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Moto paint job...

dorje8

dorje8

New member
Joined
Jan 24, 2008
Location
Oakland
Moto(s)
2000 XT 350 (sold), 1997 CBR 600 F3 (sold), 2009 Triumph ST3
Name
T-man
Hey,

I was wondering whats the best way to go about re-painting my bike. Its fire engine red and I wish it were anything but that. Probably just wanna make it a nice solid black. Is there a decently priced place to get it done locally, or is it something I can do myself in my own garage? I have rattle canned an old junker bike my brother had, but I don't wanna mess up a perfectly good stock paint job. I just can't live with the color!.. Thanks
 
Man. That is pretty pricey. Did I mention its just a '97 CBR f3. Maybe I will end up rattle canning her anyway. I can't afford a $5-$600 paint job on a student budget. Thanks anyways guys..:p
 
That's not expensive.That's a good price for a two stage color change.Material can eat up over half of that.
 
dorje8 said:
I have rattle canned an old junker bike my brother had, but I don't wanna mess up a perfectly good stock paint job.
Click to expand...


A rattle can job can look really nice if done correctlly and taking your time .
Berkley Color , Thompsons and Pinnical I do belive are up in that area and should be able to put basecoat in a spray can for you . One of them should have a two part eurothane clear in a spray can also .

Basically , if you just wanted to prep then spray , consider it a week end job.

Start by stipping the bike , then washing the parts with hot water and regular dawn dish soap then rinse .
Next wet sand the surface evenly with 600 grit wet/dry paper , again with water and a few drops of dawn soap ( to help the paper from clogging up ) .
You can get creative by back masking around the stickers if you want to add a little high lites ( more on that later ) .
After the surface is sandded smooth , wipe with wax and grease remover or ISO alcohal .
If you want to save a few or the factory decales , back tape over them and use a fresh clean razor blade to cut the tape and not past it . A fine line tape will work the best for smaller areas and of course larger tape for larger areas , useing the fine line tape once more around the edges for that cleaner look .
Then apply the basecoat as recomended , WAITING BETWEEN COATS FOR FLASH TIME ( That dosen't mean go running out into the street and flashing any one driving by , I accually had some one ask me that :wtf ) about 15-20 minutes depending on temp and paint .
Then after the last coat of color wait about 30-45 minutes ( if you back taped over any decales now is a good time to remove them ) before clear coating , once more ,,, more flash time between coats .
Let dry over night put bike back together .
If any of those stores can't put a basecoat in a spray can I can .
 
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Thanks for the advice!.. I will probably end up doing it myself. The bike is in great shape but I don't think the condition of the plastics and the age of the bike really warrent a large investment. I'll save money on the paint job and get some new gear.. Thanks again..:thumbup
 
I'd offer to do it with you

My bike is a bit shabby around the edges, and I want to give it a bit of a paint job. I was thinking of trying to do a good rattle can job - and was going to extend my dabbling to you. I can't offer any advice - but at least its fun to do projects and things with other people.

If you're interested, we might get together and try out some stuff. I love fiddling and trying out new things.
 
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+1 for DIY. If your looking to make it flat or gloss black, using a roller and rustoleum/mineral spirit mixture, you can produce some very nice lookin results. As previously stated, it takes a weekend or so. I'm currently painting my bike flat black, two coats per session, wet sand to remove orange peel, repeat with increasing grades of sandpaper (600,800,1k) should be done soon. A couple of the nice properties of this form of paint is that you don't need to start with a base layer of primer(just roughen the stock paint up) or finish with a layer of clear, as rustoleum holds up really well to rocks/small debris. even after the first coat it was looking a whole lot better than the stock paintjob...
 
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