Reconditioning Plastic

[Demonthrall]

Are there any products for reconditioning some of the plastic parts on my bike? The part I am thinking of in particular is the black plastic housing around my tach and speedo (1982 gs550l)

[simon kuether]

Black boot polish (thanks again Matchless) .

Cheers , Simon .

[UncleMike]

S-100 sells several products to do this.

[Mysuzyq]

Check out Back To Black by Mothers....supposedly good stuff. I should too...picked up a bottle on sale last year, but have not tried it yet. Fill us in on the results, if you do try it.

[tas850g]

i tried the back to black on my gauge cluster and didn't have good luck with it. It is still a light faded black. Did not darken it up. Maybe i need to apply a number of coats. I also tried it on my tailpiece with little to no luck. Maybe the one coat wasn't enough.

[UncleMike]

Black boot polish (thanks again Matchless) .

Cheers , Simon .

So you get black shoepolish on you anytime you touch the gauge cluster?

[Mysuzyq]

i tried the back to black on my gauge cluster and didn't have good luck with it. It is still a light faded black. Did not darken it up. Maybe i need to apply a number of coats.

Hmm, I don't know if it calls for multiple coats, offhand....but here is another product that has actual black dye in it, to restore very faded black trim surfaces....called Forever Black. If you have black boot polish handy, might as well give Simon's method a whirl too.

[nvr2old]

You could clean it off really well with lacquer thinner and shoot a couple of coats of black semi-gloss Plasticoat or a vinyl spray paint and it'll look brand new.

[Demonthrall]

Im gonna try the black shoe polish on a small spot. seems like it would work in theory

[ddaniels]

The button on my left-hand controls was faded, so I used a permanent black marker to darken it. Worked good.

[simon kuether]

So you get black shoepolish on you anytime you touch the gauge cluster?

No... Same like shoes . "Polish" it . Shines up your gauges glass as well .

Cheers , Simon .

[UncleMike]

No... Same like shoes . "Polish" it . Shines up your gauges glass as well .

Cheers , Simon .

Nice! Didn't think the plastic would be porous enough!

[rudy]

I have a bottle of "Back to Black". I've found it actually works pretty well. You may have to do two or three applications if it's really bad. I use it on my mirror housings on bikes and cars, and they look brand spankin new. Protects the plastic a bit as well. Good stuff.

The trick is, don't be stingy while putting it on either. Load up the rag and slather it on real nice and thick. Leave it for a while (20-30 mins), then rub it in with a clean rag. Put on another coat in a few days, same way. I did the little center cover on the 750 because it was turning gray and I'm trying to sell the bike. Now it's black and shiney.

Looked like this before:

[malibuman]

pledge it

Pledge orange furniture polish works great.Just spray it on let it soak and wipe off.Works great on plastics and fiberglass.I use it on my boats.

James

[jwhelan65]

You could clean it off really well with lacquer thinner and shoot a couple of coats of black semi-gloss Plasticoat or a vinyl spray paint and it'll look brand new.

+1 did my top clamp cover that way..