Restoring Control Paddles and Buttons

I've got a '99 R11S and the controls are seriously weathered. Has anyone got a method for restoring them without spending the $200+ USD per side for new control switches?

i've used WD40 on them and they're good for a while, but will ultimately fade again.

armorall works pretty good, too.

ian

Mothers "Back To Black" does a pretty good job. I used it on the yellow and red buttons on my K75.

+1 on the Mothers..... Works great on those black rear fenders and other trim piecestoo.

+2 for Mothers Back to Black. It does an excellent job.

Ron

This is my second R11S. The first was featured in the latest ON. I missed it after reading the article and went out and found one that was a bit more "experienced." It has 96k on the clock and has seen a lot of weather. I'll try the mothers.

Having been a woodworker for many years, and tending to think "outside the box", I tried varnish, diluted with paint thinner a bit, in small quantities, rubbed on like an oil finish. An outdoor varnish would be best, of course. It has worked very well for me on all forms of weathered plastic, from mirrors to switches to entire control units. Done right it will take 20 years off the bike's appearance.

Any of the above mentioned solutions will darken weathered plastic to about the same degree, as will wax or any kind of oil (including motor oil). The difference is that varnish, especially an outdoor varnish, will stay on there a lot longer. The other solutions are fine as long as you don't mind having to redo it once in a while.

You don't want varnish on there too thick. You're not trying to build up a surface finish, just saturate the surface porosity of the plastic with a very minimal film on the surface. Also, cleaning and degreasing the surfaces you want to work on will help.

Vinylex got rid of all the chalky oxidation and made the controls on my '94 K75RT look brand new. After 6 months, they still look as great.

Watch out that the plastic hasn't gotten brittle way beneath the surface. The starter button on my '87 K100RT just popped off under the pressure of the return spring. That's a thin bit of the part, but it's out of direct UV exposure. I don't think Armorall, etc., will make that bit last any longer.