Generic Paint Job Cost Question

[Chilly Willy]

Hi All,

My bike was repainted by the PO from its original purple to a bright "Ducati yellow."  I have a few scratches and dings here and there and thought about just using touch up paint to fill in the irregularities.  However, my newly installed Plexi3 combined with the lousy standard fork springs have caused the lower end of the fairing to chew up the paint on my front fender.

So, roughly, what would be a ball-park figure to expect to have my bike re-painted?  I know this topic has come up before, but unlike many of your bikes with elaborate paint schemes, my bike is all one color.  I'm not looking for any sort of specialty work, just painting it all over.  I would like the paint to be of good quality (not Maco) with a protective clear-coat.

Thanks,

Chilly

[Onlypastrana199]

For someone local, find a smaller shop, usually word of mouth, got a local forum you could ask? Whole thing (meaning Tank, front fender, fairings, two side plastics and center section) straight shoot is $450. The fairings add in that extra cost. That includes prep, filling any dents or scratchs, primer and a ton of clear. I think these are average prices so I'm not trying to recruit you, just giving you a hint of what it would cost. Call some places up and ask, quotes are part of the job! Personally I think smaller shops do a better job but I've seen some bigger ones do excellent work as well.

The prep is usually what racks up the price...Can I just suggest something if price is an issue? The prep work isn't hard and its almost winter time..it just takes a while. Now everyone knows I love Alsa paints. I think they kick ass and I loved the finish I get when I use them. They just came out with rattle cans and clear in a can. Check out their website Alsa Corp Paints Now with proper prep work, you can definitely get a professional finish. Check out some local shops.

[Chilly Willy]

Thanks Pastrana!

I'm afraid price is always an issue, so I will look at the rattle-can option.  Can you point me to a link for diy prep work?

Chilly

[Dom]

I have gotten quotes from various mom & pop paint shops  but for paint only, meaning that I would do the prep work.  $300 is average for paint only.  Here's the deal though; no matter what you hear, never try to do it yourself with rattle cans.  ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use a 3 part(reducer, hardener, acrylic enamel) on a motorcycle.  Gasoline will eat through a rattle can paint job faster than you can scare a cat off a hot tin roof.  Buy a cheap HVLP gun at harbor freight and do it yourself.  That's my advice.

HVLP guns at Harbor Freight or ebay will run you around $75 and a quart of paint is around $50 for the good stuff(reducer, hardener, acrylic enamel.)  If you want to get really fancy then get a clear coat which will be another $30.  I buy my paint at my local NAPA.  Not all NAPAs have paint shops but you might have one in your area that does.

[Chilly Willy]

Cool, thanks for the tip.  I've already had a couple of gas spills, so I need something that would hold up.  $300--ouch!  I guess I can live with a scuffed up fender for a while.

Chilly

[Onlypastrana199]

IMO...its not the paint that gets eaten...its the clear then the paint..a good clear and alot of it is a must. Then proper care and curing is very important. That is why I suggested clear in a can....especially Alsa's. They have incredible finishes and they're prices are reasonable.

As for proper curing you HAVE to let it sit and cure and then its important not to wash or wax it for as long as the manufacturer recommends...

[Mandres]

I have gotten quotes from various mom & pop paint shops  but for paint only, meaning that I would do the prep work.  $300 is average for paint only.  Here's the deal though; no matter what you hear, never try to do it yourself with rattle cans.  ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use a 3 part(reducer, hardener, acrylic enamel) on a motorcycle.  Gasoline will eat through a rattle can paint job faster than you can scare a cat off a hot tin roof.  Buy a cheap HVLP gun at harbor freight and do it yourself.  That's my advice.

HVLP guns at Harbor Freight or ebay will run you around $75 and a quart of paint is around $50 for the good stuff(reducer, hardener, acrylic enamel.)  If you want to get really fancy then get a clear coat which will be another $30.  I buy my paint at my local NAPA.  Not all NAPAs have paint shops but you might have one in your area that does.

That's assuming you already have a compressor capable of running a HVLP gun.  If not, that's another $500+ you'll have to outlay.

[Dom]

Or you could rent one for like $25 a day.  Hell, if you live in Western, WA  I'll let you borrow mine.  You can't borrow my HVLP gun but you are certainly welcome to hang out at my shop some weekend and we can paint our bikes at the same time, since it sounds like we are both in need of a new paint job.  It would be easier if we painted them the same color(for obvious reasons) but there is a paint shop a few blocks from my shop and the paint is a really reasonable price.  Plus it's not too terribly difficult to clean out the guns inbetween colors.  We can go in halves on reducer, hardener, and clear coats because with the smallest quantities they sell we'll have more than enough to do two bikes.  All in all it'll cost you about $60-80 for a professional paint job.   Cheers, PM me if you're interested. 

[Chilly Willy]

PM Sent

Chilly

[pantablo]

...and another love connection is made. Generous offer! I love this place.

[Wrecent_Wryder]

[4s

[RobTheTyrant]

I used to swear by rattle cans... I loved em, and I do still use them for small things like my helmets different items.  But with rattle cans you cna't avoid wet sanding and buffing after it's all said and done (at least that's what I've found) where as a gun will lay a MUCh smoother coat and look better off the bat.  of course, the BEST paint jobs ar the ones that look like mirrors and those usually are wetsanded and buffed but at least when you shoot it, it takes alot less time.

Here's how I usually do it ( might be the long way but it looks best)
sand the piss out of it, get the surfaceas smooth as you can before you shoot anything.
Primer... you can never be too liberal with primer (especially on plastics)
guide coat and sand block with a very light paper (I like a 1000-1500 and be maticulous)
prep w/ surface cleaner
color-as many coats as you think you want.  more is not always better, however.
clear... clear and more clear.
wet sand, lots of water and 1500-200 grit
buff... start with a mild compund since wet sanding already took most imperfections out this is only going to make it shine.

Like I said... there are more than a few different schools of thought on paint and how to apply it.  but it's kind of like raising your kids... there is NO one way, everybody is different and thus will prefer to do things a different way.  I know a guy that can spray the EXACT same procedure as me and his looks terrible but his way looks better than mine and so on... It's not hard to get a rythm going and that's half the battle...

[Chuck]

I'm with Rob, you just take your time, lay down your coats, and sand well (plenty of water), you'll get an awesome finish.  (Many many clear coats.)  I painted the Airtech faring on my bike, and it was the second time I painted something.  The first one was the fender on my Mustang and it came out like shyte.  I took the lessons from that fiasco and applied it to my fairing and I'm really happy with the results.



You can see it's about half as shiny as the factory paint on the tank.  If I wasn't rushing to get through it I could have probably made it nearly perfect.  It cost me about $10 in cheap Walmart paint ($1/can, 4 cans primer, 6 cans clear.), and $20 in 4 cans of not so cheap duplicolor metallic blue.

You can totally do it yourself, you just have to take your time and practice and believe in yourself and not worry about how horrid it looks after sanding.  (It really looks worse and worse until you buff it, and then it's like magic.)  You'll learn a lot and save a ton of money, even if you have to do it three times to get it right.

[Chuck]

BTW, Rob, where's the sticks?  I don't see you on http://www.frappr.com/gstwin.

[Chilly Willy]

Cool!  Thanks everyone, I'm looking forward to working with Dom and learning how to paint my own bike.  All part of the wonderful world of DIY motorcycle maintenance.

Chilly

[RobTheTyrant]

hmmm... i thought I was already on that.  Ah well.  Watcha do is find I81 in NY. find Syracuse, go north to watertown and then even further north to gouverneur.  That would b me