Painting your Bike

[dan filipi]

Can you suggest the best type place to get paint, reducers, and all?

 

[OldWrench]

That is a real good point on the water separator. I also use a oil filter as well. Compressors will allow compressor oil into the system and it will make a mess out of paint will normally show up as fisheyes. Good clean air is a must.

Speaking of filters I would assume folks know to use a good high quality respirator when painting. If you use a urethane paint respirators are not recommended, only a fresh air supply. It is my understanding that the charcoal in the respirator can become saturated very quickly with urethane and renders the respirator ineffective. With that said a fresh air supply and hood is expensive. I have painted urethane with a respirator but I put new filters in it before a shoot and throw them away once finished. I’m not saying I recommend this because urethane is highly toxic and can attack the nervous system. Not only that you want no contact with your skin and eyes need to be fully protected.

Some body shops will rent out their paint booths, especially if they are slow. I know my dad rented his out at times and of course the price will vary. You need a clean environment to paint in and a paint booth is best. Not only that if you are painting urethane they will have the proper equipment for you to use, and keep you safe.

Most of the work involved in getting a quality paint job is the prep work, the painting is the easy part and the quality of the finish product will be determined by the prep work. Here is another option, do all the prep work and then have a body shop shoot it for you. If all they need to do is come in and shoot and you do all the prep work and buffing afterwards you can most likely get it done rather inexpensively. I also have heard that paying in cash with no receipt can save you some money also. By going this route you will get a painter that can put a nice finish on your parts that will require very little wet sanding (if any) and buffing.

Here is what I have found painting bikes like the Goldwing, we all know it has a lot of plastic. Bags, trunk, fairing, and so on. You can not lay these parts on the floor and shoot them, at least you shouldn’t. When I did the 1500 I mad pedestals for the various pieces and then set them up so I could easily move around each part. I kept each part well separated from the others to reduce the overspray from affecting the parts already painted. Basically I used the entire paint booth. With so many parts you also need to be constantly aware of where your air hose is so you don’t drag it across one of the parts that has already been painted.

When prepping the parts for paint I remove all hardware including the riveted parts. It is very easy to rivet them back into place and makes for a much nicer paint job. Before Sanding wash each part with soap and water then use a wax and grease remover on it. Sand with 340 or 360 paper using a sanding block. Never use your finger tips to sand with. If you have access to one or can purchase on get a DA sander, it will save you a lot of work. I understand that harbor freight sells an inexpensive one. Once you have finished sanding and making any needed repairs wash each part with soap and water again. Once you have staged the parts to be painted I go over them with a wax and grease remover again and then a tack cloth. Once you have done this do not touch them with your bare hands, the oil on your skin will transfer to whatever you touch.
I’m prepping some parts now, I will post some pictures as soon as I can.

 

[OldWrench]

Sorry Dan didn’t see your question before I posted.

There are many suppliers of automotive paints. DuPont, PPC, Sherman Williams, and a host of others. Do I have my favorites, sure I do. I like DuPont but it is expensive. I have also used PPC and it to me is a very good product. There are a lot of on line paint suppliers have very good prices on their products. Actually in many areas suppliers aren’t suppose to sell automotive paints to the public, so if you happen to be in one of those areas order on line.

You might want to check out www.autopaint18.com and there are many other.

 

[sledge]

Very Good Info . and I hope to have mine painted by summer.

 

[plskthompson1]

Very Good Info . and I hope to have mine painted by summer.

Me, too. Where is Limestone, TN? Lived here all of my life and don't know that one. I have found Huntsville, TN, though. Nothing more than a spot in the road. :smilie_happy:

 

[sledge]

Limestone is in the North East Corner of Tn.. . and the Birth Place of Davy Crockett. . Davy Crockett State Park is about 5 miles from me. I'm about 8 miles from Jonesborough ( the Oldest Town in Tn . ) ... and I'm 40 miles from Bristol TN/VA where the big Race Track is. ... hope that helps plskthompson1

 

[plskthompson1]

I was in that region about this time last year for my job. We had a meeting that took me from where I live to Huntsville, TN, then to Kingsport. From there the wife and I went to Gatlinburg before heading home. Bad part about it was that the wife had just had hernia surgery, so we couldn't take the wing.

 

[sledge]

Ok , yeah Kingsport is about 30 miles north west of me , and Gatlinburg is 90 miles south east .... My wife and me like to ride to Gatlinburg and back , from here to Gatlinburg on the old road , then across the Smokies into Cherokee N.C. , and onto the bottom of the Blue Ridge Parkway , then up the Parkway to Ashville , then off onto Interstate 40 back to New Port , and back home is 300 miles.... and a Beautiful ride. ... but in the last couple of years 300 miles has just been a little too much for us , one of the reasons I traded for the Goldwing. . . we're not as young as we used to be.

 

[Montecman]

WOW Sledge, your bring'n back some memories! We did a VERY similar trip every weekend on streetbikes while I was in High School in N.C. Had my Sr. Prom at the Biltmoore Estate (sp?).

 

[sledge]

Good Deal Montecman , sometimes Memories are a great thing .... Yeah I made that trip with 13 bikes about 92 or 93 , It was a beautiful day when we left , but up on the Parkway we ran into Rain , then Hail , me and my wife was on a Suzuki Water Buffalo ,
( hope thats now bad the talk about here ) we was wearing T-Shirts no jacket , it was a LONG , COLD , WET , Ride .... one
of them rides you never want to do again.... But I have made that trip many times, all the others times were wonderful.... we can't wait to finish the Goldwing and try it again.

