Frame Powdercoating

[dbarile]

I've looked through the past posts on frame painting and frame powder coating and still had a few questions.

The frame on my bike has a few spots on it that I'd love to improve. I thought it might be a good winter project to strip the frame clean and recoat it.  I got a few estimates from various places and the money to paint vs powder coat wasn't enough of a difference to help me decide.

So I was wondering what some of the people on the board had done. If you powder coated it; would you do it again?  Any pearls of wisdom to share with me?

Is powdercoating any stronger/more durable than painting? Has any one ever clear coated a powder coated frame? What color are oranges?

Thanks

[tbblizzard]

powdercoating will definately be stronger than paint. I'd much rather powdercoat the frame than paint it. Powdercoat is pretty much baked onto your frame and doesn't scratch off. You can get powdercoat in chrome colors or whatever you're looking for, so the color quality is almost the same as paint if that's what you're concerned about.

[Jace009gs]

painting just covers the metal while powdercoating seals it. Pretty much bomb proof paint because it is baked at somehting like 550*F for an hour.  I got my wheels powder coated for my car...I've hit/ rubed the curb a few times but the powder coat didn't flake or anything just dented the outter tip of the rim....I was :x  :x  :x  :x  tho.....For the extra money on the frame go w/ powdercoating. Do it once do it right I always say. The frame is prone to rust and corrosive characteristics than the plastic and other metal parts. Espicaly around the exhaust/header area...AKA-the exhaut bakes the paint right off, but not with powder coat.

[John Bates]

........................
Is powdercoating any stronger/more durable than painting?

A good powder coating will hold up much better than painting.

Has any one ever clear coated a powder coated frame?

Yes, it's done all the time.  It gives the coating extra depth and shine.

What color are oranges?

Thanks

Orange :lol:  I couldn't let that one go by.

[ratz]

I believe the surface of your frame can't have bondo on it if powder coating.....
Put a couple screws in the holes on your frame, so the heads of the screws get powder coated too. this helps the look, i think.

[dbarile]

Including the bolts/screws; now that's a good suggestion.

My initial pricing requests included cleaning the frame down to the metal.  I could do that here, but in the end it didn't add to the price too much and it made my job easier.  It also means that if they botch the job they can't say it was cleaned incorrectly.

[kvgs]

I so wish I could powdercoar my frame. But I'm afraid I'll tear the bike down and it will never go back together the way it did , but my blueish green 1995 would be sweet with a black frame!

[ratz]

Including the bolts/screws; now that's a good suggestion.

My initial pricing requests included cleaning the frame down to the metal.  I could do that here, but in the end it didn't add to the price too much and it made my job easier.  It also means that if they botch the job they can't say it was cleaned incorrectly.

Plus, keep in mind you have to protect any threads in your frame from the powder coating process. They usually have you put duct tape in the holes. if you put the bolts in the holes, it works two fold.

[scottpA_GS]

my blueish green 1995 would be sweet with a black frame!

Im getting my 95 frame and wheels powdered in Gunmetal Grey in a few weeks  :mrgreen:

I can have my pick of colors though.. You think black would look better w/ the blue/green color?

[kvgs]

Well here is my 15min photoshop creation of what my 95 would look like with a black frame, it gives you a rough idea, I could spend hours making it perfect but you get the idea. The wheels would have to be a differnt color maybee gunmetal, not white, I have'nt messed with that to much.
Oh and the headlight bucket needs to be black too.

[The Buddha]

Yea headight, ears, Top plate of the dash, triples and handle bar all should be black. Doing that for years ... really nice.
Cool.
Srinath.

[ratz]

I'm digging the flat black. thought about that exact color myself, but the wheels  will be gloss black.

[facepants]

How much was the estimate for this job?

[The Buddha]

I did the job on drifter's bike. I welded up all the gaps and sanded it smooth. The mounts etc have tons of gaps whete water will collect and screw up the thing ... all those are best welded shut and sanded smooth, then powdercoat it. Cost me $100 for welding and sanding and 100 for powdercoat. He did it in the stock like silver. Black tends to be cheaper and have a shorter turnaround.
Cool.
Srinath.

[Dom]

Yeah.  20% Smooth Matte Black fan here myself.  That's the same as they use on the Yamahas(R1, R6, etc.), at least on the upper frame under the tank.  I think they use different levels of gloss on different parts.

[jordanearl]

I personally, would go a very high gloss balck, that way i would have to clean it all the time   but then if you don't repaint the engine, its gonna look bad.  i had tinkered with the idea of stipping down the frame, but decided against.  now that i got a blown engine, an gonna have to take it out now ayways.  I will prolly do it now. 

[facepants]

Including the bolts/screws; now that's a good suggestion.

My initial pricing requests included cleaning the frame down to the metal.  I could do that here, but in the end it didn't add to the price too much and it made my job easier.  It also means that if they botch the job they can't say it was cleaned incorrectly.

how much did they quote it for?

[makenzie71]

ok powder coating is NOT the way to go.  It's messy, it's not permanent, it's hard to get to setup.  Get it annodized.  It's cheaper, it has no measureably thickness, it's stronger, and it's cheaper.

[sanjay]

I wasn't aware that you could anodize steel.  Has someone does this before?

[Jughead]

Anodizing is only for Aluminum and Titanium.