Hi all
These are my panniers , dated 1985. In general they work great, they close and open correctly but their surface is worn especially the inner part.
My thoughts are to try to paint them but the pro painter said the surface is too hard to treat it correctly..
Are there any suggestions? Have anyone aware or used plastidip , it's a rubber paint in spray cans or bulk.
Thank you

Sent from Topic'it App

Sent from Topic'it App

I am not kidding.
Have you ever tried to restore all the plastic on the bike with Pledge.
The reason why the plastic becomes grey is oxidation. You just have to spray Pledge and get a rag to wipe it off. It doesn't leave any residues and it's not sticky.
This is also very good for all the buttons on your handle bar (flashers, High beam, horn) and the inner parts of the fairing on RTs models.

And your bike will smell good.

Crazy Frog wrote:And your bike will smell good. [smiley]https://2img.net/i/fa/i/smiles/icon_biggrin.png[/smiley]

Hahaha! At least!!!!
Problem is that this product is not available in Greece, or maybe it is under some other brand. What's the real purpose of it? To look for something similar

Sent from Topic'it App

George_Pap wrote:
Problem is that this product is not available in Greece, or maybe it is under some other brand. What's the real purpose of it? To look for something similar

The purpose of this product is only a dust/polisher cleaner for furniture.
I read that WD40 will do the same trick too. Try a small area on the back of the saddle bag to test it.

Thank you. Does anybody knows the material of the bags? Is it >PP< plastic ( polypropylaine) ? I ve seen lot of people on YT heating with a heat gun old PP plastics and it worked .

Sent from Topic'it App

George_Pap wrote:Thank you. Does anybody knows the material of the bags? Is it >PP< plastic ( polypropylaine) ? I ve seen lot of people on YT heating with a heat gun old PP plastics and it worked .

I saw the trick with the heat too, but I would prefer to use a cleaner or WD40 (If you heat a bit too much in one area, your bag will be toasted)

All right, got plenty of WD so it's easy to give it a try

Sent from Topic'it App

I have seen when BMW panniers are exposed to intense UV for a time that the plastic becomes almost 'powdery' and flakes off. WD40, Pledge or ArmorAll, and the like, let you clean them up a bit and look OK for a spell, but they're difficult to bring back to original over the longterm. I recently bought a pair of panniers from a Canadian member in BC who'd had the lids painted gloss black and they look all right. One must use the requisite plastic adhesion promoter paint to keep it flexible enough to stick longterm. Perhaps the rest of the pannier could be refinished in this way.

I have both full sized cases and city cases coated in Line-X truck bed liner.  Very tough stuff.  I knocked a full sized case off on a truck bumper when filtering at a stop light in tight traffic in San Francisco and you can't even tell.  All I had to do to fix it was re-rivet the front lock back on.

The Line-X stuff is something like 1/16" thick so there's some work you have to do (especially on the Gen III cases with the rubber scuff pads) and be sure to tape off the hinge rails on the bottoms of the cases.

On my 94 RS I also have the mirrors, belly pan, lower part of the front fender, knee pads, gas cap and tail handles done in Line-X.

I painted the panniers on my 1983 airhead some years back.  I just used a common spray can of paint for plastic.  It worked fine and years on, they still look okay.  I favor painting over periodically using something like Pledge.  I understand Pledge gives good immediate results, but does it provide UV protection over the longer term?  I doubt it does.

One product that lasts i bit longer is called Polytrol and based on Owatrol oil.
It's much used GRP boat hulls, I'll guess you have a couple of boats in Creece
so it's gonna be posibble to find this product somewhere close to you.

Follow the instructions, work in the shadow...don't let the product stay on the
surface too long (starts to dry)...it then gets sticky and you get a lot more work.

In the US there's a line of spray paints under the name Krylon Fusion that's formulated for painting plastic and also has Krylon Fusion primer to do an even better job.  Most retail stores don't carry it but you can buy it online or special order it from a local Sherwin-Williams (the manufacturer) retail store.

Thank you all for your suggestions. Did a little google.search for all the products suggested in this thread and found only line-x and Polytrol in the Greek market.
So I m ringing both distributors tomorrow morning to check further details.

Sent from Topic'it App

Line-X needs to be applied by a Line-X shop.  It's sprayed on by a special sprayer with two nozzles that blends two materials as it sprays. It is similar to how epoxies use a resin and a hardener.

Rattle can(spray paint) type truck bed liner doesn't work very well because it's just a single material.

By the way George , nice bike !

John Re

Melbourne Australia

JR_K100RS wrote:By the way George , nice bike !

John Re

Melbourne Australia

Really thank you I received it in full rust condition , changed almost every rubber, metal gaskets, lower frame repainted, lots of work on the electrics condition, brake pumps replaced.with new, fuel pump new original with all the fittings, almost all bolts replaced with high quality stainless steel ones, but it was worth it since internals of the engine, splines , etc were in almost perfect condition for a 33 yold 101000 km bike.

Sent from Topic'it App

Here in Oz we can use Motospray Bumper Black it comes in a 400g pressure pack can. Most of out Autoparts stores have it. For the 1980's cars with black bumpers on them. I've used it and it does come up fine. Just prep the area so the scratches are all smoothed out and it will be beaut.

Wet and dry the cases with soapy working down through the grades and finish of with cutting compound. After you have buffed out all the scratches finish of with a Surf City product called Black Max. The disadvantage of using the Black Max is that it has to be applied every couple of weeks, the big advantage is that and further scratches can be just wet and dried out without the need for repainting. If you really want the cases to shine there is a product for tyres called Meguiars Insane Tyre Shine Tyre Coating which is extremely glossy and lasts a couple of weeks. The Meguiars is easier to apply just a light spray on clean panniers. you need to remove them from the bike otherwise you will get overspray on things that you don't want to. Follow the instructions. The Black Max is applied with a pad and is still easy to apply.
Regards Martin.