Things to know about painting your bike.

[Edwin]

Let's face it, there is nothing cheap about painting your bike, well if it's a high quality paintjob you are looking for anyway. Here are some things you should know when it come time to refinish your pride and joy.

1. Urethane paint is the BEST for your bike. It's flexible (making flex additives unessisary) and very very strong.

2. Basecoat/Clearcoat systems are very forgiving. It is the easiet type of paint to spray metallics with, and is very user friendly, making them perfect for beginners. DuPont now offers "Hyper-Cure" technology in some of their clears. Thes clearcoats CURE in about an hour and a half, allowing you to re-assemble your bike on the same day as it was sprayed. It also makes graphics and multi-color paintschemes a breeze.

3. Reds and Yellows are the most expensive colors to get. Black and White cost the least.

4. Myths to painting that aren't true:

a) Metallics fade faster than solid colors. This may have been
true 20 years ago, but not now. Urethane technology has
taken care of this.

b) Metallics are harder to spray than solids. They are not
for the same reasons as stated above.

c) You always need to use primer sealer when painting.
Simply not true.

d) You need Clearocat to really make a paintjob shine.
You could easily get a solid colored single stage paint to
shine as much as any clearcoat.

e) All paints are the same.

f) The more pricey a paint is, the better it is.

Safety equiptment is a must. For occasional painting, a good respirator will do what it is made to do. There are several companies that offer disposable paint respirators for affordable prices. Stay away from paper "dust mask" type respirators. They are useless.

1 Quart of Urethane Clear is more than enough to spray a Sportbike. Of course, if you plan on sanding everything down and re-clearing the panels you will need more than that. Sanding and re-clearing in my opinion looks WAY better than sanding and buffing.

If anyone here has any questions about painting, feel free to PM me. I would be more than happy to help you out if I can. I am a proffesional Automotive painter by trade, and own a small Automotive Paint retail store here in Hawaii.

[SV996R]

thanks for the great information

[horkn]

i agree 100% with what youve said edwin. good job. although i'm not a professional. i have done a quite few paint jobs. not a bike yet, though. yes, definitely hearing you on the part that basecoat clearcoats paints are easier to paint metallics in than single stage paints. (busa riding roomie can testify- he's painting his dodge pickup bright blue metallic, and having a hell of a time) i will remember the urethane for bikes rule. good advice as always man!

[stickboy]

Another installment of good advice from someone who obviously does more thinking than talking...

[etbadger]

Wonderful info, thank you. I would think, however, that most people's painting questions could be asked in the public forum so that everyone can glean knowledge?

I know that I will be painting up my fairings this winter (few scratches that just P#*&$ me off) and though I don't know the questions I will have, or to ask, I am learning tons from Mr. Edwin's posts.

-Erik

[TLSean]

I am considering painting my fairings this winter also, my question is what needs to be done to prepare the room? I am probably going to paint it in the garage, is there anything that I need to make sure I do first or just toss some cardboard down and go to it?

[RiverRat]

Good info Edwin but I disagree with metallics being as easy to paint as solids because if done wrong you can get mottling in the metallics, its not hard but it is different.

[Edwin]

You're welcome guys.

Riverrat,

Thanks for the input. Your are right, most metallics are prone to streaking or mottling, but on small panels like bike fairings, most basecoat/clearcoat systems should go on even, especially basecoats like DuPont's CHROMABASE, which levels off automatically without fogging or cross thatching. In fact, DuPont does NOT recommend trying to arrange metallics in the traditional way. The base is so thin, it levels off and arranges the metallics without painter input.

[dsly1]

this is perfect to "copy" into the instruction section !

[stickboy]

Hey, Edwin!
You got any advice regarding painting ( I really mean laquering) crash helmets?
I paint lids as a hobby (see www button), and at the moment I sub out the finishing, because it's simpler to do so, but sometimes I wonder if it would be better to do it myself...

[Edwin]

Sean,

As long as the garage is as clean as can be, (It don't have to be like an operating room or even close) you should be fine. One of the most common mistakes garage painter make is to seal off the garage with plastic sheeting in an attempt to keep the place dust free...what happens is, the overspray has nowhere to go and ends up settling back on you newly painted panels....Not good. Leave at least one side of the garage open and spray in the morning or late afternoon when the wind isn't so bad.

Make sure you have enough room to move around and put the panels down. Other than that a garage is a great place to spray granted you have cool neighbors, LOL! Some of the cleanest paintjobs I have done were sprayed in open garages. Make sure you have enough light to see, and have fun.

[Edwin]

stickboy,

You should try clearcoating your work yourself. Use a small detail gun to do the work, it's easier to handle on helmets. Limit fluid tip size to a 1.0

Try using the Hyper Cure clears from DuPont, specifically HC-7600S. NOTHING comes close to how fast it cures and the gloss it gives.

Nice work by the way. What kind of Airbrush do you use? I like Iwata Airbrushes myself. (HPC and Eclipes)

[stickboy]

Originally posted by Edwin
stickboy,

You should try clearcoating your work yourself. Use a small detail gun to do the work, it's easier to handle on helmets. Limit fluid tip size to a 1.0

Try using the Hyper Cure clears from DuPont, specifically HC-7600S. NOTHING comes close to how fast it cures and the gloss it gives.

Nice work by the way. What kind of Airbrush do you use? I like Iwata Airbrushes myself. (HPC and Eclipes)

Thanks for the info, I think I will have a go...

I use an Olympus HP101 (which I think is very similar to an Iwata) and three DeVilbiss Sprite Majors, one with a High Flow Nozzle. I used to use an airbrush for work, and I don't think you can beat the Sprite for performance and reliability.

Thanks again

[stickboy]

Some more recent ones...

http://www.tlplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6386

[Zero]

Hey Edwin,

I just painted my spare TLS plasitc and tank. I used DuPont chromabase. It came out really well, but I noticed the clear a little thin in a few places and the finish not as "mirror like" as some pieces. I am going to wetsand and re-clear per your recommendation. What grit paper should I use? I think my problem was spacing out all of the small pieces resulting in overspray dulling some of the other pieces. Thanks for the tips. Do metallics tend to have a less mirror like finish than solids? I used Phantom Grey. Thanks for the tips.