CRF1000L - frame rust recovery

[Ash-69]

Afternoon all, so after this weekends Dragon Rally, I was perusing the comments on Piston Heads and came across some photo's of a rusty Africa Twin ... My Fkn Africa Twin ....

Before I go to B&Q for some rust converter and a tin of white smoothrite has anyone found anything better for matching the white frame paint ?

I might get some silver too, to sort out the rusting HEED crash bars where shite fitting LOMO bags have taken the top coat off ....

Can't anyone paint anything these days !!!
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FZ1-S Fazer (licence killer😢) , CRF1000L - Adventure Sport

[stinkwheel]

Smoothrite isn't what it once was. For one thing it takes MONTHS to harden properly, there are better options.

Knowing Honda, the white will be an oddball multi-coat pearl that you can't match effectively. And even if you could, the fading over the intervening years will mean even if you got OEM paint, it wouldn't match. You'd need to do the whole frame to get it to match in well.

If you're going to do the whole frame and use paint direct onto the bare metal, you'll need something fairly special.

What they used to use on bike frames back in the day was stuff called alkyd resin. You know all those tatty old 1950s bikes you saw at the dragon which still have their original frame paint? That's what they used and it was generally brushed on or dipped. It's also what you see on old agricultural machinery. You can still buy it sold as machine enamel, the best brand is tractol and they do it in a wide variety of RAL colour codes.

You can put alkyd resin on with a brush and it self-levels beautifully. Like to bodywork standard. It also takes a few weeks to fully harden but it's dry in 24-48h.

I did this tank with tractol and a brush (a good quality brush). This is how it landed up once dry, no sanding or rubbing but you have to keep the faith because it looks terrible when you just finish brushing. I've since gone over it with rubbing compound then T-cut and a polish and you wouldn't know it wasn't sprayed.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczM0QwVz6aZpn_33vZM3--k4gS4_n5BlAWMk_avcRAAS3Ko_QZ2EVcMq_6XKveAKnwl_TiCsujFrsEOzrhpXj3NrUk4cHe7j4rNfFRK5ZO_p7cZHw1yk0wcw68guaztJnf7Iw2q4ty1-zqtt3VsDLqTT=w1557-h876-s-no

Another option is POR15 paint (Paint Over Rust). It sticks like shit to a blanket and can be used direct to metal (even slightly rusty metal) and is extremely tough. limited colour range though although white is one of them.

Next frame i paint, I'll be doing it with POR15.

You might have seen my bike at the Dragon. I was on a grey Enfield trials bike. That was brush painted with cheap grey alkyd resin paint marketed as skip paint.
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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.

[MarJay]

I'd say the only real method to fix it is to strip the bike down to the bare frame, have it blasted and then powder coated properly. Anything else is a sticking plaster. I assume the bike is WAY out of warranty now?
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[MarJay]

For those who are interested:

https://forums-images.pistonheads.com/622965/202502084783898?resize=720
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[stinkwheel]

[PotatoHead202...]

There's a product called rust busters em121. Two part epoxy style stuff. It doesn't look particularly great up close but it's incredibly resilient ime
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Suzuki V Strom 1050XT, Honda CBF500 ABS,

[Ash-69]

Ta guys, stripping it down to the frame and doing a proper job unfortunately not an option, the majority of ot looks okay, just that downtube that catches stones n crap thrown off the front wheel. It's due an oil change so I can get the engine guard off and the headers to get at the lower section that you can never reach with a brush. Unfortunately it's an all year bike and Honda's definition of adventure doesnt seem to stretch to protective coatings ... particularly wheels, fork legs and engine casings, also pretty surprised at the HEED bars and GIVI pannier racks, despite regular cleaning and the odd squirt with ACF50 or GTX equivalent ...
5 Yr old bike 40k miles... hope the later models are better protected.
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FZ1-S Fazer (licence killer😢) , CRF1000L - Adventure Sport

[Ash-69]

Agree about powder coating , I remember what happened to TVR chassis ...
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FZ1-S Fazer (licence killer😢) , CRF1000L - Adventure Sport

[A100man]

[jeremyr62]

[Ducked]

My cheapskate solution to rusty steel is abrading with aluminium, using vegetable oil as a binder. Costs nothing, isn't toxic, and it works quite well, though of course hardly anyone believes that.

Consumerism.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/coke-can-for-brake-drums.242350/

If I get the chance I'll try using Penetrol (which I believe is an alkyd resin, or at least it used to be) as the binder instead, which I think might be an improvement, though it will unfortunately cost money.

This might happen when I return to The Yook (cant get anything in Taiwan) and it will probably be on a boat (more challenging) rather than a road vehicle, since I dont have and probably wont afford a road vehicle in The Yook.