Betsy-glide in red

[dbeardslee]

OK, so I finally got my camera issues resolved, and as I just got finished painting and it's a beautiful day here in Cincinnati, I thought I would post some pics. (It was either that or yard work - Camera won)








After all that work, it's a shame to put this on top of it, but that's life

[blue giant]

Looks Good!

Real Good!

[dbeardslee]

Blue - I assume your talking about that last picture

[blue giant]

Originally posted by dbeardslee
Blue - I assume your talking about that last picture

Of course,
You're a handsome man dbeardslee!

[dbeardslee]

Blue - awe, shucks. That's not exactly the reply I was expecting. Not to worry though, Prometheus will be along before too long to put me in my place.

[The Lorax]

Well done Doug, the ride looks quite good.

[Ken Talbot]

Originally posted by dbeardslee
Prometheus will be along before too long to put me in my place.

If you get lucky, he'll only catch on about that rear tire.

[dbeardslee]

Ken - Yeah, that rear chicken skin is gettin' kind of scary. Still grips ok in the corners if it's dry out, although I'd never buy a set. The front one is the one that's interesting. The center tread on the tire is raised slightly compared to the treads on either side. It'll follow a crack in the road just like a slot car . It'll have new tires on it before next season - I promise. I'm thinkin' a small windshield before the wind blows chill might not be a bad idea either.

[blue giant]

Did you paint it yourself? What brand and color paint did you use?

[prometheus578]

"I got ripped off!"

So, I'm reading... scrolling downward...
(thinking of rude comments...)
First Ken steals my thunder....
Then Blue Giant takes my next comment from me....
What's left for me to say?

"There's never a beautiful day when you live in Cincinnati."
"You should have stuck with the yardwork."
"The camera is not your friend."

Though... nice lookin' bike.

[dbeardslee]

Blue - I painted it in the back yard with material from paintforcars.com. When I first opened the primer I ordered with it I found it to be old. The solids had deteriorated and sunk to the bottom of the can. I thought 'heck, I only need about a pint, and I can salvage that much. If I had let it cure for 72 hours I probably would have been alright, but I didn't. I put the top coat on about two hours after the primer, and being old primer, it reacted with the top coat and orange-peeled.

Compounding the problem was the $30 HVLP paint gun I was using, that wasn't worth a flip. I was lucky that my neighbor paints cars for a living and happened to be passing by while I was working. He loaned me his $600 Devilbliss gun, and the last coats went on pretty well. It looks like a wrinkle-paint job, and is actually kind of growing on me. Haven't rubbed it out yet so there's still hope.

I checked into decent relatively-inexpensive guns and found the Finex FX 3000 which I intend to acquire before painting again. It's hvlp, throws up to a 12.5" pattern, and includes both 1.8mm (primer) and a 1.4mm (top coat) tip sets for $145.

Paintforcars sent me another gallon of primer and another quart of reducer gratis, and with the new primer it lays down real nice. The thing about their stuff is, it's inexpensive ($76 for a gallon of paint, a quart of reducer, a pint of hardener, particle masks, and stir sticks, another $31 for a gallon of non-sanding primer and I was over-the-curb ofr $107 plus shipping) but appears to be pretty good material - time will tell. This is the stuff I used - candy apple red metallic. I think I'll try the sandable primer next time, as opposed to the non-sanding stuff I used. Also think I'll wait 72 hours or more between priming and top coating to let all the solvents evaporate.

Prom - Yeah, I was expecting to get zapped by one moderator, and another one blind-sided me. I knew you wouldn't let me down. I must be a masochist though, 'cause I love the punishment .

[blue giant]

Well it certainly looks like a proffesional job to me! Thanks for the painting tips. Will you put the pinstripes back on or leave it.

[dbeardslee]

Blue - I think I'm going to leave the pinstripes off. If I change my mind, I'd like to do it like Mike Edwards' bike . Pearl white on the sides of the tank, with matching pin stripes on the side covers and seat. That's a dynamite paint job.

[blue giant]

At first I thought your bike needed the pin stripes but I also like the clean look with out them.

[dbeardslee]

Blue - I tend to agree. If I had bondoed over the badge holders, I think it would have been a bit much. The badges provide a little contrast and break-up the side of the tank. Unfortunately I only put the tank badges on for the pics. I have one screw hole that gave me trouble, and I need to JB it and tap it before reinstalling them. The next thing I'm probably going to try is some tank badge repair. I've got six of them, and every one of them has issues. With JB, a file, my trusty Dremel Tool, and some paint I think I can manage a decent looking set. I wonder what it would look like with some gold ladies on the tank like the truckers put on their mud-flaps