| Author | Message | ||
     Newxb9er |
Anyone know the part numbers for the black plastic inserts around the lights on the XB9R front Cowling? I'm painting the bike and tried to take them off slowly without snapping them, and guess what, I snapped them. They are just taped in there. Thanks! | ||
| Court |
See if this helps...  | ||
| Smitty |
I think he means trhis black trim arround the light. Tim  | ||
| Court |
Correctamundo....."with tape" should have been the give away, eh?  Hey...I my age I am lucky to be awake at this hour! | ||
| Daves |
I have a set in stock. Call me tomorrow if you need them. 1-866-757-1651 ask for Dave in the sales dept. I'll be there after 10am. CST Dave | ||
| Gowindward  |
Dave, What's the price on those? Thanks | ||
| Court |
>>>I have a set in stock. I KNEW you were gonna say that. I love you man, Court | ||
| Newxb9er |
Perfect guys. Thanks for all the help. Gotta love this place! | ||
| Newxb9er |
Dave, I gotta get a list of goodies together, then I'll be getting in touch. Thanks | ||
| Al_lighton  |
Not sure if you were aware, but we've got CF versions of those here:  | ||
| Firebolt020283  |
wow all as nice as those are those are a bit steep. | ||
| Glitch  |
He can only charge what the market will bare. | ||
| Black_sunshine  |
Steep for that amount of Carbon. Very nice though. But, like Glitch said, people will pay that. | ||
| Firebolt020283 |
true and im not knocking al or the fact that its priced at that hes a great guy and the product seems really nice but like i said its just kinda steep. not downing anything about it. (i had continplated buying them over and over in my head but i know my wife would kill me for paying that much for them) | ||
| Al_lighton |
I hear ya...yet I know what they cost, and I can safely say that we're not gouging on these. As Will wrote, it is a bit pricey for the amount of CF cloth used, but in the case of these particular parts, the price is driven more by the labor in the parts (i.e. pre-preg trim during in the pre-molding stage, final trim in the post molding stage, Tape application, packaging, etc) as by the material pricing. Some parts get driven more by material cost when they have simple edge trim operations (i.e., a Flyscreen). Other parts get driven more by the labor, these are the latter. Like anything else, if the market won't bear the cost, we just won't produce them. Tat had developed these prior to us buying the biz, but I've always thought these were one of the nicer CF accent parts available. They just look right, especially on the white XB-Rs. Al | ||
| Tatsu |
I have those Carbon Fiber ones and they look trick! I really need to take a pic, but I'm still busy putting stuff on my bike. | ||
| Newxb9er |
What do the stock units run. These might look good on my bike once painted. I think I'm going to paint it a BMW Mystic Blue Metallic, or the Porsche Blue. Then the question of what if any graphic to put on it. I was thinking either ghost flames or a ghost tribal flame. Any opinions? Want to get this going so I can be ready for the spring!! My bike is in pieces, and I miss it! | ||
| Black_sunshine |
Couldn't agree with you more Al. I haven't used much prepreg. Mostly I use a dry lay-up and wet out under vacuum. I have done all the black plastic bits on my XBS as well as the Cheese grater and heel guards. Sometimes the smallest piece can really be a pain in the arse! You end up sanding it back to the original shape and making it fit longer than it took to laminate it. Is the prepeg done under vac in an autoclave or just the mold? How is it finished? CLear coated after the resin cures? Sorry for all the questions, Just curious. I don't clear coat my pices. Just raw carbon and resin (acrylic) 80% rigid 20% flex. I like the unfinshed look. | ||
| Slaughter  |
In defense of Al (not that he needs it) - I work in "the business" and the carbon bits that he sells are no compromise parts - no compromise on quality, materials or processes. Yeah, they cost a little more but knowing how the stuff is made, he's not charging as much as he COULD be (and no, I don't get a kickback) | ||
| Black_sunshine |
Newxb9er...check out Minitrucker's profile pic. (3%er) He painted his XB... BMW M3 laguna seca blue. Very sweet color! | ||
| Al_lighton |
Will, Under Vacuum, in autoclave. Up until recently, there had been a handful of older tube frame parts that were hand laid up, non prepreg. We've scripted all those parts out of the biz, the quality and consistency just wasn't there, the parts were heavier, and they didn't weather as well. We are at this time not putting a clear coat on. I'm currently looking into it, actually. There are issues that need to be resolved prior to going down that path, and that will require some longer term environmental exposure testing. Aerospace CF for structural applications is always painted with opaque coatings to prevent UV degradation of the epoxy resins. While clear coats can provide some UV protection, they won't eliminate it entirely. Without complete protection, the surface layers of epoxy underneath the clearcoat start to degrade, which adversely affects clear coat adhesion. This can cause clear coat flaking, which results in a worse look than if no clear coat had been applied at all. Clear Gel coats in the molding process aren't a good idea for weight and brittleness reasons, and having a resin rich surface results in clouding from the gitgo and hazing in the medium term. It's not unlike polished motorcycle parts. Some manufacturers polish and then apply clear coats. Looks great for longer, but man, once that clear coat starts to flake, the parts look awful and there's nothing you can do but strip it, which can be more work than the occasional polishing that you could have been doing all along to keep it looking good. So so far, our recommendation is to minimize UV exposure where practical, and to keep parts well waxed at all times. Waxes can provide some UV protection, probably not as much as clear coats, but then waxes don't chip off either  Al | ||
| Black_sunshine |
Thanks Al, very insightful. I might wax a small piece of mine and see what the results are. In the prosthetic biz, I have several below knee prostheses that are 100% carbon fiber. These are sanded and a coat of resin only is applied for a clear flawless finish. Looks unbelievable in the sun. After several years the resin seems to get a a slight yellowish tint. I believe that this is the UV damage that you talk about. I have been designing and fitting prosthetics for about 10 years now but I am new to Motorcycle parts. I figured, hey what's the difference? Only the shape more or less. So I made a few for myself and a few 3%ers. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge. | ||
| Black_sunshine |
Al....I waxed all the Cf pieces and man! do they shine. Worked really well. Thanks again. | ||
| Hkwan |
My stock piece is kinda getting... err, crusty. It looks like it needs some type of oiling but whatever I applied to make it look new again didn't work. I've used the Honda spray polish. Liquid wax. Armorall. It dries quickly and still looks just a little bit weathered. What should I do? | ||
| Buellisti |
I've been using MOTHERS Preserves Protectant. Black plastic and rubber looks good for two or three weeks. | ||
| Lovematt  |
You need something that won't dry out or evaporate...the generic term for this is dressing. I use silicone detailing spray and it works great...spray it on all plastic/vinyl/painted surfaces. On the black/metal surfaces I don't wipe it off but for the plastic I wipe it once to to smear it around, wait a few minutes, and then wipe down to a nice shine...lasts a week and keeps gunk from sticking to the bike. | ||
| Charlieboy6649  |
Wal-mart, the product is "Back to Black". All I can say is, WOW! Mine were up for replacement until I tried this product... |
