Getting a yoke painted/powder coated
 

The yoke on my RSV is looking a little shabby so I want to get it re-painted. Given that it has a stippled texture and an intricate shape I'm thinking I'd probably need to get someone to do it for me rather than try myself. Can anyone recommend anyone, maybe SE London, that could do the job?

Thanks.

Re: Getting a yoke painted/powder coated
 

Painted a CBR top yoke 2 years ago, still looks like new. I only cleaned it throughly with pre-painting degreaser and sprayed it with a tin of Hammerite.

Re: Getting a yoke painted/powder coated
 

So you didn't need to strip the existing paint off first, or just go for it?

What sort of finish did you get? Mat/gloss etc

Re: Getting a yoke painted/powder coated
 

I used the all in one type Hammerite (no primer needed) but gave it a throughly clean with degreaser and left it to dry before painting. I used matt black and got a OEM look finish, my mate was convinced I swapped the top yoke with another. The badges that come on the yokes for GSXR's and CBR's just pops off so you can re-glue it on later, this shouldn't be a problem for you though as the last RSV I rode had the logo milled into the yoke.

As with every maintenance task it comes down to confidence, if you don't feel confident in doing the job then its best left to the professionals. I haven't seen a powder coated yoke in the flesh yet, seen many painted and polished, so I can not comment of which is best.

If you opt to spray it with Hammerite remember, its best to do 100's of fine/thin coats at a time than to cover the whole yoke in one go!!!

Re: Getting a yoke painted/powder coated
 

I did what DD did for the yoke on my LC. Came up great and is much better than Suzuki's standard finish!

Re: Getting a yoke painted/powder coated
 

I assume you needed to mask off the inside of the fork clamps?

Anything else to consider?

How long did you leave for drying between coats?

Re: Getting a yoke painted/powder coated
 

Why don't you take the top yolk off :?: OK so it's a little bit of hassle but your more likely to get a far better job I would have thought.

Re: Getting a yoke painted/powder coated
 

Yeap, i masked off the inside of the yokes fork clamps (think the BigApe has got confused somewhere). Might not need to though, if you spray it evenly and in small strokes you shouldn't get much down in there!

Read the tin and see what it says with regard to how long before each coat, I did loads of very light coats so they didn't need much time in between.

Re: Getting a yoke painted/powder coated
 

I am now. I thought you were talking about the top yolk :?: Surely if your going to paint this it would be a far better job to take it off the bike to do it and save any masking of other bits. :?:

Or am I totally missing the point :?:

Re: Getting a yoke painted/powder coated
 

He's on about masking off the inside of the clamps, where the fork tubes normally sit, so the forks will go back easily.
This is while the top yoke is off the bike already.