Want your opinion

[Kansas kymco]

A scooter I purchased has a crack in the side panel plastic. I can repair the crack but it would still show a little. My thought was to get reflective tape for the sides. The scooter is red. What color reflective tape would you go with?

I'm leaning towards a black and white checker board pattern or just a black reflective stripe. Going on ebay they have about every color in reflective tape.

Another option is to repair the crack and do nothing or a small decal to cover just the small effected area..

Let me know your opinion?

[Neil955i]

Reckon either approach would work just fine KK. My choice? I’d go for the small decal.

[CROSSBOLT]

You asked for an opinion? Well, I got one! Actually several. Oh, on your repair? You want THAT opinion? Har, har!

Whatever is the easiest, the quickest that looks the best. There. That's my opinion. Actually, to add to that, I think your idea to do the repair and then add an accent is genius.

[rjs987]

I would do like I did with mine...
When I brought my current Burgman 650 home I had a cracked lower leg shield plastic panel. Actually, I was partly to blame for cracking that panel. I listened to my buddy who was helping me bring it home when he said his ramps could hold his Honda Shadow and have a few times. Problem was that he forgot he tied both ramps together so he let me trust him to use one ramp for my scooter and the other to walk the scooter down on. Short story, the bike warped/bent his ramp and the Burgman slid off the side of it to the ground cracking that panel in the process. No other damage but I still didn't like it.

My Burgman is a bright white. I took off the panel and sanded around the crack. Then coated both sides of the crack with JB Weld Plastic Bond. After that cured I sanded the outside of the repaired area to match the original contour and then sprayed on about 12 coats of Krylon Fusion white spray paint. Can't tell it was ever broken now... unless you get down under the scooter and shine a light on it just so.

But adding some reflective accents on both sides sounds like a great way to go also. I'd still at least back up the crack with that JB Weld Plastic Bond. It's made for auto body panels, plastic and metal, and works really well.

[Kansas kymco]

RJS- I bought some JB plastic weld and will probably reinforce the area with steel straps glued to the back for reinforcement .   I thought about ordering  new panels but cannot get paint match. Maybe down the road I will find a used panel on ebay the correct color.  The 200S uses the same panels as the 125 and 50 except for the badges.

The closest paint color I've found is GM victory red for touch up.  I will try the paint but if it's off might go the graphics route.

[Tromper]

One suggestion, regardless if solution.
Drill a small hole at any ems of the crack within the panel (not on an edge).
This can help keep the crack from spreading.

[Kansas kymco]

One suggestion, regardless if solution.
Drill a small hole at any ems of the crack within the panel (not on an edge).
This can help keep the crack from spreading.

Already have, very good advice.  Will reinforce the back of the panel as well.
I searched ebay for a used panel and indeed they had one in black but some of  the mounting tabs were broke.

[Iahawk]

KK, how bad is the crack and where on the scoot is it located?  Mine was (is?) on the right side, above the pass pegs, where the unpainted black trim meets the painted trim.

I used jb Plasti Weld, too, and reinforced the back of the crack with mesh drywall tape. It's barely noticeable and has held fine for a couple years.

[Kansas kymco]

KK, how bad is the crack and where on the scoot is it located?  Mine was (is?) on the right side, above the pass pegs, where the unpainted black trim meets the painted trim.

I used jb Plasti Weld, too, and reinforced the back of the crack with mesh drywall tape. It's barely noticeable and has held fine for a couple years.

Same place, about 4" . I will JB plastic weld and some steel strapping Dan's Cycle gave me to the back. Might put in a couple of rivets as well. I ordered a couple of decals from eBay that should go well with the paint scheme.  This will also be a experiment on  how the  black dye works on the black plastic and holds up.