Respraying

[Tentpeg]

I'm thinking of respraying my bike, including the plastics.

can anyone give me some tips? as i've not attempted it before.

ta muchly

[Frost]

It's all in the preperation.

It's not a case of being good at spraying, its a case of being good at the preperation. This normally requires some expirence in what needs to be done. It's definatly something you can learn to do very well yourself, but the first few repairs, resprays you do will be a bit dodgy. If its a new bike, i'd advise getting someone to do it for you. If it's old and near worthless i'd definatly recommend having a go yourself

[Creepin Moses]

Yes I agree with DaFrostyOne, practice makes perfect. I started spraying old bicycle frames and stuff, take your time, when you rush things thats when mistakes happen. Get yourself some old bits of metal and practice your prep work, then build up to the paint work.

____________________
Bomb disposal expert, if you see me runnin, try to keep up.

[The Artist]

Do not rush the preparation. Get the proper things you need for whatever it is, plastic/metal and take your time

[tshort2007]

Painting any bodywork is 75% preperation, 10% spraying, and 15% polishing.

Sand your fairings/tank using 800grit wet paper. Spend plenty time doing it, going left to right, then up and down, then diagonaly one way, then diagonaly the othe way. Take extra care on edges so you dont flatten them out, and USE A SANDING BLOCK. Otherwise you will probly get an uneven bed.

I'd say about 6 hours sanding in total. Most importantly, dont rush it. Once youve sanded, clean throughly with thinners soaked into a rag and leave to dry. Once dry, use a "tack rag" on the panels. Its a sticky cloth you can get from halfords to clean all the dust and dirt off. Then use a substance called "panel wipe" to remove the grease and chemical deposits.

Now your ready to paint. Use a good quality paint. You can do it with halfords spray cans very effictively, but make sure you shake the cans well. If you have a spray gun/compressor, even better, but make sure you get the right paint and right mix of thinners.

Spray in overlapping coats, starting with the alcoves in the fairings, and spraying the easy bits last. Spray it as heavy as you can, just before the paint starts to run (easier said than done) Its better to have 3 light coats than 1 heavy coat! Let the pain dry for about an hour between coats, and you want around 6 good coats on it.

You need to spray in a clean, sealed room, no draughts and no dust otherwise you will get contamination on the paintwork.

If you do get bits stuck to the paint, or runs, leave to dry for about 3 hours, then sand contaminated parts with 800grit wet, then use scotchbrite on the rest of the panel and clean as before.

once the last coat has dried (around 3 hours) you can put the parts somewhere warm (in the sunshine on the patio table) and leave for about 6 hours.

you will probly find that the panels have "orange peel" This is normal, and cannot be stopped. To clear this off, at least 2 weeks after you have painted, use some 1200 grit paper, and plenty of water to gently sand the panel to a smooth finish. The glossyness will dissapear, but use some "tcut" polish and a good quality polish to restore the shine

And thats about it!

You only NEED to laquar if your spraying metallic paint. Laquaring is advisable on panels that take abuse, but i have never bothered.

Painting is easy, but for the first week, your paint will be very soft, and damage easily, so its recommended not to use your panels.

If your impatiant, get someone pro to do it for you, as they will have a paint called 2-pack which dries in hours under a heat lamp, and can be polished and back on your bike in around 3 days!

To do a good job yourself costs around 40-50 and a LOT of waiting. I managed to pay cash to a local garage, who sprayed and baked my panels for £70 cash. I had to prep and polish myself, but the finish was perfect.

Hope my ranting helps!

Post some piccies when your done!

[The Original Muzza]

The above post is good, but neglects the need for primer. A good quality primer needs to be used for a lasting finish. Acid-etch primer for metal such as tank, and a regular bodywork primer for plastics. Using acid-etch on plastic can leave a mottled and nasty looking mess so be sure not to make that mistake.
Also when using spray cans, begin spraying AWAY from the tank/fairing, as no matter how much you shake before hand, you will likely get a big sputter out of the nozzle at first.

Oh, and a petrol resistant lacquer (these can be bought from halfords as well) for the tank as you WILL get fuel on it when filling up, and regular lacquers/paints will just run.
____________________
Current Bikes: Husqvarna Svartpilen 401 (2020)
Former Bikes: Honda MSX125 (2014), BMW Funduro (1996), Honda VT500 (1983), Yamaha FZR250 (1989), Suzuki GZ125 Marauder(2005),:Triumph TT600 (2002) (stolen)
From then on, I and the bicycle feelings deeper.

[ZRX61]

[tshort2007]

[carlperkins00...]

make sure that any deep scratches are dealt with before you spray.
if you think paint and primer will cover them up... your wrong.
they will do abit but theres nothing worse than finishing a project then noticing a little mark that you could have dealt with in the early stages.

plus... re-sanding, spraying and laquering a part you have already done is a right pain in the aris!

[Tentpeg]

thanks very much fellas......

my bike is knocking on a bit and i'm using it to "experiment" on while i'm settling into this whole motorcycling thang!

will post some result pics when i pull my finger outta my arse and crack on with it!

[carlperkins00...]

fyi - the prep can get very tedious. just percivere and what ever you do, do not cut corners. youll be fine.