Lesson learnt - never let anyone sit on my bike again!

[the oaf]

Two weekends ago I followed my mate to some Harley place he wanted to go to. When I pulled up the noise from the aftermarket pipes on my Raptor drew everyones attention, and one bloke came over to chat to me. He was one of those, "anything you can do, I can do better" types... full of shit - claimed his old ZX10 had been re-bored out to 1400cc, and does 225 mph, and he'd once done Bruntingthorpe to Bournemouth, two up, in two hours... with stopping for lunch. But other than that he seemed ok.

Anyway, he likes the Raptor, and asks if he can have a sit on it, so I let him.

About ten minutes later, my mate and I return to our bikes, and as I go to put the key in the ignition, I notice two deep gouges in the plastic tank... down to the white. I look over at the bullshit artist, and realise his jacket is just a combat surplus thing with a huge zip up the front... I go and have words, but he denies it could be him as he didn't lean on the bike when he sat on it... which is funny in itself as he must have a 60-70 inch waist, so didn't need to lean on the bike to spread his gut over it like syrup on the pancakes he so obviously likes... the fat f@*k! He claimed I must have caught some stones between my jacket and the tank while I was riding... which is bollocks, 'cause these scratches I would have noticed the moment I got off the bike. Now I know it's him, but I can't prove it so there's bugger all I can do except try and fix it up the best I can.

And (surprise, surprise) Cagiva don't do touch-up paints.

Anyone know the exact colour code for the Xtra Raptor paint?

[ozzy]

well atleast the fat bas***d was at the right shop.harleys were tractors made for hauling fat yanks in a straight line.
as to your tank marks,you have no hope.I have been trying to match the paint on the footpeg hangers for months now.I now have around 12 touch up pens from halfords.colour never looks the same when applied.even tried mixing them.
your best bet is to get a tank pad either in carbon or rubber that is the correct size to cover the marks and look cool too. was the fist thing i added to my raptor,and the cheapest. MOTRAX do good ones.if you have an M&P catalogue look at page 366 in their 18th edition,still most recent.if it wont cover the ofending marks then use the carbon dots.same good but can place them where you like.

[shebee]

Bugger!

As Ozzy said I suspect a Tank pad is probably favourite.


Oh and ....

harleys were tractors made for hauling fat yanks in a straight line

.... RASSSP!!!!.... they were brought over here to keep the UK ladies happy when riding out on the roads - the new rubber mounted /'balanced' engine ones are just NOT the same!

(yes I have one of them as well )

[the oaf]

Might have a bit of luck with the paint... with the help of Dangermouse off here.

A company called "RS Paint" say they can whip me up a batch exactly colour matched, provided I send them a bit of the bike with the colour I need. Dangermouse is repairing a crash damaged Xtra and may have a few bits of plastic lying around he could lend me to send them... in return, I'll gey a bit whipped up for him as well.

Fingers crossed.

[ozzy]

unless you repaint whole tank you will always be able to see it in such a prominant position.different paints fade differently in sunshine as well. you will find when you look at it at different angles in the sun it will become even more noticeable.even if to most of the world its hardly noticeable sus you know its there it will always stand out.any good body spray shop should be able to do a match and respray all or part of your tank for not to much money.if your intent on not using a tank pad thats the way i would go.if you care that much do it properly.I have used proper ducati and suzuki made paint sticks, correct colour for bike and you could always see the touch up.

[snapdragon]

A thought - if you repair carefully (and I know you will Oaf 'cos I knows how much you loves your Xtra) and place a clear tank protector over it then any difference through sunlight etc shouldn't show up.

[the oaf]

A thought - if you repair carefully (and I know you will Oaf 'cos I knows how much you loves your Xtra) and place a clear tank protector over it then any difference through sunlight etc shouldn't show up.

Exactly what I was planning. Repair the scratches with a lot of layers of fine brush work and polishing, then shape and cut out a clear pad to a) hide the remaining evidence, and b) stop it from happening again.

[Dangermouse]

Hey Oaf,

Have found a bit of the colourmatched plastic I can stick in the post - P.M. me your address and I'll bung it over to you. Despite my best efforts, I'm still off the road until a poxy little bit of bent tin arrives from Italy... Very frustrating.

D