painting the frame of my bike???

calvert0014 · July 31, 2005, 02:35:39 PM

i was thinking more along the lines of a good rattle can job. i was thinking about covering everything that i didnt want to get paint on with newspaper/plastic ect., and then spraying the frame first with some primer and then with a nice silver color. do you think that would work? i mean it doesnt have to be perfect but it would probubly be alot better than it is right now (look at the picture). my main question is which type of paint would be better for the job enamel or lacquer?

Bluebellylint · July 31, 2005, 03:24:17 PM

since we are talking about paint I also have a question for you rattle can artists.
I recently panted a faring I bought with primer before the top coat, but now I like the look of the flat black primer so much I want to keep it. Is that OK, will the primer hold up to the elements just as well as any other paint? :dunno:

Jace009gs · July 31, 2005, 03:45:16 PM

primer is specialy formulated to stick to smooth surfaces and when it dries it has a rought surface so the paint will stick. Paint is made to seal and stand against the elements primer-no. What you need is flat black paint. not the gloss stuff

calvert0014 · July 31, 2005, 04:32:21 PM

my question??

Bluebellylint · July 31, 2005, 05:53:55 PM

Sorry for stealing this post but thanks for the answer.
and now back to this question...

Quote from: calvert0014i was thinking more along the lines of a good rattle can job. i was thinking about covering everything that i didnt want to get paint on with newspaper/plastic ect., and then spraying the frame first with some primer and then with a nice silver color. do you think that would work? i mean it doesnt have to be perfect but it would probubly be alot better than it is right now (look at the picture). my main question is which type of paint would be better for the job enamel or lacquer?

Toledo Jim · July 31, 2005, 05:54:29 PM

Quote from: calvert0014my main question is which type of paint would be better for the job enamel or lacquer?

enamel or lacquer? - enamel or lacquer? - enamel or lacquer?

That IS the question you asked, isn't it?

I dont know either :dunno:

Bluebellylint · July 31, 2005, 07:45:38 PM

Found this in a diferent post.

Quote from: 94suzuki500i sprayed enamel on my bike because of the gas tank being exposed to a drip or two of gas when you fill up, i didnt use enamel. on my friends car he used laquer and he also used clear coat on it. Laquer is easier to buff but enamel is alot tougher. I dont know much about the 2 stage and 3 stage i think that might be pertaining to the primer then paint then clear. I dont really know just a guess. Ya but i think it will be good with no clear coat, that way you have less of a chance of making a mistake and the little extra money and time it takes to spray it. But ya do whatever, your bike. Peace

Edit: Updated Link

calvert0014 · August 01, 2005, 06:26:28 PM

hey red_phil,
i have a couple of questions for you. first of all, how difficult was it to paint the frame of your bike? how long did it take? is it really necessary to remove the wheels and chain (if you just wanted to paint the frame, nothing else)? also i was planning to go from a black to a silver frame, is it nessicary to use primer?

oh, and for the rest of you, how much do you think it would cost to get Maaco or some other auto body shop like it just to paint my tank, side panels, and fender all one solid color? it shouldnt be that much, should it?

RVertigo · August 01, 2005, 06:35:10 PM

You should look through the User's pics for a Flat Black bike...

If mine was a wacked out color, I would go for Flat Black... or Yellow!

calvert0014 · August 03, 2005, 07:45:36 AM

bump

The Buddha · August 03, 2005, 08:31:25 AM

If your frame is to really be painted ... I mean a decent paint job on it ... you'll have to take the motor out and literally strip the frame bare. I'd suggest you go the extra step, and weld up the gaps and incomplete welds there by shutting the elements out (do not weld the drainage holes in the main spars shut) but the mounting tabs and the brackets and gussets have plenty of gaps ... you want to shut it and lock the elements out and prevent water collecting in the crevices. In fact I'd do one extra mod (if you aren't going to install the stock air box back in) and make a shock top mount that will take a GSXR 01+ shock straight in. I know it fits a stock one, but the extra features like ride height etc are not available in stock ... Then I'd take it to a powdercoating shop and have them blast it ... or acid dip it and a good shop should be able to clean up the frame well of all past corrosion ... my guy does synthetic sand blasting ... and then powdercoat it. I'd have to take some pics when Danny's frame is done.
Cool.
Srinath.

calvert0014 · August 03, 2005, 10:11:30 AM

i have nowhere near that kind of money, but my frame needs something bad (see the pictures)

The Buddha · August 03, 2005, 10:56:40 AM

My welder charged me (Danny) $100 ... and powder is another $100 I believe. Blasting is included in powder coating. I mean elbow grease also has a price as does the better quality of finished product. It will take you forever to sand and paint the frame and the result will not be as good. Heck if I had a bad frame I'd do it in a jif ... and I am cheapskate #1. Honestly this $200 will push the value/desirability of your bike up by over 2-3-4 times that ...
Cool.
Srinath.

calvert0014 · August 04, 2005, 09:40:38 AM

yeah, $100 for sandblasting and powdercoating the frame is not bad at all. ill probubly get that done in the future, but i just looking for something sort of temporary to make that frame look a little better. also, i dont really have a place where i can really dissasemble the entire bike and keep all of the parts (nope not even a garage). i have been doing all the work on my driveway.i dont think it should be too difficlt to just remove the tank, seat, side pannels, ect. and cover everything else up w/ plastic or newspaper. then, spray the frame with some primer and paint.... what do you guys think?

calvert0014 · August 10, 2005, 02:44:26 PM

i finally did it, here are a few pics:

here it is with just the primer:

and here i put the silver base coat on:

i decided not to do the rear swing arm cause it would have been alot more work. but, i might go back and do it later. over all it turned out pretty good. probubly the only thing i would have changed would have been not using a primer color that was so similar to the top coat, i could hardly tell where i had already painted.

RVertigo · August 10, 2005, 02:52:29 PM

Nice... I'm too lazy to pull the whole bike appart.

Is that shadow near the handle bars? Looks a little darker.

calvert0014 · August 10, 2005, 02:55:58 PM

yeah its a shadow i got it pretty evenly covered. how do you think it looks without the swing arm painted?

RVertigo · August 10, 2005, 02:57:10 PM

I think it's kinda slick actually... With the black wheel.

I've seen a few people that painted the sub-frame black and the rest silver...

Hugh Jardon · August 11, 2005, 04:01:12 AM

Good work; I guess you REALLY don't like camo! I had the frame of my '99 GS powdercoated black right after I bought it, because I dislike the original color so much. I see nothing wrong with your black swingarm, but you can decide what to do about it some other time.

To be honest, I liked the camo paint job, but that is probably because I spent so many years in the Army; that came out much better than I thought it would when you first started this thread. Any minor scratches in the paint will be less noticeable because you used grey primer, which IMO was the right choice.

Thanks for the pics.

red_phil · August 11, 2005, 06:18:57 AM

Sorry for not getting back to you, I missed the thread bump.

Looks good.
I found I needed to strip off the wheels & chain etc mainly so I could clear the rust off the swingarm pivot and back of the exhaust.
Also took out the air box to get the back side of the frame as it was bad too on my bike.

I had it easy with the engine as I was spraying the whole lot black.
I just used Hammerite BBQ spray paint on the whole lot at once.

One thing I found dead useful for masking fiddily bits was clingfilm.
I tested with my paint and it didn't react to it.

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painting the frame of my bike???