint the whole bike. On the one hand, I feel like I should have a bike that I can be more proud of in terms aesthetics. But then I realize I have a VFR, and that is lucky enough for now. Other riders still respect the bike, so it's all gravy.

A faded VFR is better than a pristine example of anything else http://www.vfrdiscus...tyle_emoticons/default/smile.gif

Okay, thanks for all the replies. i think i will just wait until i am ready to paint the whole bike. On the one hand, I feel like I should have a bike that I can be more proud of in terms aesthetics. But then I realize I have a VFR, and that is lucky enough for now. Other riders still respect the bike, so it's all gravy.

A faded VFR is better than a pristine example of anything else http://www.vfrdiscus...tyle_emoticons/default/smile.gif

I've had good luck on faded red paint, especially on plastic, with this stuff... Color Magic

It lasts a couple of months or so, then reapply.