Topic: Stripping side covers

[MotoRico]

I scored a pair of side covers for my project bike and they are painted a lovely maroon with a great orange peel texture.  Since this is not the look I was going for, and the wife really dislikes it, I need to remove the paint.

What can I use to safely remove the paint without damaging the side covers?  I don't need to tell anyone on this board how hard those are to find.

I was considering acetone, but I really don't want to hurt the plastic and wasn't sure if it is safe for such a use.

[cbjunkie]

two words. hand. sand.

if you want to read some other ideas do a search - there is an extensive thread on the subject that yeilded little more than the advice i just gave you.

i have recently done this - started with 80 grit and worked down to 400 - then painted. they look great and you'll get to know your sidecovers better than you ever wanted to. 

junkie out...

[mwvachon]

For the very reason you cited (hard to find items), I would advise nothing but good ol' sandpaper. Chemicals are a dangerous way to go when dealing with plastic ANYTHING! I had mine prefessionaly done, but they started with just a weathered OEM surface, so all they had to do was dust them up a bit to be able to paint.