The other day I was tinkering with the bike and decided to try smoking out my own brake and turn signal lights. I had a can of the VHT spray already as I have used it before on cars with good results, and I have seen videos about how easy it is to remove later.

I started with the brake light. It worked great, very smooth surface and the lens looks like the plastics until the lights come on. Couldn't be happier.

Then I started spraying my turn signal lights. Same process, nice even coats and it looked good. THEN THE ARCHANGELS OF HELL RAINED DOWN THEIR FURY UPON ME. As it was drying the VHT spray crackled over the entire plastic surface on all the lens covers. I did prep them well; soapy water, alcohol wipe and them compressed air to ensure they were clean.

So no big deal, wipe it off and try again, right? Here is a list of chemicals I can testify WILL NOT remove this crap, or any combination of them.

1. Goof Off.
2. Gasoline.
3. Nail polish remover.
3. Paint thinner.
4. Brake parts cleaner.

I kept trying harder and harder stuff until I eventually gave up. Much of the black came off, but the lenses were still left with the crackled finish and looking extremely grey and dull. You can wet sand plastic and buff it to get it back to normal, but it is amazingly time consuming without guaranteed results.

Just wanted to share my experience to save someone else the hassle of having to wait while your new smoked lens covers arrive in the mail. Still not sure why the brake light took the coating so well but the turn signal covers did not.

I will add pics tonight when I get home.

* Last updated by: projo198 on 5/26/2017 @ 5:01 PM *

Oh boy. What a bummer.

Oh--I see-

http://zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=F1D13CC4-1B78-59F6-020F8D29F9401858&page=1

I'd use 100 grit paper and very light grit rubbing compound with a dowel and cloth in the holes if necessary. Polish back with 3M scratch and swirl remover. I bet the OEM lenses are expensive. The fronts you'd need to buy the whole light.

They really weren't too bad, I shopped online for good prices.

Enough to be annoying I suppose but not enough to bother me too much. I wanted smoked lenses anyway.

I was planning to give smoked blinkers and tail light from AliExpress a try. Cheap. Good deal if they work. I want smoked flushmount front turn signals.

projo
I did my rear turn signal lights along with my tail light w/ nightshade and both turned out fine, what happened to ruin it? I may have a pair of clear stocker turn lights left over from my '06 somewhere if you want them?

see other thread. dew, perhaps?

crackle happens when you have a layer on top that is less flexible than a layer below. Could have been previous layers did not dry adequately. Top layer hardened and cracked as it shrunk carrying other layers that had adhered to it by that time. Only explanation I can think of. ..unless there was something more flexible than Nightshades on the lens to begin with.

Cruderudy;

I might, let me see how the ones I order work though. Thanks for the offer!

As for the lights I'm not sure what went wrong. Maybe I didn't wait long enough, or sprayed too much. It was humid and raining that day too, though I did it in my garage.

Rook,

I would really like some flush mount rear covers, but all the ones I am seeing are an ugly oval shape. There are a lot of affordable integrated brake lights out there though.

It was humid and raining that day too, though I did it in my garage.

They turned out pretty good, Ebay to the rescue...installed perfectly with no modification. After finishing I noticed the front light covers are more contoured and not as sharply angled as the originals. I like them a lot!

Here's the factory brake light sprayed with the VHT. Not a perfect match to the smoked lenses but close.

* Last updated by: projo198 on 5/26/2017 @ 5:00 PM *

After finishing I noticed the front light covers are more contoured and not as sharply angled as the originals. I like them a lot!

Yeah, dude! Those are flushmounts! Very nice but I have heard they are somewhat less visible to others who are viewing you from the front.

They look really good but what I had in mind for my bike was a bit darker like dark enough that they pretty much disappear into my fairing color. Do you think you would be too dark? Would you consider Nightshadesing these a bit darker?

* Last updated by: Rook on 5/26/2017 @ 9:13 PM *

Lol I'll never nightshade anything again! But others have had better experiences so I suppose it would look good if it turned out right.

Both the fronts and rears were only about 25 bucks shipped. Certainly not a huge loss if it doesn't work.

One thing, I do know the spray does oxidize over time. I did the rear of my Nissan 300ZX and it's been years but the finish is very rough now. If I were to do it again I would want to do a professional clear coat over it. This would work well for your idea to blend everything in with the plastics.

Thanks. I was thinking the same regarding cost v quality with cheap blinkers. Not a big investment if it fails. I think I'd try the Plastidip lens tinting spray if I need something darker. It peels off if you go too dark.

I didn't know plastidip made anything like that. I'll have to check that out, thanks!

There is also vinyl but I think that would be tricky to apply to the rear signals.