Finished up the "uber fenderectomy" this afternoon. You can see the casing of my flush mount LED turn signal here too. It'll be painted along with the fairing.

Sanded some more today (fine sanding), started constructing my paint booth and added a little flair to my stock tail fairings...

Decided to add some intakes/vents to flow with those on the belly pan and to give a nod to the F model. I ordered some aluminum mesh for the belly pan inlets, so I'll use the leftovers for these cutouts. I've placed some cloth behind one shot here for a simulated effect just to give you an idea what it'll look like.

IDK what grit you finished with but follow up with no less than 400 and then use your 2K primer. If youre not using a high build primer then you you need to sand with 600-800 grit or else you will see the scratches in the finsh

Good to know. I figured the primer and multiple layers of paint would be more forgiving than that. I was planning on using 320 or 400 and then using 600 between coats. Welp, back to sanding I go...

Overview of my prep:

1. Sand down using 80, then wet sand with 150 and 320 (now will definitely end with 400)
2. Primer, 2 coats
3. Wet sand with 600
4. Color coat (~4-5 coats)
5. Wet sand with 600
6. Rubbing compound
7. Polishing compound
8. Wet sand lightly with 600 to scuff paint for clear coat
9. 2KMax clear coat

Well, another 10 hour day in the garage (I had President's Day off). I got my bondo on my tank finished and everything sanded up to 400 grit, ready to be tack clothed and PRE'd and then shot with primer. Also finished my paint booth, so tomorrow after work, hopefully I'll get to start the fun stuff. If I never see another piece of sandpaper it'll be too soon. Sorry, no pics yet.

Quote from: IAmSpartacus on February 18, 2013, 08:31:30 PM
If I never see another piece of sandpaper it'll be too soon.

Hahaha your telling me... Many, many, many projects...

another tip and hopefully not too late,

if you are spraying base as a solid color, you can wet sand that. If your base is metallic, you cannot wetsand it and clear over it. For metallic you can wetsand, respray and then clear it

If you have a FB, see this link for some candies and metallics I sprayed on some test pieces a few weeks back. They do not have clear on them. Im spraying  Kandy Copper, Kandy Apple Green, Kandy Grape and a green/blue/purple Chameleon next

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.417983524953616.98058.100002259154742&type=1

Dang weedahoe, I didn't realize being a moderator came with god-like powers. I had just decided yesterday to change my wheel color from red to a burnt orange (Rustoleum Sienna Mist) which just so happens to be a metallic paint. I wasn't aware, or at least hadn't yet researched, the difference in prep for clear coat for metallic paints as I had just made the last minute decision- thanks for the heads up.

Just to clarify, you're saying on metallic paint I should color sand, rub out and polish, then scuff, lay down one final light coat of color, let cure, THEN apply clear coat? If so, is the rub out and polish superfluous as it will be covered by another layer of paint?

At least Mr.7 will be happy with my color choice 

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=21278.0

You have it correct.

Solid base colors like solid red, black, blue, ect can be wet sanded and then clear coated. Then after curing, the clear can be wet sanded and buffed to gloss.

You can't wet and metallic and then clear it because sanding the metallic ruins and distorts the "metallic". Thus why you have to wet sand out any issues, lay another coat or "dust" it, then clear, wet sand, buff and polish

Great. One more silly question. On the clear coat, I'm assuming that is just one coat, or can you build up a couple layers like you do the base coats?

On a paint you want to last, you normally dust the first coat of base, then two medium wet coats of base with proper flash times between coats.

Same for clear but dust the first coat and then 3 full wet coats (not dripping and running) your final coat you would set sand with 400, then buff and polish. I use a Griot 3" buffer on my small parts. They run out about $100+

You can buff my hand, it's just a lot more exercise and takes more time obviously

Well I'm in the middle of painting. Laid down the primer, but screwed the pooch on my fender, so I'm gonna have to sand it and respray it.

Got my pegs installed in the meantime. They went in fine, just had to shave them down a bit, similar to the wiki pegs. I also rounded them off so that they would fold if needed. Did rider and passenger pegs pretty much the same, so they both fold. As a bonus, these pegs came with a retention spring and ball bearing, so they click into place in the up position- just took a little finessing to get them to work right on the GS frame.

Old and New Comparison:



Cut Line:



Final Shape:



Installed and Fully Articulating:

How does it feel with a boot on? And what did you use to cut them down to size?

My bike is torn apart sitting on the center stand a couple paint cans- so I haven't sat on it yet to get a feel for the new pegs.

As for the tools used, I started out using a dremel with a tungsten cutting bit, but ended up simply using a belt sander with 60 grit as a bench grinder, lol. The aluminum is pretty soft, so the belt sander did the trick in just a few minutes. Whole project took a few hours for all 4 pegs. If I did it all again, it would probably take 30-45 minutes.

Nice. I got some coming in the mail that I'm sure will be whipped to size in my shop when I get a chance. Only problem is I have heard that some people change back to the ugly stock ones because it is too small for their boot and they cant even feel the pegs. 

They are certainly small- but then again, that's kinda the point. I sat on it (carefully) today- they don't feel too small to notice, though they are considerably shorter, so with a wide boot you might feel the edge of your shoe hang off a bit. It does feel like the foot brake needs to be lowered a bit due to the height difference- but there does not appear to be any kind of adjustments- am I missing something?

If I am not mistaken you just loosen the pedal off and take it fully off and adjust it a couple notches. This is another downfall of those pegs. People find it very difficult to find a good position hahaha.

The brake pedal appears to be welded into place...   

Here's a few photos for hope and motivation  Just base coat on right now- clear will be coming in a few days after curing. Body color is Rustoleum Charcoal Gray, wheels are Rustoleum Sienna Mist.

Oh thats right, I believe the brake pedal needs to be bent and its about the only way to adjust it. Someone on this forum did a thread where he put GSXR pegs on and had to bend the brake pedal.

And looking good! I like the color scheme, you gunna have any suzuki decals or anything? I really like the hole you put for the "vent" I was thinking of doing something very similar. And whattttt no belly pan!?! Haha just messing with you.

Bent?! Holy cow- that's a chore and one that is a bit too permanent for my liking.

I decided against putting any decals on the bike in favor of a really clean look. I will be adding a carbon fiber looking Suzuki "S" 3D dome sticker to each side of the tank though (only 2" tall). Just so the tank doesn't look bare, lol.

Yeah, the vents turned out well- they should line up with the vents on the side of the belly pan if I did it right. After painting is done I'll put the metal grille/mesh in. Sorry I didn't include the belly pan in the pic- those pesky high dollar jack stands were in the way