Triumphrat

TigerLilly · 01-26-2006

The fairing was knocked about and scored in a recent accident. The local insurance assessor reckons that a fill and paint will do the job.

Can't say that I am too happy about this as I reckon the quality of the work looks OK at the start and breaks down with time, vibration and the weather. This also happened when insurance deal is done and assessor is neatly off side.

I have let my dealership know that I am not happy about and they are to go back to the assessor. Whats everyone else's experiences and does anyone know of anything to throw at him that isn't just hearsay.

Ta

TigerLilly

djr · 01-26-2006

If the bodywork is only scratched, (even a fair gouge), it can be repaired and resprayed. When i had to drop my TT600 the RHS fairing took a fair gouging but the local Mercedes garage (next door to my dealers) had a good spray shop and they sorted it out. When it was done you would not have known. The only issue they had was that they didnt want to heat cure the paint in case of causing problems with the plastics.

This is fine , provided the fairing is NOT CRACKED, IMHO

TigerLilly · 01-26-2006

Years ago my husband had his VF750FD fairing repaired. A few years after that the varnish raised and evenually chipped. Co-incidence or a bad job that you can't detect at the time?

tyrebyter · 01-27-2006

The plastics are primed and painted when new and can be primed and painted for repair. The quality of the job will determine longevity. Finding a good body-and-paint guy is like finding a good doctor. Well, actually it's worse; painting is a black art. I've always been able to figure out if a mechanic was full of dung, but painters are a whole other animal. Are they going to paint the whole piece or try to blend the repair area?

TucsonBill · 01-27-2006

I built my Tiger from parts I got on eBay. The front cowl was cracked all the way through and had plenty of accessory scrapes around the fracture. My paint guy patched the crack from the inside with some cloth and magic resin and it's better than new! There's a raised area on the inside behind the instruments, but Only I - and now you - know about it. With all the plastic on cars, the repair methods are really effective. The primers and paints are really good if applied by a painter who knows what he's doing. If you can get the bike to Eric's in Tucson, I can assure you that Gary will do it right. The weather is really nice this time of year in Arizona, and we could run up to the Grand Canyon once the bike's fixed!
Wally 1 or 2 would love to pay for the trip!
You know if you get a new part, the Tiger's going to fall over at the petrol station.......

djr · 01-28-2006

You really cant compare the paints/techniques used for plastics from years ago to the ones used today. As has been said, if you get a "good" sprayshop you should have no problems with this.

Tigerfeet · 01-28-2006

A Lot depends on the quality of the paint used for the repair if you use Dupont as Triumph do, then you should not have a problem.
TF.

TigerLilly · 01-30-2006

Thanks for the replies - I have managed to shift the insurance company to a new fairing. My concerns were things like dropping or being dropped again and then being told that as I already had an old fairing little effort had to be made, so quality spiraled downwards. Or ending up with a job that looked great on day 1 but not day 1000 and having to pick up the issue myself. Now I know that what I have is whatever I started with.

TusconBill - Your invitation is good especially having seen the Dec. issue of Torque. It is however a few months too late. I was in Arizona in November for work - lucky me. I did meet with one AZ bike man to whom I passed a copy of 'Bike', given the lack of decent motorcycle mags in America he was grateful.