New paint job

[aff-man]

do as suggested above. I am about to spray my bike but the thing to remember is that the paint will take heaps longer to dry now that there is no humidity in the air so once painted be prepared to leave the fairings drying for a couple of days. I made the mistake of trying to put them on after like 24 hours and the paint was still soft.

[Posh Tourer :P]

You will find as many different methods as prep as there are people to advise. Next door used to be a car painter, did the BM, tho we did all the prep. two important things: firstly, prep is all important. If the paint on there is shit, get rid of all of it first. The paint you put on is only as good as how well it sticks. it will be bad if it is only sticking to crap paint and not a better surface. Secondly, get good paint.Dont get warehouse paint, it will chip and scratch like mad. Go to repco or something if you can afford it and get automotive paint. It is worth it. Looks much better and lasts longer (harder finish etc).
I was told to sand down at about 180grit, as anything finer is a waste of time - the paint fills up the cracks anyway with 180. Do a good primer, especially if you go down to metal which I suspect you will have to do if it is chipped badly and repainted badly. Make sure this primer will adhere to the surface you want it to: metal on the tank, plastic on the rest. Get a primer of similar shade to your topcoat if you can, dark for black/blue (dark colours) and light for light colours. This will stop scratches being so obvious. Then if you are really keen for a good paint job that will last, do a clear coat or two. Not that these coats, being clear are hard to see when you've put the damn stuff on, and if you miss bits it will look a different colour where there is less thickness of clearcoat (as we found out on the beemer). To do areally good job you need a compressor and spray gun, but I'm sure cans will do ok for the CB250RS....

[riffer]

Now you just need to find a micron can, powercommander, crash bungs, k&N filter and supercorsas to fit it

Oooh ooh - do they make a power commander that will control carburretors now?

Count me in

[jrandom]

Best colour is black Black BLack BLAck

Yup. Black. A Proper Colour, that is.

I redid my old white Valiant in a (white) laquer job. Many coats and much colour-filling and re-sanding the surface it took. BIG job. Urk. I suppose it wouldn't be such a big deal on a bike but it *would* be somewhat more fiddly in parts.

Just take the tank and fenders etc off, get them acid-dipped and spray them matt black. Job's a good 'un

[vifferman]

Ooh! Ooh! I used to ahve a CB250RS, and I stripped it down to a bare frame and all the parts, and repainted the whole thing including the engine, frame and mufflers, so I've been there, done that!

CSL, you asked about waiting until summer. Well, you don't necessarily have to do that, but if the weather is damp and humid it will affect the ability of the paint to dry properly, and also if you've got things back to bare metal, you don't want rusting to start before you get the first primer coat on.

I sanded mine back with fine-ish sandpaper, going as fine as 800 or 1200 grit for the final sanding. Sandpaper scratches show through the paint, as contrary to what people believe (or perhaps hope), the paint doesn't fill in the scratches but accentuates them. As others have said, the key is the preparation, which is the hardest and most boring part, but which pays dividends.

I painted mine with spray cans from Repco, and it looked good when I'd finished. Unfortunately, I screwed something up, and the paint developed a crackle finish after a few months. According to stuff I read afterwards, this may have been due to the primer coats not being allowed to dry sufficiently. I suspect the primer and paint may not have liked each other much either.

If you're not a great painter, it may pay to do all the prep work, and pay a shop to throw the final paint on for you. However, the painting is the funnest bit, so another alternative is to go to an automotive paint supplier, who can supply the colour of your choice in aerosol cans. There's one near us who do PPG and other paints in a bewildering variety of colours and finishes, and who will have all the other bits and pieces required. There's bound to be at least one in Wgtn too. Then the trick is to supply very thin and even coats, and allow each to dry thoroughly before applying the next one.

As for power, my CB250RS had an XR500 engine in it (the lower part of the engine is the same as the CB250RS, so the bolts all line up), and custom pipes (Cycleworks, IIRC), and a K&N filter. I had to monkey around with it a lot to get the jetting right, as the previous owner had got it all wrong.

Good luck, and have fun!

[FROSTY:Me]

why not buy some spare panels and then ya can change your bikes identity in a moment or two.

[pete376403]

There's an automotove paint supplier in High Street, Lower Hutt, just a bit north of where Motorcycle City used to be. (North of the roundabout coming off Melling bridge)
They were able to match the paint on my GS and provide a sample in a spray can (Original Suzuki paint matches Harley Davidson Wild Berry, wouldja believe?)

What I'd like is that cool purple colour that shifts to gold but I doubt if that would be a spray can jobbie

[matthewt]

What I'd like is that cool purple colour that shifts to gold but I doubt if that would be a spray can jobbie

I think it's called hariquin and is mega-expensive.

[Ghost Lemur]

I think it's called hariquin and is mega-expensive.

You're right on both counts. But yeah I've thought it would sex up a bike too.

[vifferman]

I think it's called hariquin and is mega-expensive.

Standox Harlequin, and (IIRC) it's around $1000/litre. It also isn't a one-pot paint; it requires a base coat, and several layers plus clear lacquer over the top. It works by having very fine metallic particles in the paint that refract the light as different colours depending on which angle you're viewing it at.

Personally, while I like the concept, I think it's a bit over the top, and I'd prefer something more subtle. The VFR had "Granite Blue Metallic" paint, which looked black, but which actually had blue metallic flakes in it, when you looked at it in the light. In some lighting, it looked sort of bronzey. Something like that, changing colour between a couple of colours only would be nice.

[riffer]

Union Hardware in Newtown are pretty good at making up automotive paint too. Especially matching colours and making up a colour to manufacturers spec. In the past they have done both aerosol cans and touch up bottles for me.

[DEATH_INC.]

Most decent auto paint shops can put anything into a can if needed (except 2pac of course....).don't bother with anything finer than 180grit before priming,just a waste of time.A decent primer,or primer/filler if needed will fill anything that 180 will leave,and you sand the primer flat anyway.
If you want a really good job(and have the breathing gear etc)you really need to use 2K primers and clears,laquer just can't compete.

[R6_kid:Me]

I'm assuming you guys are all talking about the painting of metal parts. How does this compare to painting plastics? I am thinking of respraying the ZXR if need be to save money.

[Posh Tourer :P]

Pretty similar, you just use a different primer. Also plastic may flex more so a really hard coat of paint may crack. You can add a thing to make the paint a bit more flexible if you like. The CB250RS is a plastic everything except tank, so CSL will be doing both. If you are going to get an automotive paint shop to mix some paint for you, it may be worth pointing this out to them that you will be painting onto plastic.

[Ms Piggy]

Best colour is black Black BLack BLAck BLACk

Nooooooooooooooooo - I want something a bit more...ummm, well I dunno but not black anway. I had a fleeting idea of hot pink but thought that resale may be a little tricky

What I'd like is that cool purple colour that shifts to gold but I doubt if that would be a spray can jobbie

That is great stuff! Very sexy. I actually saw a bike parked in the Mercer St m/bike parking area the other day with that paint - a small cruiser type. It looked great but was in the process of being issued with a ticket. Ooopss.

Thanks for all the info guys & gals.