Spray painting forks?

Hi all, i had a dilemma and this resulted in my buying a new RH Lower for my SV.The part has been delivered, its used but in better condition than the LH lower, its nice and shiny as opposed to that worn blotchy flake look.

What is my best solution? re-spray both the lowers or can the tatty one be "buffed" back to its shininess? If i was to re-spray what would be best? bike is blue,with black rear fender, spray black? pink green??????? aarrgghhhh i feel like a woman choosing shoes!

Solutions and ideas appreciated!!!

Many thanks

Steve

Black 2pak spray longlasting and a nice finish.

[650]

Are we talking about lower fairings here of the lower part of the shock itself? As one of mine is a bit pitted and I wanted to whip them off and get them a spruce up!

[rictus01]

you basically have three options, strip back to metal, prime and spray, pay someone to do it, or smooth out and spray.

the main difficulty is the three different surfaces you have the lacquer/ paint & metal; react differently to new paint (you get those things look like a coral reef in the paint), you can rub them down but to get rid of all the lacquer takes time, of course there are the chemical strippers you can use to and if going for the shiny polished metal look is probably best (save you a good deal of time polishing), but you can cheat a bit, smooth it out and if you use an exhaust paint (halfords do both black and grey) it won't react with any of the other surfaces, (the grey with some lacquer over it is not far off the original silver either), once done give it a week it completely dry and use some clear sticky vinyl as stone impacts will distroy the finish anyway.

Cheers Mark.

It would need to be stripped back completely, prepped and repainted, ideally I would use an enamel or pu industrial coating, its cheaper and super dooper strong, hence its used on a lot of heavy goods stuff

what colour is it?

Originally Posted by rictus01

you basically have three options, strip back to metal, prime and spray, pay someone to do it, or smooth out and spray.

the main difficulty is the three different surfaces you have the lacquer/ paint & metal; react differently to new paint (you get those things look like a coral reef in the paint), you can rub them down but to get rid of all the lacquer takes time, of course there are the chemical strippers you can use to and if going for the shiny polished metal look is probably best (save you a good deal of time polishing), but you can cheat a bit, smooth it out and if you use an exhaust paint (halfords do both black and grey) it won't react with any of the other surfaces, (the grey with some lacquer over it is not far off the original silver either), once done give it a week it completely dry and use some clear sticky vinyl as stone impacts will distroy the finish anyway.

Cheers Mark.

The reactions is solvent attack, its called pickling up, 2k primer will sit on any existing 2k surface or standard substrate, what 2k paints dont like is cheap aerosol crap from halfords or 1k clears. you will need to strip back, wash coat of etch, go on wet on wet with 2k primer, flat then paint

[rictus01]

Originally Posted by sv_rory

The reactions is solvent attack, its called pickling up, 2k primer will sit on any existing 2k surface or standard substrate, what 2k paints dont like is cheap aerosol crap from halfords or 1k clears. you will need to strip back, wash coat of etch, go on wet on wet with 2k primer, flat then paint

that's perfectly fine, 2k is better, but then if you have the correct breathing kit you probably already know that, and if you don't you're liable to get pretty ill.

Cheers Mark.

Yes, its lower forks...they are odd.one newish and one crappy, as for painting them i was concerned about spraying on to chrome.Maybe i need to really look in to the best way, i dont see any point in a pro job as my bike is not worth much anyway!

Its the isocyantes in the hardener thats attracted to moisture. You can get good 3m paint masks that are disposable that are very good and ideal for home jobs

I got both my lowers powder coated in satin black for £25. They look mint! Well worth it as they sand blast the old paint off for you first and the paint they put on is more hard wearing and better dispersed than what you can get out of a can. Only took 2 days for them to do it as well.

Find out if there are any powder coaters near you and see how much they will charge.