Repainting bike

[Dragonfly]

Well it is time for me to repaing my Yellow Gs....

I as looking for some ideas from you guys...
I will be doing rattle can.
I was thinking about doing that new color shifting paint
Also maybe red, blue or a nice high gloss black...
What do you think?? Any other ideas??

[se7enty7]

I'd stick with yellow.  I like being really visible.  My bike is white, which isn't bad but I'd rather have a good blue, or red, or yellow.

I would never, ever buy a black bike for that reason

[Dragonfly]

Yea I am hesitant to get rid of the yellow because of the reason you stated... visability, but! its time for a change, and i want it to look nice, so I dunno.

[treybrad]

Well. Another down side to black is.. it's reallly hard to get it to look good. Whatever color you end up with, post some pictures! I plan on rattle can-ing my bike here one day.. I'd like to see how others' have turned out.

trey

[dgyver]

Yep...darker colors are tough to get to look good with a rattle can, especially larger areas. Good surface prep makes all the difference. It takes a little practice with rattle cans for a good finish. Wet sand between coats. For the last coat, I use a new can.

btw...I painted my fairings with rattle cans. I may try a spray gun next time.

[jiggersplat]

i'm think i'm gonna do flat black with satin black and gloss black (and maybe some silver) accents this winter.  my frame has already been painted gloss black.

[The Buddha]

Yea black amplifies every blemish ... and I saw this black paint job which was glassy smooth and nice and shiny when I saw it... and the guy goes ... yea I did it ... nice huh ... I know how to paint man... people said black is hard to get a good finish ... and I knew how to do it ... so i did it in black ... just to show them.
Cool.
Srinath.

[Dragonfly]

I am pretty darn good with a rattle can.
I plan to do numerous coats with plenty of wet sanding in between...
I figure I can make it look just as good as I need to.

[sprint_9]

I would do a two tone paint job.  Blue and silver, orange and black, blue and black, black and silver, black and red.  There are alot of options, I think if I could redo my bike from solid blue I would go with a two tone blue and silver or orange and black, white or silver.

[Dom]

Here's a good link to rattle can painting...  http://www.chuckhawks.com/harley_paintin.htm

BTW the Mequiar's swirl remover after the 1000 and 1500 grits shines like a mirror.  You will start no see how crappy stock paint is on both bikes and cars after you see how your paint turns out using his method.

[Dragonfly]

I think  I will pain it black, and blue.
I will just have to decide how I want to lay out the second color... blue.

[raceratb]

Rattle can tip: Put the paint cans in fairly warm water (hot hand washing warmth ~100 deg or so). then when you paint the paint will flow smoother and you will have less eggshell. if you want it super smooth wetsand to 1000 or 1500 then polish with 3M polish for dark cars (i love this polish)

[Jace009]

I was half tempted to paint my frame a neon green this winter but finaly decided that was a bit to ambitious for me at the moment [trying to get it to run /pass inspection first]...But I'm thinking a Nice orange might be better than neon green accented w/ a satin black  or maybe bust out the polishing compound BLING BLING :nana:

[TeBo]

I'm planning to use my airbrush to paint my rear panel when they come in.  I think airbrushing is more smoother to use than rattle cans.  I used to use rattle cans for RC bodies, and even priming cars (I used to work as a painter, and eventually assistant manager of a body shop till I found out waiting tables made more money for less time.)  Now I run airbrushes almost exclusively.  Even when its' just a single color I'm doing, it's just more consistent, plus I get less spatters or running paint.  I'm not saying spraycans are bad, heck I've done whole interior jobs on spray interior paints.  

One caution about the Mirage Duplicolor paint that I think you're talking about (the color shifting one), they chip pretty easily, specially if you don't use the duplicolor mirage primer.  My suggestion is to put at least 4 coats of high grade clearcoat after applying at least 3 or 4 coats of the midcoat.  You will see the color changing effect better if you put the clear on.  IF not, it'll look really flat, and will chip at the smallest sign of rocks or even dust...

Just remember, the key to a good paintjob, is always an awesome prep job..  take the time to prep properly, sand everything well, and watch for wavy spots..  have fun painting=)
just my 2 cents..

[The Antibody]

Go with orange and white. My favorite.

 -Anti  

[TeBo]

hahah my bike is orange.  What I noticed about people's opinions on my bike's color is, you either love it, or hate it..  I just can't help but luv my orange bike=)..  thinking about painting it blue, just to make it more appealing to other people, but I love the orange so much, I just don't know