I would just sand it down and repaint it with a rattle can. That's what I did on my ol' 600 and it looked great. After that, you can pick up a woodcraft cover. Sato makes 'em too. Just about anything will work. Don't worry about it being too fancy, because once you have another get-off, a scratched up case protector all look the same. And dang dude, resurrecting old threads?!? 2004? Glad you can use the search function
