Paint spraying suggestions?

[Criggers]

I'm looking to re-spray the bike. got lots of scratches and would like them gone, its paint code is YC-2. what is the best way to spray the body work, on the bike, or take the parts off?

[Vergey]

Off and be prepared to take your time with it, you will get teh best finish if you are willing to spend ages doing the preparation

[Criggers]

well i guess preperation and planning prevents **** poor performance. cheers

[Bordtea]

Looking at this myself actually. To be honest I've got absoloutely no clue about painting. The extent of my knowledge is that you sand it down, apply primer and then paint in layers? But that could be wrong haha.

Anyone got any tips/guide for painting panels (and the tank) for a complete noob? Like step by step, what you need etc.

[timwilky]

Best advice I can give, strip it. prepare it all, then take it to a paint shop for professional spraying as you lack the ability, knowledge or equipment to do a decent job. A scratched original paint job will look preferable to a DIY bodge.

[jambo]

I'd agree with Tim.

I've seen some horrific paint jobs, that looked way worse than a bit of wear and tear (my favorite one involved spraying over the top of the tank pad, stickers etc, and making sure the colour was different at each of the panel joins).

If you have a couple of deep scratches, you can get a touch-up pen online and gently fill the scratch and smooth it over when dry. This is fairly easy and won't generally stand up to close scrutiny. Only really worth it on a good panel with a deep scratch or 2 on it.

Jambo

[mickhew]

Best advice I can give, strip it. prepare it all, then take it to a paint shop for professional spraying as you lack the ability, knowledge or equipment to do a decent job. A scratched original paint job will look preferable to a DIY bodge.
I'm currently doing a DIY. For the right hand side lower, and tail section (complete) I have been quoted £240 from a shop, that's with me doing all the prep work. This is fine if you have the money, but I don't. And I can guess that's why criggers is exploring a DIY. Criggers do a Google search on DIY respray, they'll be a guide with photos somewhere. Prepping is 80% of the job, everything must be baby smooth before spraying.

[Criggers]

Cheers, my I have a mate who's dad is a car bodywork specialist, and he said all I have to do is buy the paint then can spray it. Just just need the paint which is YC2 (candy blue) really all I need doing is the rear passenger handle and the top of the tank, do not much needs stripping

[timwilky]

Criggers, YC2 needs to be sprayed onto a silver base. The depth of colour is achieved though the paint build up. Overdo it and it will be off.

Good that you are to be using a professional. although I have a decent gun/compressor and mask etc. It is that long since I have done any painting I would definitely hand it over to someone who does it for a living.

[WayneL]

As long as you know what to expect.

If you use an aerosol can the finish well not be smooth and shiny, no matter how much you sand it. For small areas it's not too bad, such as the grab rail, but for larger areas it's nowhere near as good as a professional paint job.

You can get away with the sanding and primer prep usually though.

[pie_master]

Interesting thread - I was going to start one about a similar thing (my mirrors and lower fairings need re-doing).

However, for the mirrors I reckon aftermarket replacements would probably work out cheaper than any re-spray (either at home or at a workshop!?).

Dunno what to do about my lower fairings though. TBH I've never liked then and they foul the action of the rear brake so I may just get rid.

[Criggers]

Tbh I perfere the bikini version of any sv. Not the biggest fan with all the fairing, I like to show of the twins haha. :D

[mickhew]

I painted some of my fairings earlier today, 2 coats of metallic black. I'm going to use wet and dry (1200 grit) on them, then one more coat, then 2 coats of lacquer. they look really good already. I was quite stringent with the rubbing down, NEVER think the paint is going to cover any scratches as they will all show through. The panel needs to be baby smooth before any paint goes on.
I used 2 coats of primer, then 400 wet and dry, so they were super smooth before applying top coat. I bought some paint from bikepaint.co.uk 2 cans were £40! so I am using a Halfords rough match for the rear fairings. (BMW cosmos black) . I think there is a compound I need to use on the lacquer, to make them shine well, I'll Google it later.
Mines a 2000 curvy, metallic black. then I'm selling it, and going back to a 125 boo hoo.