To pinstripe, or not to pinstripe,

[fredintoon]

My program to get more than 90 miles before my Special tank runs empty has progressed to starting to put the Hi-gloss 2-part colour coats on my new Standard tank. ( Another 1.3 USG! Ha! ) But will the tank look better as a monochrome slab of colour or should I add the pinstripes that the old paint job had? Do I go through the hassle of putting on those stick-on stripes and then clear-coating over them and hoping that THIS time that the stripes don't go all cockeyed and the next to invisible clear-coat won't run into curtains before I notice it happening OR should I just give'er a couple more coats of gloss?

[Paintman]

Naked or not

all depends what ya like Fred i dont like vinyl pinstripes they get strange when ya go and clear em alot of times. i do free hand pnstires if ya was closer id fix ya up. but sometimes a single color looks betetr than ne with stripes it just looks cleaner.
John

[egsols]

What colour pinstripes go with orange? Green perhaps?

Hand painting sounds like a good option if you want longevity.

[79XS11F]

I would pin stripe it. It was very common on both cars and bike in the late 70s and early 80s. It dresses the bike up and shows its age. Do not do the vinyl pin striping. If you decide to do it ether go to an auto paint supply shop and get the real thing or paint them on. Painting them on is not that difficult to do if planed out.
Paint the pin strip color on first then, let fully dry, the tape off the pattern desired. Use good quality 1/16 or 1/8 inch auto painters masking tape. Once the pattern is taped off spray the tank color. Pull the tape before the paint drys and then clear coat the whole thing when dry. Your single coat of tank color must be applied well because a second coat is a no go or the tape will not be removable.
Try to lay the tape on as a single piece and leave a grab point.
Rob

[Flatlander]

Go pinstripe!

I like the pinstripe on my '81. I also think that it is a reflective pinstripe.

I am remembering a picture that I took of a couple off us on a trip we had taken to the Niraga Falls a few years back. We spent the night in Turkey Point, Canada, on the way back.

Anyways, it was near dark when we got there and I took a night picture of camp and all the pinstriping on my bike glew.

I just dropped my tank on the pinstriping part of the tank and that needs to be replaced. Is this pinstriping avaliable, to match the rest of my bike?

[TADracer]

Give it a shot. Get yourself a couple of pinstripe brushes, and old telephone book and some striping paint. Practice on something else first and then go at it. If you dont like it, just wipe it off and start over.

The telephone book is a great pallette for loading your brushes.

[AlanB]

Hi Fred,

Either spend a while in the many "pictures" threads, and figure out what you like, or spend a couple of bucks (Quid?LOL) on the striping tape and do one side........

Play around with it until you like it...... then paint it on!

A few years ago I painted an old 550/4 in metallic lime green, and striped it up in orange (the same colour that my avatar bike is now) It was meant to be tasteless....... but it actually looked good...... and it really got the looks!

Within a month, there was another three bikes in similar colours close to my house. LOL!

Sounds like the reverse would work for you?

AlanB

[mason79]

stripe it man stripe it

[Guy_b_g]

Vinyl pinstripes can look ok. Here is my paint job. Vinyl pinstripes and Kanji lettering, tank and tail say Yamaha, sidecovers say 1100.

Insets on tank are vinyl mock-graphite (3d)...looks real even from a foot away.

All UV resistant 5 year (unprotected) vinyl covered in 3 coats of clear.

Used rattlecans of duplicolor gloss black engine enamel, and clear engine enamel.

The clear looked cloudy on most pieces until it cured.

Oh yeah...and there's some elbow grease mixed in.

http://s244.photobucket.com/albums/g...current=FF.jpg

http://s244.photobucket.com/albums/g...t=Fairing1.jpg

http://s244.photobucket.com/albums/g...rent=Tank2.jpg

http://s244.photobucket.com/albums/g...sidecovers.jpg

http://s244.photobucket.com/albums/g...rent=tail1.jpg

On the tail cowl, the rivets along the bottom edge are actually stainless button head cap screws that hold a homemade black undertail on via L-brackets. The center one is one of 3 (the other 2 are on the undertail) that hold an aluminum licence plate bracket. The three close together on each side are high intensity LEDs (the inner 2 are red running/brake lights, the outer 1 on each side is an amber turn signal).

More 2 come when I get her put together.

[ross]

i thought i could never do it.....but...

hey there folks.....have read the entire thread above and i would go with the pinstriping.....make sure you get the good 3m pinstriping from an auto paint dealer or such.....just make sure it is 3m...cost me $4.50 for 40 feet....more than enough......take your time....maybe practice on the wife's car!?....when you do it, make sure the paint is fully cured....then start slowly and just tack it down lightly....follow the natural lines of the tank....if it doesn't look right, carefully pull it back up and try again.....use an razor blade to make small cuts when you are turning a sharp corner.....not completely thru it, but just enough so that it doesn't pucker up....when you are satisfied with the look, then firmly press it on....this is the point where u could be scr*wed if you don't like it, but not sure.....trust me i have never done this before, but i don't think it turned out 2 shabby.....also, i actually matched the original pinstriping of my machine.....3m scotchcal striping tape....70203 - 1/8" x 40' gold metalic.....judge for yourself from my photos below....good luck with the project and i hope to see pictures of the monster when she is done.....talk 2 ya later...ross

[wa407mpp]

pin strips

The po used tape to do my bike, but when I repaint it this winter I'm going to lay out the money and hire a pro.

[ross]

hiring a pro....

i took just my tank into a "cycle" paint shop and to remove 1 dent, prime and paint (basecoat & clear coat)...they wanted around $400.....i did the entire bike with primer, base coat, clear coat, and fuel proof clear coat for the tank for about $100.....if ya got the $$$ then spend on....if not, ya gotta improvise.....talk 2 ya later..ross

[wa407mpp]

Some of us have the talent some of us don't, and I don't, but I do have a check book.

[fredintoon]

Well, I tried it - - -

- - - having found enough partial cans of clear coat, catalyst etc on my shelf unit that I wouldn't go broke (with pigment, catalyst, extender & gun cleaning solvent my re-paint costs are already at $70+) I spent $4.25 on a roll of 1/8" pinstriping tape.
The more I tried to apply the tape in nice smooth curves the lumpier those curves got. Thanks to all who gave me tips and encouragement and posted photos of their own attempts (and to the one professional who said "don't") but there's a time to say f**k it and peel the stuff off again and that's what I did. I will now rely on the tank's classic shape to stand on it's own merits; from as little as 3 feet away the paint looks quite nice.