A caution about plastic car and motorcycle covers

[Dave Hounddriver]

I have a nice new motorcycle that I wanted to protect from the elements so I went into Unitop to buy one of those nice looking, plastic motorcycle covers to protect my motorcycle from sun damage, rain, people playing with my mirrors and cats who like to use my seat cover for sharpening their claws.

Unfortunately, the first day I put it on there was a hot one.  It melted many pieces of the plastic cover right into the finish of the motorcycle.  I have tried to remove the melted in plastic but scratching it off with a fingernail damages the finish and does not remove all the stuck plastic and using WD40 actually removes the finish from the paint, although it does get the melted plastic off with enough scrubbing.

So use caution when putting a cover on your vehicle and if anyone has advice to remove melted in plastic I would love to hear it.  Perhaps there is a cleaner in Dumaguete who could remove that for me?

[Jollygoodfellow]

32 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

So use caution when putting a cover on your vehicle and if anyone has advice to remove melted in plastic I would love to hear it.  Perhaps there is a cleaner in Dumaguete who could remove that for me?

Maybe put the bike in the hot sun for a while and try removing as it warms up?

[GeoffH]

I didn’t have that problem with a plastic bike cover but I left one on a bike and it was a windy day.  Later when I took it off I found the the cover (which must have been flapping in the wind, despite the straps) had left obvious and unsightly rub marks on the motorbike.

 

So yeah... not a fan either, good luck with getting the plastic off though.

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Perhaps there is a cleaner in Dumaguete who could remove that for me?

There are a couple of products here like "Goof Off" that are good for taking some stuff off without damage.  If you can find a bottle it might be worth a try.

[insite]

Perhaps heat it with a hair dryer to soften it for easy removal.

[RBM]

Dave nothing seems last long here. I paid quite a lot, think around p1K for a bike cover at handyman,  within a year started ripping.

If ever you find a decent one be sure to post it, most things purchased in Uni top are total garbage, especially the plant holders

[Dave Hounddriver]

16 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Maybe put the bike in the hot sun for a while and try removing as it warms up?

Boys and girls DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME 

It seemed like a good idea at the time so I tried it.  Here is what happens.  The motorcycle parts are made of plastic.  The paint is a baked in acrylic (plastic).  The "now baked on bits of plastic cover" are baked into the paint and into the part so cannot be removed at all.  I still thank you for the idea, JGF.  I know you meant well and it seemed like a wonderful idea to me too. (EDIT:  more precisely, any attempt to remove the unwanted plastic cover results in the removal of paint and bits of the part itself).   But for anyone else trying that, perhaps try the opposite, take the part off the bike and put it in the freezer and then try to remove the plastic bits.  

So I am lucky that it seems to be only one part that is seriously affected by all the backed in plastic mess.  I hope to find a paint shop that can remove the one piece, sand it and repaint it.  This is Philippines.  Surely someone will do that for a low cost.  OR I just replace that one part but finding parts may be harder than finding a painter.  we shall see.

More later . . as the world turns.

Edited March 27, 2018 by Dave Hounddriver

[codermonkey]

Standard tip for removing chewing gum is stick in freezer, but yeah sounds like you need the part stripped and painted.

[Dave Hounddriver]

I can probably touch it up myself if I had some "model airplane paint" like I used to use as a kid, but I have not done that in half a century so I would not even know where to start looking for that kind of paint.  Any clues?

 

 

[Jack Peterson]

9 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

I would not even know where to start looking for that kind of paint.  Any clues?

 

Any help young man?

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