I have a 2009 Mule 610. The front and hood is faded and need of painting. I know it is some kind of plastic. What is the best paint to use?

 

Hello.
You do not restore the hood of your 2009 610 Mule by painting it.

You restore it by using elbow grease, or alternatively a rotary polisher. Start with a very fine grit wet and dry sandpaper and lightly rub the hood. You can experiment by using the sandpaper either with soapy water, or dry. When doing this you will think that you have ruined your hood. It will look terrible at the start. It will appear white. Start off with 1500 grade wet and dry. Next go to 2000, 2500 and finish it with a round 3000 grade pad on a rotary polisher set on a low speed with light pressure.

I do not know how this next bit works - but as my Mule was parked in the sun, my restored hood got shinier and shinier. What you do next is purchase a spray can of Plexus. Finish the hood with Plexus and then use it regularly to maintain the hood. I will post a photo of the restored hood I did on a 3010 Mule just last week. I will post the photos later today. Finishing the hood using Plexus is the key. Plexus is used in aviation on helicopter canopies and is readily available.

 

OK. Thanks. My hood is almost white now as the red is in only a few places.

 

If you lift your hood, you will see underneath that the Kawasaki red color goes the full depth of the plastic. The white you are seeing on the exposed side is weathering and oxidation. There is plenty of YouTube content on restoring bike plastics that are weathered and are scratched.

There is no miracle cure or expensive polish that will remove the oxidation, so don’t waste your money. Just start with some 1200 grade wet and dry sandpaper. Then progressively go finer up to 1500 then 2000 then 2500 and even 3500. I finished mine with a 4000 grade round pad on a rotary polish. I use the 2,500 and 4000 grade without any lubricant. Do not be aggressive. You do not want to scratch the plastic. You just want to remove the weathered surface plastic. Do a bit at a time over several days or a week. The 3010 Mule hood that I restored had scratches and heavy scuffs in the surface and the surface was dull. It now looks new, all done with some elbow grease and patience. The Plexus finishes it off. Follow the instructions on the can. The 3010
Mule is always parked undercover.

 

OK. Thanks. I will work on it.

 

did you buy new decals? working with plastic I can say red is the worst color to prevent UV damage on, in the 70s red dye was a lead base, that stuff stayed red just like red oxide paint on barns, when they banned lead in pigments thats when UV became a big issue