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K75S Body Panel Composition

Slipster

Slipster
While on the hunt for a spare spoiler and fairing to paint and freshen up my 1994 K75S panels I had a great conversation with Tim who listed some panels in the Flea section.
Even though we did not come to price terms we had a great talk and during that visit I asked what material were the body panels made up of. Neither one of us could pinpoint what BMW used for molding the parts.
Some kind of plastic? Some kind of Fiberglass or composite? Anyone know? I'm looking into the appropriate stuff to use for repairs and paint.
 
With the exception of the battery covers and the front fender, I'm certain that they are NOT ABS. They are molded glass reinforced plastic (fiberglass).

Your saddlebags are ABS. If you have any significant damage to any of your body panels, you can see the fibers in the panels.



:dance:dance:dance


PM me with your needs and phone#. I may have what you need.
 
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When I've seen damaged ones - it appeared to be a ground glass composite, with perhaps a bit of clay thrown into the mix.. You can use standard fiberglas(tm) repair techniques for most of the repairs they might need. The bags are ABS.
 
Your panels are made of glass reinforced composite... fiber glass. The biggest difference is that your panels are compression molded in matched metal dies. In addition to resin and glass, the compound is highly filled with calcium carbonate... limestone.

You can repair with a fiberglass kit. You'll need to use bondo to fill surface porosity and achieve the same surface quality as the surrounding area.
 
Thanks to 98Lee for his knowledge and willingness to educate me. After pursuing trying to locate (and budget) a spare spoiler to work on I elected to do the repair myself.
Before glassing and priming I took the spoiler to O'Reilly's Auto Parts in Tulsa. They used a spectrophotometer to read the Dakar Yellow (patina and all).
One hour later they had a match. They were either very patient or just had time on their hands to kill on obtaining a close match. They mixed up two spray cans for me.
So I just finished putting two light coats of white primer on and will be painting over the Memorial Day weekend making sure to take my time flashing and then wetting a couple of smooth coats on.
Thanks to all who responded to my original question and thanks again to 98Lee. You all helped me put together the right plan to make my repairs.
 
One week to glass the two big cracks by the sight glass hole and do the bodywork. One week to prime, sand and paint.
Dry time 4 days.All new hardware and washers. Cleaned up and reused the bottom mount gromets.
Waxing it up to put back on the K Bike. Rocks and bugs here I come!!!! :wave
 

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That came out really nice. Before it gets nicked by the bugs and rocks and stuff take it to a specialty car place and have them put on a sheet of the clear hood bra stuff.

David Sword
 
I wish they would dsword. I took it to a shop and they said they would not apply the 3M Clear Protectant to my spoiler.
They said it would remove the paint. They only apply to original auto factory paint.
 
4 coats of Carnauba. Spoiler back on the bike and the bike out for a ride :dance:dance:dance:dance
 

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