For those of you who have painted their bikes, what brands of paint do you like / dislike? I've got a little experience with ppg and that seems to be pretty good, quality brand, but what others are good and/or bad? PPG you certainly pay for.
I've used Dupont and PPG, but neither all that much as I'm purely amateur at "real" painting (Krylon on the other hand.... :D). I didn't notice much difference between the two, but I say if you're familiar with one and have been happy with the results, I'd stick with it.
Like acrylic enamels. Don't like clear coat systems or polyurethanes.
BASF is good stuff
Depends on whether you want to use rattle cans or a real spray gun.
I've been using colorrite rattle cans and touch up pens because I needed factory colors. Good stuff but more expensive.
I always clear coat with Eastwood 2k Clear. The only 2 part urethane clear in a can. Works really great and is fuel proof. Makes old plastic tail pieces look like new when given a good clear coat.
Eastwood also makes some great automotive paints and powder coatings. (Going to start playing with that as soon as the garage is enlarged.)
What's most important is preparation, priming and dust removal (all sprays have over spray dust that can keep the next coat from sticking properly). Cut corners there and it doesn't make any difference how much your paint cost: it will look crappy and probably flake off.
There is a good book called "How to Paint Your Motorcycle". Worth the $20 or so for it. Tons of valuable info on preparation and detailing.
I prefer urethane basecoat/clearcoat systems for street bikes and a single stage urethane for track bikes (cheaper, less work if wrecked). If you are looking for decent quality cheap paint check out TCP Global's website: http://www.tcpglobal.com/RestorationShop/
I have had good luck with Sherwin William's Planet Color Barrett-Jackson paint line but the color selection is limited: http://www.sherwin-automotive.com/en/ProductHighlights/PaintSystems/PlanetColor/PlanetColor_Barrett-Jackson.aspx
The bikes below were painted with Barrett-Jackson basecoat and Finish 1 clear coat. It comes in pints (thins to make a quart) which is more than enough to paint a bike if you don't go crazy.
-Jessie
(http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww360/jessiedoran/alizar1.jpg)
(http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww360/jessiedoran/done1.jpg)
(http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww360/jessiedoran/assembled3.jpg)