# Proper prep prevents poor performance By Warren Pridgeon | Published 2026-09-29 | Category: Maker Canonical: https://warrenpridgeon.co.za/blog/proper-prep --- In 2008 I went to the AMID bike show in Johannesburg with a buddy of mine. While there I happened across a Caspian Blue Triumph Daytona. ![A blue Triumph Daytona on a stand at the AMID bike show in 2008](https://warrenpridgeon.co.za/uploads/cb38a50a1d0941f2a6927ff4eafe06ec.jpg) Something about it just spoke to me... The sparkling blue metallic paint and the styling of the body just whispered sweet nothings into my soul. I spent the next several years with a Daytona shaped hole in my heart, browsing Gumtree every now and then to see if any were available. Eight years later, in 2015 that hole finally got plugged when I bought a 2011 Daytona 675, in Caspian Blue. And in usual Warren fashion, I was at the track with it two weeks later. HAHAHAHA. Because anything worth doing is worth doing to the max! ## Why a track bike needs a second skin Road bodywork for most bikes is expensive, and when a bike is a few years old it can be tough to FIND replacements if you chuck it down in the kitty litter at the track. And if you go to the track often and start doing the "let me brake later and later" thing you are BOUND to go inspect the run off area from time to time. Exhibit A:
Official run-off inspector, Redstar Raceway, 2017. (Yes yes, I spelled DUTIES wrong.)
To mitigate the "need to replace the expensive road kit" you get a set of fibreglass race bodywork. It's cheaper and tougher than the ABS plastics... Also a lot easier to repair. The only thing better than shiny new track bodywork is a bargain second hand set, which I happened to procure. ## My customisation - R350 and a bucket of hot water The set I got arrived sprayed black. And as they say necessity is the mother of invention... So I improvised a spray hanger from a ladder and the security gate inside my garage. ![Fairing panels hanging from an improvised frame rigged up in a garage doorway](https://warrenpridgeon.co.za/uploads/d6826a013822473e877bfbb3ad3afbb8.jpg) I spent some time scuffing up the body so that the blue paint would hopefully stick properly. The whole spray job was done with **rattle cans**, the stuff you find on the shelf at Checkers (LITERALLY bought from Checkers Hyper). The kind of stuff you use to paint garden furniture. I spent about R350 on the very similar blue and a couple of cans of white. And for my next trick: ![A spray can standing in a bucket of hot water on a garage floor](https://warrenpridgeon.co.za/uploads/38e449b0ba9f447fa0a4add927f15fb7.jpg) **That is a rattle can standing in a bucket of hot water.** Warming the can raises the pressure inside it and thins the paint slightly, so it flows out smoother instead of spitting. Little things that stack together to bring epic results (more epic than I'd ever believed I could achieve). BOOM ![A fairing panel sprayed in metallic blue](https://warrenpridgeon.co.za/uploads/8c71bf5589234a9580d62548bad48f3b.jpg) Surprisingly close match for an "off the shelf" metallic blue paint ![Two fairing panels hanging next to each other for colour comparison](https://warrenpridgeon.co.za/uploads/d044a2ab50c74c869d49195e5e025121.jpg) I masked out a "dart" on the belly (the white stripe along the bottom of the fairing). ![The belly panel wrapped in newspaper and tape, with a strip left exposed for the white dart](https://warrenpridgeon.co.za/uploads/6bec819a12f944679bd20b956aaaa5cc.jpg) And for fun I fitted a white jockstrap. lol ![The "white jockstrap" all masked off](https://warrenpridgeon.co.za/uploads/ad60528904614957b9cb9afcd7bb78bb.jpg) ![Nose with the "white jockstrap"](https://warrenpridgeon.co.za/uploads/6b336bfd00ef466e97d89efec6bb3062.jpg) I had a friend cut out the Daytona logo and my previous company (BitStar Solutions) logo and I dutifully applied both. ![The result](https://warrenpridgeon.co.za/uploads/a77ec727170c473586fc659e5e227efd.jpg) You would not say that that was a R350 paint job (the tank, tail and front mudguard were still the road plastics). ## The damage and the fix I did a bunch of track days... And just before taking part in the Moto Rider Academy 8 hour race in Welkom at Phakisa... I discovered that the fairing had cracked. This is just what happens when they get older and the heat of the exhaust causes damage. And cracked bodywork fails scrutineering (the inspection before a race), so no fix, no race. It turns out stress isn't only bad for humans: ![Stress fracture](https://warrenpridgeon.co.za/uploads/03f142e2b4364569916899753f4c7869.jpg) So what do you do when you are Warren "I can do anything I put my mind to" Pridgeon? You apply your mind and your Google-Fu. I also found that the grey basecoat under the original black had never been prepped properly. ![Original