 

[VegasWingnut]

I painted my 1100. It was the first attempt at any kind of auto painting. I did allot of research before I started and I think it paid off in the long run. The gang at B&L Auto paint here in Vegas were awesome and walked me thru what I needed and were eager to answer any question that I had. After all the sanding, sanding and more sanding, it finally came together. If you click on the link below, you can see the finished result. All I can say is if you don't think you have the patience to do it right, don't even try. It takes time to get the job done right.

 

[thewhiterhino]

Very nice! :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:
did you paint in your garage and if so what steps did you take to control the dust?? :music2:

 

[sledge]

Your paint job looks good , I'm a retired Mechanic / Musician ... I have painted several Cars, and Many Many Motor Cycle over the last 40 years . And your right , getting ready to Paint is the Key....... and the sanding and priming, and sanding........LOL ...... I traded for 2 1980 Goldwings , one Black and one White , the Black one was Orignal Paint I think , but rough , and the White one has been painted , and the paint is Rough , I'm just using the Black one for parts ,, I'm gonna sell the Fairing and Bags and that kind of stuff , Keeping the Motor and Wheels , and Electronics .... I'm gonna rebuild the Carbs , and repaint the White one . Hope to have it done by summer .

 

[Montecman]

Kewl! Keep us informed on the stuff you do and things that you learn.

 

[sledge]

This has already been one of the worst winters in Many years in Tn. . . When I went to bed lastnight the weatherman was saying 8 to 12" of snow lastnight and more today .... well......sure looks like we got it . . . . LOL . . . . and between Nov. 20th. and Jan. 10th. I was in and out of the Hospital 3 different times . , Heart Problems , so it has slowed me down quite a bit this winter or I would already have this finished , But I can't wait for good weather to start on the Goldwing , I have also got a couple of street rods in the works too .

 

[OldWrench]

VegasWingnut looks like you did a very nice job. Since this was your first time painting, how long did it take you to do the prep work? Reason I asked it that many folks considering doing the same may not realize how much work and effort there is to the prep work.

You are so right when you said if you don’t have the patience to do it right, don’t do it.

 

[Dano]

Count me in, I would be very interested in the procedures you have mentioned, as I am starting to get prepared to do this myself. Looking foreward to some instruction.

 

[OldWrench]

Painting in your garage can work if it is legal in your area. However if you have a water heater or furnace they need to be turned off and the pilot lights out.

I seen where a guy make a home made paint booth in his garage out of PVC pipe and a few inexpensive fans and filters. In most cases a garage isn’t clean enough to paint in and filtering can be a real pain. Not only that the over spray will get into anything and everything that isn’t protected. Dust will ruin a paint job in a hurry.

https://www.mckennasgarage.com/xke/jag_25.htm

Here is a link to the booth he created. One thing he did that I wouldn’t have is he had fans blowing in through a filter and also fans pulling the fumes and over spray out. I would have just had more fans pulling the air out and the inlet air just filtered. Personally I think this is a great idea for a economical painting environment. He give a lot of good advice at this sight.

 

[VegasWingnut]

I made a make shift paint booth by stapling some visquene to some 1x2's and mounted them to the roof with some dry wall screws. I held the plastic to the ground by tucking it under some 2x4's. I also used a box fan with a/c filters for fresh air and another box fan with more filters for exhaust out the bottom of my garage door.Make sure you wet down the floor of your garage as you paint to help control dust. Like oldwrench said, make sure your water heater, dryer or any other source of ignition is either off or removed from the area. Please be a safe as possible when doing this and get a good respirator!!!
As far as time goes, it took me a few days to sand the original clearcoat off and then some more sanding after that then even more sanding. lol. I was always going back after I sanded to wash and then re inspect the pieces for places I missed. In one of the pics you can see the bottom of one of the saddle bags still has some shine to it, you don't want that. You want the area as smooth and clean as possible.
After I primed, I wet sanded the pieces to get them as smooth as possible before I applied the base and clear coats.
Here is a article that I used to get started.....Lots of good information there. Click here
Here is a link to another project I did with some Dupli Color spray paint...Click here

 

[VegasWingnut]

Painting in your garage can work if it is legal in your area. However if you have a water heater or furnace they need to be turned off and the pilot lights out.

I seen where a guy make a home made paint booth in his garage out of PVC pipe and a few inexpensive fans and filters. In most cases a garage isn’t clean enough to paint in and filtering can be a real pain. Not only that the over spray will get into anything and everything that isn’t protected. Dust will ruin a paint job in a hurry.

https://www.mckennasgarage.com/xke/jag_25.htm

Here is a link to the booth he created. One thing he did that I wouldn’t have is he had fans blowing in through a filter and also fans pulling the fumes and over spray out. I would have just had more fans pulling the air out and the inlet air just filtered. Personally I think this is a great idea for a economical painting environment. He give a lot of good advice at this sight.

That booth looks kinda like mine. I used the filters to keep the dust from entering the booth.
Make sure the air leaving the booth is filtered if you have neighbors close so the paint wont get on their car.....and it will. Maybe let the neighbors know what you're doing so that they can move their cars too. Also like it showed in the link, make sure that anything inside the booth that you don't want paint on gets covered. Those little particles of paint go everywhere!