Painting Suxors!

[Eightmarky]

If you want to paint your bike, DON'T!  It's too much of a pain in the a$$.

[EvilScooby]

so what sorts of pain in the A$$ is it? I have been thinking about it

[The Buddha]

OK where to begin...
His experiences may be different... but here goes...
Rattle can jobs... dont harden, run, over spray on other stuff, coms off with gas, come off if you try another color on top... like 2 tone...
Spray paint jobs, also do many of the same things... especially overspray and running... and you need to use 2 part Urethane types to get decent finish and resistance to gas and chemicals.
2 part paints are caustic as hell, and you need a paint booth to be able to use them and a respirator, they are harmful to you and everyone around your painting site.
In all honesty... I prefer rattle can.... Lacquers can be done fine, but they have to be applied in many coats... 7-10 coats for the color and 3-6 for the clear is a minimum... the later coats dry slower, but the damn thing comes out so dry from the can it almost doesn't matter. Lacquers are brittle as hell, and if you put it on plastic it will start to chip as the plastic flexes. On the brighter side though... you can do the thing in a weekend with minimal between coats sanding... its so thin, you sand it and there's nothin left.
Cool.
Srinath.

[GRU]

If you want to paint your bike, DON'T!  It's too much of a pain in the a$$.

i agree, but i'm not sorry that i painted my bike.....i just couldn't ride a purple bike  

[jdiggity]

If you want to paint your bike, DON'T!  It's too much of a pain in the a$$.

what he said.

[Eightmarky]

This is taking me way longer than I thought.  I'm using auto paint and an airbrush, and putting clear coat on top.  If you don't sand right, you take off too much paint.  If the airbrush clogs, you get areas of light and heavy paint.  If you don't sand the tank all the way down to the metal, you DEFINITELY get a ghost image of the decal.  If you're using two colors, it's a pain to make sure you don't get raised edges.  I think it's gonna look sweet in the end, but the process has really taken away too much riding time.

Btw, did I mention I'm painting my bike purple?  J/K!  NOT!  

I might have a quarter pint of Honda San Marino Red left if someone is interested.  I'll let you know once the bike is done.  See ya. :mrgreen:

[gitarman]

I guess its a lil too late to say this now but....you might have been better off getting a small paintgun and been done with it. You can get some older models for $50! (of course you can get some for $500 too) A paintgun has a wider spray than the airbrush.

As far as the ghost image goes; did you lay a primer coat? Lay a primer coat, then a coat of contrasting color, when you sand off the contrasting color, you can see where the high/low spots are. And lastly for the raised edges; you need to do 2 layers of clearcoat (that is using autobody paint, prolly more for rattlecan) after the first layer you sand it with like 1500 grit and then lay the second coat.

[Eightmarky]

Ok but you should have read my mind and posted this two weeks ago. :lol:

[merchjo]

If you want to paint your bike, DON'T!  It's too much of a pain in the a$$.

I painted mine, just took the parts to a automotive painter and had it painted with a base coat and then a clear coat.  Have had no troubles with it.

[i3randon12]

dont paint rims eighter... huge pain in the ass... dont do touch ups eighter!!


i hate it

[The Buddha]

If you want to paint your bike, DON'T!  It's too much of a pain in the a$$.

I painted mine, just took the parts to a automotive painter and had it painted with a base coat and then a clear coat.  Have had no troubles with it.

OK base coat clear coat... ok it will be trouble on plastic... plastic bends, the paint does not... Also did you notoce... the damn factory sprayed paint straight on metal and plastic... no primer. On my virago and many other models... the paint was nice and shiny and even and intact... but there was rust under it... due to poor sealing of the tiny pores... but I guess the rust wont spread or get deeper cos its pretty much sealed off from the elements.
Cool.
Srinath.

[merchjo]

OK base coat clear coat... ok it will be trouble on plastic... plastic bends, the paint does not... Also did you notoce... the damn factory sprayed paint straight on metal and plastic... no primer. On my virago and many other models... the paint was nice and shiny and even and intact... but there was rust under it... due to poor sealing of the tiny pores... but I guess the rust wont spread or get deeper cos its pretty much sealed off from the elements.
Cool.
Srinath.

My plastic came out great, there is additives that you add to paint so it will stay flexable on plastic.  (Notice all the plastic parts on cars today )I stripped all paint on all parts and then primed and painted the parts.  I even did the rims which came out great and with the clear, cleaning the wheels are very easy.

[The Buddha]

Plastic car parts aren't meant to be taken off and put back on... and they dont bend in normal operation... When bumpers and doors like on the  saturn bend enough in a crash... the paint cracks and fragments and flakes off. I have seen paint that will flex, there is some on my eli 900's read fender, but its finish is marginal at best. So I need to get more detail on the painting you did... what make and type did you use... rattle can or spray gun, and what additives were added. Also what protective gear did you use.
Cool.
Srinath.

[werase643]

Srinath,
You sure WHINE alot about work....have you ever considered trying to work(on a bike).  Have you ever actually taken the body off of a LOWLY GS,  I know the ELI is a much better bike.  :mrgreen:

bring the silver tank(without rust, but ugly paint job)
when we do our parts swapping

[The Buddha]

Yea yea Whining is my middle name ... painting is my least favorite... anyway I hate working on anything where creativity is limited... OK OK painting and making many intricate patterns is creative but not creative from an engineering perspective. Paint has to be done a certain way, anything else will be disaster. Yes go ahead and make patterns but screw up and its going to be disgusting... anyway I bring tank and stuff... BTW its next weekend, not this weekend... June 5-6 not May 29-30. This weekend is work weekend for me... I know there should be a law... yea but I also might be un employed if I insisted...
Cool.
Srinath.