base coat peeling](https://warrenpridgeon.co.za/uploads/6f1d5c1e17184e1bb34b16dd3629083f.jpg) I spent some time Googling fibreglass fixing and then went ahead and fixed a part that was going to have to withstand over two hundred kilometre per hour speeds. I followed the rules: **Rough sand the repair spot** Resin does not stick properly to smooth, shiny or dirty surfaces. You have to scuff it up so you don't stuff it up. **Stop-drill the ends of the cracks** This helps dissipate the stress and prevents the crack from spreading further. Turns out this is pretty standard for repairing composites and aircraft. **Drill THROUGH the body in places** Not to fix stuff, but to give the resin mechanical grip on top of the normal adhesion. **Measure and cut the matting** ![Fibreglass matting being measured against the inside of a fairing panel](https://warrenpridgeon.co.za/uploads/4d1800624a1945f79430c94a3b9f6eca.jpg) **Layer it and soak it with resin** ![Resin being worked into the fibreglass matting on the back of a panel](https://warrenpridgeon.co.za/uploads/253dc4bbfe134625aebd6221eece0986.jpg) This part went relatively smoothly, I didn't end up all itchy and covered in fibreglass (sorry peeps no fails this time). It worked out because I took my time, read up on it and then followed the rules. Well... the next part was a "back to square one" moment, so there's still a slight disaster... Because of the previous owner's lack of proper prep I had to strip ALL the paint off and apply a new primer coat and black base coat. ![Fairing panels in grey primer, laid out in the garage](https://warrenpridgeon.co.za/uploads/2d16ccb8fa294fdcb3f4089059cce0c6.jpg) I sprayed it blue again and prettied it up. ## The bolts For a race you are required to "lockwire" certain bolts and things on the bike. This involves either buying bolts with pre-drilled holes or drilling them yourself so they can be wired to each other to prevent them from backing out themselves. Now, can you guess which option I chose? Yep... I drilled those suckers out myself. Lockwiring is required to stop your bike marking its territory using oil spills while out on the track. Oil on the track is treacherous to say the least. ![A drilled bolt head held between finger and thumb](https://warrenpridgeon.co.za/uploads/c957404470104b2cb640f5221fb9dc73.jpg) ![Lockwire twisted and fitted between fasteners on the bike](https://warrenpridgeon.co.za/uploads/7a005fcfb3b74b4ca4b0c9f4e8145774.jpg) I put engine casing protectors on myself, and I also serviced my bike myself. I am very lucky in that I grew up in a garage and my dad is a mechanic by trade. Not only can I tickle the keys of the keyboard but I can swing a spanner too. The race itself was EPIC. Although it got shortened to 6 hours because it poured with rain on the day of the race. There'll be a post about that in the future. ## Proper prep prevents poor performance Sometimes you aren't the one doing the prep. You inherit something that LOOKS ok but it can be just waiting to spring a nasty surprise on you! A lot of times the person that took the shortcut is not the one that has to deal with the drama that can create. If, like me, you are a software developer you might have felt the chest pains of dealing with shortcuts. And these days AI can be a crazy fast shortcut, but that's also creating huge opportunities to fix shortcuts. You inherit someone's quick and nasty, they skipped the basecoat and proper sanding prep - or the proper architecture patterns - and you have to get from there to where you need to be. The fact that you weren't the person who took the shortcuts doesn't reaaaally matter when some system falls over at 4pm on a Friday before a long weekend. The long and boring prep is what decides whether something lasts or not. The prep, tests, foundations, documentation and other "boring" things that nobody claps for. Those things help keep the paint on. Proper prep prevents poor performance (although often with more colourful words thrown in. lol). My dad's generation had that on posters in their workshops, and it applies to way more than paint and code, like warming up at gym before you climb under a loaded bar to bench press it. ## BUT WAIT... THERE'S MORE A few years later I still had a couple of those rattle cans (because OBVIOUSLY you buy extra in case you need to touch up). It came time for a gender reveal. So I took one of those plastic ride-on bikes (you know, the headache on wheels every South African parent has tripped over in the dark), masked it up and gave it the same vibe as my Daytona. Complete with stickers, gold wheels and jockstrap. HAHAHAHA. ![A full-size blue Triumph Daytona parked next to a tiny matching blue and gold plastic ride-on bike, with balloons](https://warrenpridgeon.co.za/uploads/78b3cf7e29114473ac7131d349c4e700.jpg)