painting or powdercoating

[solosociety]

so what is everyones oponion on painting the frame vs. powder coating it? i just cant justify painting the frame when you have the engine right beside the frame. wouldnt it just heat up and peal and flake off. i know painting would be so much cheaper the first time but in the long run it would be cheaper to powder coat it so that you only have to tear down once right?

[Crucialval]

I used Engine high heat paint it works good but powder coat would hold up longer. I can easly respray mine if it starts looking bad.

[solosociety]

now did you sand your frame down or just scuff it up to hold the paint?

[Crucialval]

I just did a light sanding to hold the new paint, then primed and painted

[Jay_wolf]

Ive heard it can Crack , i suppose if its done right it wont , i used paint as a primer after a proper good sanding for a proper small piece of metal , came out pretty good

[The Buddha]

Not even close to powdercoating, which will pretty much get everywhere and make bolts and assemblies a Buddha Loves You to get back in.
Paint is a super thin job compared to powdercoat but powder should last longer and look the same years from now in the elements. Powder is a bit more work taking stuff apart, but sure beats sanding.
Cool.
Srinath.

[solosociety]

i cant decide whether i want a dark red (dark maroon) or black frame. i didnt really want to pay to have it powdercoated and then not like it. but i also dont want to paint the frame and then not like it and have to sand it back down to the frame to paint it over. what do yall think of the high temp engine paint. do you think it would look bad flat black if the rest of my bike is basically flat black?

[natedawg120]

well i know that my bike, 05, has a flat black frame and it looks good.  However i have to fight the enevitable rusting of welds now 

[Crucialval]

go with a semi flat to protect the frame and still have flat look. You could buy real car paint and use matt black.

Go all black with red wheels like Rat rods of old.

Go flat black with gloss black designs trible or something and gloss black emblems.

Just some ideas 

[The Buddha]

OK lets see, the high temp we put on our exhausts does such a great job that we do it every year ... so yea, that's what you have to do with that.
Yea maroon will look like sheite as well. I can see silver, black, grey, British racing green, red, and may be very very dark blue and possibly regular not that dark blue look OK for the frame, any others, you're asking for trouble.
Body can be any of several colors, frame is more industrial, dont make it decorative. I'd restrict myself to colors seen on other similar baikes frames.
Example, Bandit 6s came in greenanddark blue, Bandit 4's and seca2 came in red, silver, black, grey ... GS ... stay in that spectrum and not wander off the deep end.
Cool.
Srinath.

[solosociety]

go with a semi flat to protect the frame and still have flat look. You could buy real car paint and use matt black.

Go all black with red wheels like Rat rods of old.

Go flat black with gloss black designs trible or something and gloss black emblems.

Just some ideas 

the black with red wheels sounds like a great idea

[ben2go]

How about using flat black truck bed liner paint?  It's tough as hell,hard to chip,and made to set in the weather for long periods of time. 

[Jay_wolf]

Spcterry did his bike in it

[solosociety]

How about using flat black truck bed liner paint?  It's tough as hell,hard to chip,and made to set in the weather for long periods of time. 

thats how my tank is painted right now. i didnt think that if i did the frame the same way that it would look good

[aussie-gs]

Has anyone got anymore advise on this topic of powdercoat or painting the frame and swing arm ?
My bike is ready to have this done ,was thinking of doing it in a Matt black .
Tank and seat fairings being painted in a metallic red with gloss black wheels.

[Big Rich]

Powder costs more but is tough as nails when done properly. Do a couple searches about plastic, rubber, nuts, bolts, etc and how each reacts with powder though. There's no "touching up" with powder if you decide to cut off a bracket or something, so think about that too.

Oh ya, ask your powder guy about doing your exhaust too. They make stuff that can withstand the high heat, so it may be worth it to get it all done at once.

[ben2go]

Make sure there is no oil or grease on anything.Make sure the parts to be coated are completely stripped.No bearings can be left inside the swing arm,they will seize.Also need to remove the steering bearing seats from the head tube.Make double sure that the coater plugs all holes and mask off anything that requires a bolts passing through or threading in to it.

[RoadToRuin]

Do you guys strip everything off before painting or just mask everything well?

Also any recommendations for painting the engine? Just bought a GS that looks like it has been sitting outdoors most of its life. Lots of rust patches on frame and paint is blistering and chipping off both frame and engine.

[sledge]

No mention of the need to sandblast the frame and remove ALL traces of old paint prior to coating  Has anyone other than me actually had a frame professionaly powder coated??

At around the 400deg the powder needs to cure, old paint tends to bubble up and this will ruin the finish and durability....... this assumes the powder will stick to it in the first place..........and this in turn assumes the operator is prepared to even attempt to powder coat a painted frame!!

However.........every powder coater I have dealt with has blasted the parts down to bare metal prior to coating as part of the job.

[werase643]

paint costs 10-20 bucks
powdercoating.....150-250 range

I can scuff and shoot for 20 bucks
Buddahs powdercoated crap is a PIA to reassemble....unless you lick scraping the mating surfaces and bolt holes back to useable metal


plastikote wheel paint works well and several colors   and it can be had at hellmart