SomeGuyFromCali
New Member
After a nice long ride the other day my lady dropped her brand spanking new Raven in our gravel driveway going like 2 MPH. This was of course before I managed to get the frame sliders installed. After making sure she was okay (my lady not the bike) I checked the bike and found she had put a nasty rash on the left side case.
At first I figured we would have to replace the entire case to make it look right again as some of the scratches were really deep but then I decided to just try sanding out the scratches and painting it first. I was really surprised with the way it came out. The case metal is very soft so it sanded pretty fast even by hand and I was able to completely remove all of the scratches.
The rattle can I used is called Rust-oleum High Heat Ultra in a Semi-Gloss enamel. It's not a completely perfect match but it was close enough that when she came in to inspect my work the first question out of her mouth was "Is that the SAME side case?" Followed by "You must have ordered a new one..." to which I simply replied "Nope" and smiled back
The semi-gloss I used is just a little bit shinier than the stock matte black color they come with from Yamaha but if you paint the whole part you really don't notice the difference at all. If anything it matches the metallic-black better that they used on the 2012 Raven's fairings versus the matte black. I did also try their flat black stove paint first but it was far too flat and just looked off.
I managed to paint the case without removing it first by just taping over the chrome bolt head's and then newspapering over the rest of the bike. I did remove the fairing first.
I will try to post some before and after shots of the case later so you can judge for yourselves but wanted to share my success story since it could save you 70-80 bucks over buying a new side case if you are in the same situation we were in. Of course, had I had the frame sliders installed I might never have been in this situation.
At first I figured we would have to replace the entire case to make it look right again as some of the scratches were really deep but then I decided to just try sanding out the scratches and painting it first. I was really surprised with the way it came out. The case metal is very soft so it sanded pretty fast even by hand and I was able to completely remove all of the scratches.
The rattle can I used is called Rust-oleum High Heat Ultra in a Semi-Gloss enamel. It's not a completely perfect match but it was close enough that when she came in to inspect my work the first question out of her mouth was "Is that the SAME side case?" Followed by "You must have ordered a new one..." to which I simply replied "Nope" and smiled back
The semi-gloss I used is just a little bit shinier than the stock matte black color they come with from Yamaha but if you paint the whole part you really don't notice the difference at all. If anything it matches the metallic-black better that they used on the 2012 Raven's fairings versus the matte black. I did also try their flat black stove paint first but it was far too flat and just looked off.
I managed to paint the case without removing it first by just taping over the chrome bolt head's and then newspapering over the rest of the bike. I did remove the fairing first.
I will try to post some before and after shots of the case later so you can judge for yourselves but wanted to share my success story since it could save you 70-80 bucks over buying a new side case if you are in the same situation we were in. Of course, had I had the frame sliders installed I might never have been in this situation.
