painting a bike, i have questions.

Ok so I might be geting a realy good deal on a 2002 honda F4i but its yellow and I just dont like the color. So if I do buy this bike I want to paint it black. Has anyone painted there own bikes before? My father has a spray room with all the proper equipment in it at his wood working shop that they use for spraying finishes. So him and I both have the skill to spray a very good coat and an even coat that wont have runs or anything. The only thing I need to know is has anyone done this themselfs, and if so what advise do you have for me. Like whats the best type of paint to spray and how to go about preping everything.
Thanks
Kevin

I own a body shop and we specialize in repairing accidented cars but I do bikes as a little side line.... You definitely need to go with a base coat and clearcoat finish because you will definitely have imperfections and with a bc/cc finish you will be able to wet sand and polish your bike to perfection.... remember with the flexible plastic parts you need to add a special flex additive so that the first stone chip dosn't leave a huge crater/ hole in your paint....... Once again goodluck because with paint you ussually get what you pay for unless you are extremely lucky.....LOL:cheers:

there's an addative that I don't know the name of, but it allows the paint to flex a little bit. Good for when taking plastics off and putting them on. Sometimes you gotta flex the plastics a little and you don't want them to crack.

:luck:

As far as prep work...........sand sand sand sand. I used 500 paper for prep before all the paint applications (including primer). Make sure you wet sand. I used Dupont products & it seems to be pretty good so far. After your clear coat be prepared to sand like mad to get a great shine. I started with 500 & went up to 2000 in increments: 500-800-1000-1500-2000. Then buff.

I would recomend that you go to a local auto paint shop & talk to some pros face to face. I knew almost nothing about painting a bike, but after talking to folks that do this for a living I had no problems. :cheers:

Make sure to post some pics when you're done :dthumb:

As far as prep work...........sand sand sand sand. I used 500 paper for prep before all the paint applications (including primer). Make sure you wet sand. I used Dupont products & it seems to be pretty good so far. After your clear coat be prepared to sand like mad to get a great shine. I started with 500 & went up to 2000 in increments: 500-800-1000-1500-2000. Then buff.

I would recomend that you go to a local auto paint shop & talk to some pros face to face. I knew almost nothing about painting a bike, but after talking to folks that do this for a living I had no problems. :cheers:

Make sure to post some pics when you're done :dthumb:

Great info Chaps.

2002 F4I.......follow Chappy's advice and just go crazy with it.
http://www.twowheelforum.com/photopost/direct_data/2/2005_1128Image0044.JPG

What all have said before me..
and
Wet sand between your last color coat and your first clear coat. Build up a fiew good thick coats of clear and wet sand at the end.
That and before you paint wash it, and for the love of god wear rubber gloves so you dont get hand oils on the parts.

Hey guys Thanks for the help especialy chapp (I love your bike man). I will post pics when I buy the bike and then maby ill do a walk threw with pics of the painting process.
Thanks guys

I own a body shop and we specialize in repairing accidented cars but I do bikes as a little side line.... You definitely need to go with a base coat and clearcoat finish because you will definitely have imperfections and with a bc/cc finish you will be able to wet sand and polish your bike to perfection.... remember with the flexible plastic parts you need to add a special flex additive so that the first stone chip dosn't leave a huge crater/ hole in your paint....... Once again goodluck because with paint you ussually get what you pay for unless you are extremely lucky.....LOL:cheers:

totally agree :dthumb:

black is a good choice of colour!

Black or any dark color will show all the imperfections right away I suggest for his first time job go with any light color..... Because if he goes with black and plans on wet sanding and polishing for a good shine it will take him a long time and he will probably burn a couple of edges polishing.... So once again first time around go for a light color and if you want to make it original put a pearl in your clear it will have an awesome look in the sun.......

totally agree :dthumb:

black is a good choice of colour!
Black is a good choice but like QBD said, not for the first time......:2cents:

Black or any dark color will show all the imperfections right away I suggest for his first time job go with any light color..... Because if he goes with black and plans on wet sanding and polishing for a good shine it will take him a long time and he will probably burn a couple of edges polishing.... So once again first time around go for a light color and if you want to make it original put a pearl in your clear it will have an awesome look in the sun.......

:iagree:

the two other colors i was thinking about are ogrange or white but i realy like black

go with white so that I can see what a white F4I looks like......:whistle:







































may be my next paint scheme!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1285791441218212579&q=honda+f4i idk how im gona choose cus this f4i in orange looks prety sick

Flat black Krylon from a spray can... No prep necessary...

you guys think if i went with white and i had a black windscreen would it look beter with black or chrome stickers?

you guys think if i went with white and i had a black windscreen would it look beter with black or chrome stickers?

Go both... Check out Chappy's rig (http://www.twowheelforum.com/photopost/showgallery.php?si=chappy&limit=&thumbsonly=0&perpage=12&cat=531&ppuser=&thumbcheck=0&page=1&sortby=&sorttime=&way=&cat=531)...

Go with black paint. It may take longer to prep and you might run into problems with burning the edges , but if you are doing it yourself any mishaps can be repaired. If your preferance in color is black you'll regret changing youir mind.

The most important thing is using a lot of flex agent to your paint. This will allow the paint adher to all the creases and corners of your plastics and will also allow the paint to flex as the bike hits any rough roads. Also the paint will flex when your on the highway and hitting some speeds. This is most important if not your paint will crack and peel off.:luck:

Alot of good advice here. Good work guys.

Alot of good advice here. Good work guys.

:iagree: :twfrox:

deffinetly thanks.. will be painting mine soon needed some ideas. My wife does graphic design and is a great airbrusher. has done my helmet already. now just needs to do the bike.

keep it simple.:2cents: