Painted wind deflectors

[Freebird]

While I had the fairing split this morning, I figured it was a good time to go ahead and paint the wind deflectors at the bottom of the fairing. I had though about trying some window tint, vinyl, various things but I didn't have any of those and it was already apart so I made do with what I had.

 

I had a couple cans of black spray paint that I started to use but then came across a can of black PlastiDip. I figured why not. If I didn't like it I could peel it off after it dried. It actually turned out very nice. I like them much better than when they were clear.

 

Of course I just sprayed the back side of them.

 

Edited July 10, 2016 by Freebird

[Holly]

yep, just planning doing mine too, now I can see what it might look like on mine, 08 black cherry/raven

[bongobobny]

Might do something similar to mine but need to mask off where the LED strip lights shine through...

[djh3]

Wow, looks good. Maybe even better than being clear.

[DblTrbl]

I was going to paint mine but then I added LED lights to the bottom edge of the inside fairing. The LEDs light up the deflectors and I like that look....at least for now.

[Freebird]

The PlastiDip worked great. They will be a flat black when looked at on the back side but will look glossy on the front. The nice thing is that if you ever want to do something different, it should just pretty much peel off. I did notice at the auto parts store that Duplicolor has a LOT of peelable rubber paints now so there are several other colors available if you want to try something different.

Edited July 11, 2016 by Freebird

[Rob Swallows]

Mine are being subject to road wash and yellowing for some reason. I used to paint many clear bugshields on the backside for cars and trucks in the 90's the color of the body and will probably do the same with this bike.

 

I too like them "blacked out".

 

Rob

[DblTrbl]

Mine are also "yellowing"... any fix for that other then blacking out or replacing?

[Rob Swallows]

No fix as the composition of the plastic is breaking down from the UV radiation of the sun and element exposure.

[bongobobny]

Yoa plastic polishing compound... u could try one of those headlight repair kits out there, they are mostly a plastic polishing compound...

[Rob Swallows]

Yoa plastic polishing compound... u could try one of those headlight repair kits out there, they are mostly a plastic polishing compound...

 

Yes, the commercial polishing or headlamp restoration products will remove surface oxidation and the protective coating applied during manufacture, but "yellowing" is a chemical composition of the material breaking down from exposure. There are sprays available touting their ability to restore this UV screening protection but I've not seen it work for anything more than about a year on automobile headlamps capsules.

[alwrmcusn]

Did mine a couple of years back. Simply painted the back sides of both the upper (fairing mounted) and the lower (fork mounted). I truly do think they look and match the trike better than the clear OEM's.

[DblTrbl]

Yoa plastic polishing compound... u could try one of those headlight repair kits out there, they are mostly a plastic polishing compound...

 

I just happen to have some of that... did my '99 Tacoma headlights

[XV1100SE]

Hmmmmmm......what would they look like if you used some "chrome" paint on them? I painted the back of mine with black paint a few years ago on my '09. With the black lower portion of my fairing it looks better than the clear plastic.

[Condor]

I tried that a couple of years ago, but they turned out pretty ugly. I guess I don't have the Touch.....