Bike stolen & spray-painted.

[Motorcycle RN]

My yellow '04 Gixxer was stolen last weekend (9/14) and recovered the following night with black spray paint covering most of the bodywork (the piece of shit also took my BARF licence frame!). Geico totalled the bike. With the insurance money after buyback I should have enough to fix it. I want it to look stock so I'm wondering what my options are. A) Buy all new bodywork and stickers. B) Taking it to Maaco with a can of Colorite yellow and have them prep and shoot it. C) Prep it myself and have Maaco paint it. D) Painting it myself--no experience. E)?
Any advice welcome.
Thank you!

Ps. PD has a pretty good idea of who the thief is from the security footage. What should I do to him when he's caught?:deadhorse

 

[Smash Allen]

Do you have a lot of free time? Do you make a lot of money when working? Do you want an OEM quality finish or just something better than the piece of shit thief did? Do you have a garage where you could spray? Do you have an air compressor?

 

[Lucky_Devil]

^This

You're not providing enough info to support intelligent responses/opinions.

 

[Chris]

Have you tried using rubbing compound to remove the spraypaint? I doubt they did much surface prep in their haste to disguise the bike.
For that same reason, I'd be leery of repainting - I don't think you'll be satisfied with the results, especially if they painted over stickers, etc. The labor to prep the fairings would probably be enough to just purchase replacements.

Plus, you could get a set of Chinese ebay fairings in the color scheme of your dreams for < $400-ish

 

[auntiebling]

Read this. It's a sticky
http://ww1.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=264901

You could also get a Chinese replacement set of plastics off of eBay. Might be good enough


Or
Get a vinyl wrap, which isn't as cheapnas you'd hope

Or, since the spraybombing was done so fast it was probably a shit job. Try removing the spray paint.

 

[RickM]

Can I bring a bat and partake in the thief beating ?

For the fairings, I'd look for a complete set of decent used OEM bodywork. If non is available, I'd buy chinese fairing set from ebay and make them fit.

I personally wouldn't spend money on a nice paint job or new OEM, due to the bike having a salvage title subsequent reduction in resale price, even if you make it as good as original.

 

[kuksul08]

Get a buffer and some aggressive cleaner wax or polishing compound and go to town. Paint should come right off and expose the original paint underneath.

 

[Motorcycle RN]

Thanks for all the replies!
I do have a garage and a compressor but no spray guns and have never painted anything. Fair amount of free time but not pulling in truckloads of cash. I am getting a check from the insurance company to fix the bike tho. Anyone have experience with the Chinese bodywork? Will give the rubbing compound/ cleaner wax a try.
I bought the bike new in '04 and it was in pretty good shape for a ten year old crotch rocket prior to being stolen. I'd like to put it back in that condition.

 

[JSGrind]

Take it to a good detail shop. See if they can wet sand the layer of spray paint and buff. Maybe you will get lucky! You could try yourself but if you don't have experience you can go to far and damage the clear! Just a thought!

 

[Crjunkee]

I wonder if something like this would work
Goof Off 16 Oz Aerosol Graffiti Remover

 

[angelsndevils]

Brake cleaner and a towel will take it right off if you have the motivation to do the whole bike. You will have to wax it when done cuz the brake clean will take that off too.

 

[afm199]

Goof off will get most if not all of it. Try it first. Spray paint is not particularly enduring even when well done. It should almost wipe off.

 

[Junkie]

Hopefully the paint will come off without too much work. If not, I'd suggest some Chinese bodywork. You can usually get it to look pretty good.

 

[aram]

I'd just get the spray paint off the tank and buy new bodywork on ebay for around 500 bucks or so and get back to riding.

 

[JimE]

Goof Off is pretty good stuff but a little harsh. I suggest gold old mineral spirits first and some elbow grease. Should be enough to get the spray paint off without going through the OEM coat underneath. Going to take a lot of elbow grease though. Price is right!

 

[injun]

In a large area with LOT'S of air flow put some gas on a rag and wipe it off, spray can paint is not fuel proof, dispose of the rags in a proper manner toxic waste!

 

[bpw]

In a large area with LOT'S of air flow put some gas on a rag and wipe it off, spray can paint is not fuel proof, dispose of the rags in a proper manner toxic waste!

There are about a million non-flammable solvents he could use instead. No reason to risk getting blowed up.

I just had a bike get speckled with overspray from a neighbors fence painting project. Not quite sure how they did it but a body shop was able to take the paint off without damaging the bikes paint.

 

[Ozymandias]

Why not just flat black it and call it a day? :teeth

In seriousness though. Like everyone else has said, there's plenty of solvents that should take it off with a little bit of elbow grease.. :thumbup

 

[Motorcycle RN]

Tried goof off. Took off more than spray paint. @#$%&!

Another thought is to take the $$ and run...to a m/c shop.

 

[stangmx13]

+1 to mineral spirits and if that doesnt work +1 to ebay replacement w/ OE fairings