Stripping a badly hand painted steel frame :roll: :?

[ultraculture1...]

Apologetic longtime viewer, occasional poster, constant two wheel rider, bicycles as much as motorbikes. Owned many different little bikes, love my two stroke trailies
I bought a 95 XJ600n for 400, its MOT'd and has been fairly well looked after mechanically, it looks pretty standard except for a 4-1 chopper pot pipe exhaust. It rides ok but the guy/s who owned it previously were a bit of the 'outlaw wannabe' types. Which is fine if doen well, this however has not been. Its one of those bikes that people who think every little cheap addition makes the bike better, it should be stripped down, single seat, double front discs, nice rear end, I've heard the r6 back end fits it
The Frame has been hand painted gold, badly.
as have the infils, the rest of the body work is gold but in poor condition also but its the frame i'm primarily concerned with.
Also I will have to do an oil change, I want to make it into a cafe racer/scrambler type. Something that could take some minor green laning. I've seen it done.
Anyway what is my best bet for cleaning the paint off the frame without removing the engine, I dont mind a bit rough looking as I'm going to rat it anyway, its just all a bit too flashy look at me right now and I want the opposite.
I guess what I am asking is an engine removal necessary for a paint removal, or can i just remove the bits I can see and clear coat the bare steel underneath?
This is my second 600 after making the step up, I had a 94 ZZR but it was not getting the use it deserved from me and it was a big old girl to commute across Birmingham on, fastest I've ever been on a bike though. flapped it around 130

[stinkwheel]

In my considered oppinion, customising a 22 year old divvy is the very definition of polishing a turd.

Ride it for a bit before deciding what to do. After a ZZR6, I strongly suspect you'll hate it.

It'll make a decent winter hack but after riding it, I suspect you will have limited emotional investment beyond it being a tool for getting you from A to B. As such, your hand painted gold frame cannot be seen when you're riding it and should serve as a theft deterrent.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[RhynoCZ]

OP, try to check if there is the original paint under that ''gold coating''. If so, you could possibly get rid of the gold stuff and bring back the original paint. This way you could just try to polish the gold paint off.

The odds are you're gonna just scratch the gold paint off with your fingernail.

But, there is a lot of wisdom in what Stinkwheel says, as well.
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'87 Honda XBR 500, '96 Kawasaki ZX7R P1, '90 Honda CB-1, '88 Kawasaki GPz550, MZ 150 ETZ
'95 Mercedes-Benz w202 C200 CGI, '98 Mercedes-Benz w210 E200 Kompressor

[MCN]

[Polarbear]

Just from the question point of view, no. You really can't get a good result with the engine in the frame. That said, it depends on how good a result you want and you don't seem that bothered for a very good finish so just try different things and see how it goes.

What's the worse thing that could happen? You get to the stage you have to pull the engine anyway.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[stinkwheel]

[The Shaggy D.A.]

[stinkwheel]

I didn't notice the "Going to rat it" bit.

Rat ethos would imply that if it already has paint on it, why spend time and money that could be better spent either riding it or drinking beer putting a different colour paint on it?
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[WD Forte]

[ultraculture1...]

Thanks for the replies, I regret the "I'm going to rat it" comment, I am not and have never ratted a bike, what I mean is I want it to look well used but not unloved if you know what I mean.
After the ZZR its nowhere near as quick but it is much more comfortable, frugal and less likely to get me banned. I also like the naked look, I very rarely ride over the speed limit and almost never on the motorway.
The only reason I dont want to leave it gold is its all a bit look at me, I dont mind it looking like a 22 year old dog, just not a 22 year old dog trying to look like a bloody oscar

[DrDonnyBrago]

You wouldn't be the first to rattle can matt black over everything but the discs, lights and clocks.

[Robby]

If the gold paint has been done badly, it will rub off with wire wool. Try this first.