Paint your own bike,How Too's

[excess11]

I would like to paint my Xs. Has anyone here done this before. I would like any tips that you may have. I use to paint a little in the late 80's but technology has changed greatly since then. What primers and paints have worked the best for you! I have a nice devilbiss gun and compressor. But I use to paint with laquer primer and Acrilic enamel paint. Old school now! Let me know what works

[ratbyk]

Painting

I have painted two of my bikes, two pickups and my car in the last five years. Went old school. Lacquer primer and acrylic enamel. I did add paint hardener and smoother additives. Old school still works. Not show quality but good looking durable paint jobs that get a few more years out of the old girls.
I guess you can go show quality but as far as I'm concerned, a 27 year old motor cycle with the old school paint makes it look pretty good. Shines up fine with good wax and if it gets a scratch, oh well. Repaint that area next winter.
Denny Z has done some painting with some of the new materials. Even into ghost flame jobs. Look great but you sure cry if it gets a nick/scratch whatever. Denny should chime in.
Ken/Sooke

[DiverRay]

I just did the tank and fairing on my bike. I didn't go all out, as I needed the bike running quickly. I just used the spray cans, and it came out OK.
The prep is the job. You can rub out almost anything is the surface is smooth to start. Any good quality paint, and follow the instructions on the new stuff, will give you a nice looking bike.
You will need to watch the temp and humidity to get the best finish.
Ray

[trukleon]

painten

Was wondering about chamiilion paint (spray bombs) from walmart?? Anyone ever try that ? Curious..

[randy]

Dan,

If you've got the equipment, go for it. Many of us go the spray can route because the equipment is a too big an investment into something we won't use all that much. I use Duplicolor products with good results.

Ray is 100% right, it's all in the prep. The smoother you prep it, the better the final finish will be, no matter what type of paint you use. That's why color wet sanding is so important. The wet surface allows you to see even the smallest flaw and gives a good represenatation of what the final finish will look like.

Another critical item is using a clear coat that's gas resistant. I know that there are additives available for you guys that use the mix-and-gun method, but for us spray jockeys, the pickin's' are slim. I discovered (the hard way) that most of the spray can clear coats are not gas resistant. However, Duplicolor's High Heat clear coat is gas resistant.

Take a look at my photos here

Randy's XS11 Page

[skids]

I will NEVER use rattle can laquer again. It looks pretty good, but you can not spray urethane over it because the laquer tries to rise to the top...even with sealer/primer over it. Also, the plastic parts are very difficult to prep with old laquer on them. I have learned that Omni paints are cheap and easy to use, but it seems that you will be doing more color coats for adequate coverage (less pigment). From now on, I will use better paint to cut down on the number of coats. Sorry, I can't recall the brand of the better stuff I used.

[chevy45412001]

sikens new stuff

this was done with the so called new stuff
[IMG][/IMG]
the orange is out of the stock colors the green i mixed myself,so if i gave out the fourmula i'd have to shoot ya....lol

[fxrer]

Randy,

You told me before that you painted your bike with Duplicolor Medium Garnett, but I never realized you meant from a spray can. Amazing results!! How many coats? And how many cans does that require? When you say “color wet sanding”, do you mean wet sanding the color coat, before the clear?

Based on what I saw on your bike, its time to freshen up mine!

[hollywoodxs11sf]

Kameleon Color

Has anyone else used the new rattle-can "Kameleon Color" by Plasti-Kote? I'm painting by xs1100sf with it right now. It's a 3-part holographic color system.

First, you apply 2 or 3 coats of base color (black), then follow an hour later with 2 coats of the "color" (holographic, color-changing metal flakes suspended in a clear coat), then 5 coats of the clear finish coat. The results are spectacular when properly prepped, as metalflake shows even the slights sanding imperfection.

So far, I've painted both side panels and one of my Yammi hard saddle bags. I'm still working on prepping the other saddle bag and the tank. I have decided to smooth out the tank mounts rather than locate good tank badges.

The color of my bike changes based on the angle that light hits it. From one angle, it's vivid metallic green, then changes to light gold as you walk past it, then to a deep metallic orange. It's the future of paint. There are several different color ways, such as purple to red and silver to blue.

[Dennyz]

I painted the tank, side covers, seat trim, and rear nacelle on a XS1100 'E' last year. I used PPG primer and sealer, "House of Color" paint, and PPG Concept clear coat over everything. It was a candy red over a metallic gold flame on top of the tank, with gold and silver accents on the knee wells, side covers and seat trim. We ended up with 22 coats of primer, sealer, color, and clear coat. It took a lot of sanding, time and patience and it turned out great.

I used a HVLP system made in Canada. It does not require an external compressor ($600US).

I now have a waiting list of 3 other bike to paint.

Stocking up on all the materials was expensive. It cost over $600 to paint the above bike, but we had enough material left over to paint at least two more bikes.

In a past life I painted cars out of my garage. Mostly Lacquers and acrylic enamels. The new technology paints are great, much easier to achieve a professional job.

I painted a bike back in the '70s with rattle cans and it turned out great. However, the paint job did not hold up.

If you want the experience, by all means, do it yourself. If you want to save a buck, you may be happier with a professional (IMHO).

[randy]

Rick,

I used three coats of color, (3 6-oz. cans) and four coats of high-temp clear (2 large cans). Wet sanded 1000 grit the last color coat, then wet sanded 1000 grit between each clear coat.

After about a month curing time, I used a glaze polish and then Simonize.

The primer, paper, filler etc. costs more than the paint!

Whatever you do, don't rush it and don't do it in cold weather.

Have fun!

[Dennyz]

The rule of thumb on when it is safe to rub out is:

if you can't smell the paint, it's done!

[dpotter58]

Re: Kameleon Color

The color of my bike changes based on the angle that light hits it. From one angle, it's vivid metallic green, then changes to light gold as you walk past it, then to a deep metallic orange. It's the future of paint. There are several different color ways, such as purple to red and silver to blue. [/B][/QUOTE]

I'd love to see a picture of it when your done.

[prometheus578]

To Hollywood and Trukleon.
Yeah, did the colorshiftin' thing last summer. As you'll probably find out... it will take you several "kits" to get it covered well. Meticulous surface prep is a must. Cried like a school girl when the inevitable floating dog hair landed on the tank right below the gas cap. Did what I could to repair. Results were good, but not to my standards.(Extra sprays over the dog hair area resulted in extra color shift effect, and got tired of hearing about my "purple" bike) Worked on a woman's bike.... she did a tremendously good "flame job' using several different colors of Wallmart enamel. So.... picked up several cans of Krylon from the local Home Despot. Base coat of black, then used pinstripe tape to outline the flames. Decided on a more realistic design; I hate those fish-tail flames. Sprayed red, then faded on orange halfway back, then yellow for the tips of the flames. Several coats of clear to finish. I'm more autistic than artistic, but it turned out quite acceptable for a first timer. Should have wet sanded between colors, though, and you have to wet sand the whole thing before the clear to get rid of the ridges of paint by the tape. Shall re-do this summer, now that I sort of know what I'm doin'. Had good results doin' an xj650 with Duplicolor, too. Don't worry about messing things up. If you don't like the way it turns out, just sand it out, get a can or two of Duplicolor black metallic, and be done with it.

[Dennyz]

Here is a link to some pictures and details of the paint job I did on fellow XS'er Jeff Trapp's E-Model. Jeff did all the grunt work, like sanding and cleaning. I had the fun part; the shooting. It took us 3 full day, with at least 8 hours trying to figure out a good looking flame.

Jeff's Bike's Paint Job