How to paint a motorbike?

**degrom** · 20th October 2006, 05:58

Originally Posted by SimJen

Best results get a compressor and decent gun.
You can get a pretty good finish with aerosols though.
Some of the paints are damn lethal too, make sure you have a respirator too.
Use a good paint, prep well: ie clean,sand and prime, sand again (400+ grit), degrease, possibly a couple of coats of basecoat (maybe a colour-sand...if you really want the best)
Then clear coat x 2+. Leave to dry, wet sand with 1200+ grit wetndry (wet) to remove orange peel effect. Use a squeegie to remove water while sanding to check for flatness. Once flat (ie no orange peel), use a cutting compound on a polishing pad in a drill, care needs to be taken near the edges, then finally a nice soft polish with the polishing pad/drill to get the gloss up.
I've painted two bikes that both came up mint using the methods above. Just be careful with the sandpaper at the edges as its very easy to go through and wreck it, i've repainted a few bits....
Pretty easy, just a long process and one which is difficult to find info on.
The more time spent, then the better the final finish will be.

They look pretty fine!!!

What paint did you use? Lacquer?

One suggestion... Save the Pearl paints for a second or a third try. My first try was with a medium based pearl and it's pretty confusing!!! I started painting in the afternoon and stopped later that night. In that time I was so confused with the color as it changed with the lighting.

**SimJen** · 20th October 2006, 08:58

I used lacquer for the NSR and two pack epoxy for the VFR. Both as easy to apply etc as each other in my opinion.
The 2 pack seemed to dry better and give a better finish.

**degrom** · 20th October 2006, 12:52

Originally Posted by SimJen

I used lacquer for the NSR and two pack epoxy for the VFR. Both as easy to apply etc as each other in my opinion.
The 2 pack seemed to dry better and give a better finish.

What kind of equipment do you need for the 2K stuff? Can you use a normal respirator for it or do you need a full air system to be save from the fumes?

**crazefox** · 20th October 2006, 16:51

Mate you dont want to be spraying 2k in your garage its highly illegal

**degrom** · 20th October 2006, 17:44

Originally Posted by crazefox

Mate you dont want to be spraying 2k in your garage its highly illegal

LOL... Thanks for telling me!!! Where do I get a book about what stuff is legal or not?

Do you use 2K? What makes it better?

Thanks anyway.

**SimJen** · 20th October 2006, 20:40

I used a 3M type respirator with the screw on type filter specifically for paint fumes. I couldn't smell a thing.

Mate you dont want to be spraying 2k in your garage its highly illegal

Where does it say its illegal?
If you're painting a small bike, who the hell is going to know.....and to be honest its not really much worse than lacquer in terms of smell although both lacquer and 2k are dangerous to your nervous system with prolonged usage.
I saw a whitepaper from the states where they tested spraypainters blood on a friday night to see what effect the fumes etc were having. By monday the bad shit had gone, not sure what it does long term though. Although they were specifically checking to see if it actually altered the DNA but it didn't seem to.
Use a decent HVLP gun and the amount of overspray is halved over a standard gun (like the ones that come with cheap compressors).