Painting your Bike

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OldWrench

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:?: Have a question for the group. I have done a lot of auto and motorcycle painting in the past. I’m prepping one of my 1100a for paint right now. I have thought about doing a photo and instruction procedure for painting and coming up with a nice paintjob.

Most painters want a ton of money to paint a bike like a Goldwing, reason being is there is a lot of work involved to do it right. There are plenty of instruction videos, and books on how to paint, but motorcycles like the Goldwing bring some unique problems when it comes to painting one.
:idea:
So if there is an interest in seeing the procedures I use in this project I will be happy to share them.
:beer:
 

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I would love to know the proper procedures and tips that we need to know. :help:
Also if you can answer questions like can you re-clear coat and existing paint job and make it stay? :good:
Any help for us novice painters would be wonderful. :yahoo:

I'm sure there are many of us with just enough knowledge to be dangerous with painting.
 
Wow, didn’t expect so many nice responses. I’ll gladly do what I can to show the techniques that I use and the most economical way to come up with a nice paint job. It does require a lot of work but the end result if done properly is well worth it and very rewarding. The last bike I did was a 1500 GW.

As for questions, I’m happy to answer any you folks may have. I will be the first to admit that I don’t have all the answers but I know where to find the ones I don’t. I don’t paint for a profession but grew up in the business.

As for painting clear coat. If you have a vehicle that has a two stage paint (base coat clear coat) on it and the clear coat is peeling and the base coat is in tack and good you can re coat it. If you have an enamel paint you can not put clear coat over it. However my preference would be to prep the area and shoot fresh base coat and clear coat. If you have a metallic base coat and the clear coat has peeled off of it don’t sand the base, it will cause the metallic to streak, you should re shoot the base.
 
OldWrench":1sf8x9u7 said:
As for painting clear coat. If you have a vehicle that has a two stage paint (base coat clear coat) on it and the clear coat is peeling and the base coat is in tack and good you can re coat it. If you have an enamel paint you can not put clear coat over it. However my preference would be to prep the area and shoot fresh base coat and clear coat. If you have a metallic base coat and the clear coat has peeled off of it don’t sand the base, it will cause the metallic to streak, you should re shoot the base.

My clear coat is intact(no peeling) but has lots of rub marks and scratches I was hoping to cover. do you sand the clear coat with say 600 grit to ensure a good bond? :headscratch:
I bought a rattle can product called "Evercoat Cut-In Clear" and the instructions only say follow the MFG recommendations. I assume there needs to be some kind of surface prep prior to application.
What would you recommend? :? :?
Could you clean wiith "MEK" or "Bulldog" to soften and ensure adhesion?
 
If you use 600 wet sand it. However before you wet sand it wash it with soap and water then use a wax and grease remover. I don’t like rattle cans for a clear coat for a lot of reasons. Once clean do not touch it with your bare hands, the oil in your skin can transfer to the area you plan on painting.

Normally though I normally shoot three coats of clear coat then wet sand it with 800. Then shoot another three coats. Depending on how much orange peel you have wet sand that with 800 then buff it using buffing polishing compound.

On problem you will have with rattle cans is how long it takes the clear coat to harden. In the old days before acrylic enamels it could take as much as thirty days for the paints to harden completely.

I do understand that painted equipment, gun, compressor and supplies can get expensive. However you don’t need a four hundred-dollar gun to get a nice job. There are some inexpensive low pressure guns on the market that do an ok job. Compressors can be had for as little as a hundred dollars.

A guy I know bought a cheap airless sprayer changed the tips and shot his bike with a two stage paint. (base coat clear coat) now I don’t recommend this but he made it work however he had to do a lot of sanding and polishing to get is smoothed out.

While I’m thinking of it. If you have a water heater of furnace in your garage Do Not paint in your garage.
 
OldWrench":htglwlhy said:
I do understand that painted equipment, gun, compressor and supplies can get expensive. However you don’t need a four hundred-dollar gun to get a nice job. There are some inexpensive low pressure guns on the market that do an ok job. Compressors can be had for as little as a hundred dollars.

While I’m thinking of it. If you have a water heater of furnace in your garage Do Not paint in your garage.

Wow thanks for the heads up on the furnace, I hadn't thought of that. I have an overhead furnace that I'll have to shut the gas off to it.
I have a compressor and a cheap spray gun so that would be a better choice I guess.
I was once told you had to apply the clear within so many (I can't remember how many) hours of the base coat or it would peel later. Is that true?
 
When you are shooting base coat you do want to then shoot your clear coat within the time frame the recommended. Depending on the paint you are using that time window will change. It also changes with the ambient temperature and the speed of the reducer you use. In colder climates you use a faster reducer and in warmer a slower.

I have heard the same argument regarding time for shooting the clear coat. I believe that came from the problems that GM was having with there clear coat peeling on so many of their cars. If that was the case you couldn’t shoot new clear coat over old base coat and I know it is done with great regularity in some of the shops.

PPC, Dupont, and Sherman Williams will all tell you not to shoot clear coat over old base coat. At least I believe that is what they are still saying. I understand their argument because in most cases you do not know who produced the base coat that you are wanting to cover with clear coat.

My argument is this, the clear coat has it’s own ability to adhere to the surface it is put on. Now the next question is how long will it last or can it eventually separate and I just don’t have an answer for that. That is why I personally don’t shoot clear over old base.

Since you do have a gun and compressor I strongly recommend using it to shoot your clear coat.
 
I have an inexpensive high velocity low pressure unit from Lowes. Do you think it can work on these types of paint? It did come with a stainless pot for these paints and the box claims it can be used, but before buying paint, I am curious if anyone has used one. (I did use it to paint my basement and it worked great with latex thinned)
 
If it is a HVLP gun it should work ok for clear coat. Personally I would find something to experiment on just to get the feel of the gun. Most clear coats recommend shooting at about 10 psi with an HVLP gun. When shooting clear coat try to apply medium coats and at least three coats then see what kind of results you get. The normal wait time between coats should be about 10 minutes. I’m sure you will have much better results with the gun than a rattle can and you will have a better quality of clear coat.
 
This is all good news for me! I mastered it pretty good with latex. I painted the bike with rattle cans last time and initially it didn't look too bad. But now it isn't looking too good.

I am looking forward to the posts about how to paint. I know a few basics, but have not learned anything about what paint to use or how to properly paint.

I recently repainted my transplant '83 engine with rattle can engine paint and it still looks wet! A trick someone else shared about painting engines was to spray on the high temp clear coat while the paint was still tacky. It is hard as a rock now and looks like an ice skating rink finish! (Of course the engine hasn't been run yet, so the jury is still out.)
 
Whatever you do with a compressor, make sure you use a water separator to filter out the moisture at the compressor so it doesn't make it to the paint gun.
 
Bagmaster":222gphlh said:
Whatever you do with a compressor, make sure you use a water separator to filter out the moisture at the compressor so it doesn't make it to the paint gun.


I agree 110%. The condensation can reek havoc on your tools, not to mention screw up the paint.
 
colder climates you use a faster reducer and in warmer a slower.

Woops I got this backwards, Colder temps use a slower reducer and warm faster. Reason being is you want the paint to flow out and if your flash time is too fast the paint won't flow out properly. Don't know what I was thinking.
 
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