1981 Yamaha XJ550 MAXIM Repainting..

Hey...
So I bought this bike in May.. The tank was pretty scratched up!
No dents but it looks like someone walked around it with a screwdriver chipping off some neo-artisanal scratching pattern..

She's black, glossed.. I'm hoping to get it re-painted cause I want her to look good when she's with me.. Now's a good time as I'm trying to figure out why she isn't running! hahaha

Anyone know any good painting places in Toronto?

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You could get it done by someone, but it might be $$$. Paint it yourself, it's all black and gloss, pretty hard to mess up...

 

Never painted anything like this before..
What would I need to paint it?
I might consider painting it myself!

 

I just used a rattle can of duplicolor and some Hi temp clear. Got 'em at the autopart's store. Do a search of the forums a couple of people have done some raelly nice rattle can jobs and have all the info in thier posts.

 

Yep, I used duplicolor as well. Pretty easy to do, and will cost you a lot less.

 

I know this seems scary @ first...but its pretty easy really specially if there is no dents..I paid some one to do mine and they screwed it up...so I did it and I must say it looks great...see my gallery....you can do it...My first thought was man this bike needs painted but ill never get to look good as the old paint even! Wrong kinda of thinking cuz it come around to me having to do it anywayz...and I like the way it looks now..

Never give up and youll do fine.....Good luck ~Ridz~

 

Painting is easy part.

Prepping is where the looks come from. Sand the old paint. Either feather out the chips with a lot of sanding or fill them with spot filler.

Prime.

Sand 800 wet.

Feel it with clean fingers. You can feel things you can't see at this point. Fix anything that doesn't feel like a smooth flowing surface if necessary. Prime and wet sand again.

Repeat until flawless.

Paint.

Clearcoat.

Don't put gas in until it is well cured.

 

If you are gonna do a can job, would it be possible to paint a design also and then clearcoat it? Like maybe some skulls, or something? Or does it need to be airbrushed for something like that to look decent?

 

You could use a rattle can, but a lot of masking would be needed for any design, but that would be needed with a airbrush as well.

 

what do you mean by that?

what is this sand 800 business?
Was at Curry's art supplies this eve.. Saw some cool stuff.. they sell spray kits and auto paint and sand blocks? to sand off paint?
Got a bit confused by that when I saw it...

Is that the Sand 800 wet?

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Your paint supplier will have wet/dry sandpaper. Use the 800 grit, get a bucket of water, dip frequently.

Don't use a sanding block at this stage. You'll be amazed at the small defects you can feel through the sandpaper.

 

MiCarl has it spot on. Dont use the one can application - it will look pretty crummy. Do the prime, paint and then clear coat. Napa AUto has a paint section and they can probably match color to the other things on your bike, there are multiple shades of black and you dont want side panels and tank to mismatch, take a side panel with you and you can go through their books to get a close match. If you have compressor and sprayer (canadian tire has the 3 gallon compressor for 69 bucks this week) you will get a much better finish, but practice first on a cardboard box or other object. The clearcoat is the toughest to get right, mixing exactly is crucial otherwise you will get lumpy shiny finish!!

 

I just had my 650 powdercoated and it only cost me $140 with a color and a clear. I will post some pics later.

The work looks great and is very wear resistant. There are getting to be a ton of great colors to choose from in powder.

 

You powdercoated your tank? Interesting. How do you deal with dents? This might be an option if I can have the surface prepped properly for a powdercoat.

 

Well, you need to use a high heat specific filler, wherever you take it should know about this and if they dont then move on! I would definitely bring it up to find out their plans.

I have been to a few places and the price I paid seems about standard with a little prep work. If you have a lot of dents or big ones then you may pay more.

 

I think what he is saying is that its all in the prep work...The better the prep work the better the paint job...

 

Just put the tank back on my Maxim 550 a week ago. I've never attempted painting before either, but I figured I had nothing to lose. The tank was pretty beat up, had some dents, and the badges were nasty. I stripped it right down to bare metal, bondoed the dents and badge indents(never done that before either). The color is black metallic and I had a couple of custom decals cut to replace the badges. Still a few imperfections but for a first attempt I think it turned out pretty good.