6/16/12

Marusho

100_9424

100_9426

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100_9410

Panther

100_9388

100_9387

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100_9392

Kersting's Cycle Center and Museum

I stopped in at The World of Motorcycles Museum at Kersting's Cycle Center today. I hadn't been in awhile, and it is always a great place to visit. The Harley-Davidson dealership is in the right side of the picture, and the Kawasaki and Yamaha dealers on the left end, with the museum behind them.
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The easiest way to spot Kersting's from the highway is to look for this thing. You can't miss it.
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The museum entrance here. They are nearly done with a addition to the back of the museum, which will be nice.
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100_9526

100_9422

100_9382

100_9326

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100_9405

100_9391

6/14/12

removing old paint from fiberglass

I decided to go ahead and paint the SR500, including the old fiberglass seat base. First I peeled off the stickers. I started by hand with sandpaper, and what it revealed was a coat of orange below the black. I also found this was going to take quite a long time. I considered a power sander, but you can damage the body lines and curves fairly easily this way. Other options are media blasting, or getting a chemical stripper safe for fiberglass. The paint came off with one of the stickers, and that gave me the idea to try aluminum furnace tape. It worked excellent.
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Tear off a piece and firmly press it onto the paint, leaving an end sticking up to grab. If you just stick it in the middle of the paint it won't do anything, but needs a loose edge to peel it back. Sometimes it will let go of the paint, and you can roll it back and forth until it picks it up.
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Under the orange is a coat of primer, and the gel coat below that. The primer is staying in place, which is fine since it will wet sand quickly, getting me back to the gel coat to begin the bodywork.
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No fumes, no mess, and no chance of damaging the fiberglass, so that works for me. It is much easier and faster than sanding by hand. It probably wouldn't work on new or factory paint, but if you have an old fiberglass part it might be worth a try.
100_9289

Ironhead



I like the oil tank/bum stop.
source: http://page13.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/r91183103