Paint advice?

Even since before buying it, I wanted to paint my bike.

I had picked out a dark metallic blue that has pearl in it. It's A76/5 Deep Sea Blue Metallic. Looks black in some light, sparkling blue in the sun. Really nice color used on some BMW's 2010 on.

Turns out the paint world is a lot more complicated than when I worked in a body shop as a teenager and it was base/clear vs enamel.

Picking a paint with pearl it looks like I am forcing my painter to do at least three stages. I'm also finding out that there are different primers and fills to use based on what kind of carrier and what type of paint is going to be used. I'm starting to wonder if I should just go to a solid color single stage like black -- always intended to do the prep myself and hand it to a guy to do after hours sometime as a side job, to keep the cost down. Bottom line is I'm a little confused.

I'm sure lots of you guys have painted your bikes... anyone here got any advice as to the best way to get a decent result for minimal cash? I'm in Ontario Canada by the way so products need to be available here. I'm ok to do the prep and even shoot the primer myself (have a proper gun) but don't want to make mistakes that mess up the painter afterwards.

This is not a show bike by any stretch, but I want it to look nice.

Thanks

-iX.

 

I can't answer your questions because I'm still stuck in the enamel world myself.
What I can do is suggest that you see if your painter needs some help on the weekends. That can be a good way to get a discount on his labor.

 

this is what i did. walked in the auto paint store and told the man i want to paint my bike and i never painted anything before. i knew i wanted fuel proof and wanted to do it once, no base/clear.
he showed me the book and asked how much i wanted to spend, i said cheap, he flipped the book to the cheap section and i picked a color (toyota fj blue) then he gave me 2 rattle cans of primer,
some filler, spot putty, asked when i was doing it and gave me reducer, activator and all that stuff and a stack of instruction papers, and said follow the instructions exactly. i did and i couldn't
believe how well it came out.
how much $....this was a few years ago, right around 120$

 

I was thinking of having a pro or semi-pro do the actual paintwork, nothing beats experience running the gun. Which then complicates that idea slightly because you need to use materials that they are comfortable working with. When you use somebody like that they will have a lot of the supplies themselves anyway and will charge you minimal amounts for supplies consumed rather than buying a can of this and a can of that most of which will get thrown away.

What kind of paint did he have you use then, and did you do base clear or single stage?

As for helping a guy on the weekend... doing some side work in my own industry would fund it a lot quicker. Trying to keep the overall costs down so that She who Must Be Obeyed will continue to be an enthusiastic supporter of the project as she has been so far.

Anyway I will talk to a few guys on Monday and see what i can scare up for options. Looks like we will be down another two weeks waiting for a gasket and some shims anyway so I will have time to run the paintwork job I think.

 

The paint was ppg omni and the other stuff was ppg shop-line. Single stage.
I thought if I messed up, just sand it a bit more and call it another coat of primer.
If experience is important, start getting it right now.

 

find a guy that paints BMW's

 

I just had my tank and side panels painted professionally. Kept the cost down by letting him complete at his pace, working on it when he could. Took him about 5 months but was worth the wait. I simply don't have the time/equipment to learn to paint and while I've seen some great rattle can jobs, nothing beats a properly done paint job with good prep and proper paints done by an experienced painter.

 

If you bring it fully prepped (as I plan to) then it doesn't take long... it's the same task no matter how long you give them. At some point they will hang it and shoot it, cure, shoot again, cure and give it back. Basically you will busy their booth for 2 days or perhaps 2 nights.

My difficulty is the cost of the water-borne paints that the pro shops are all using now. They are very costly even compared to quality base-clear from a few years back.

 

A good paint job is really a good prep job (bodywork, sanding, primer, etc.) AND compatability of primers with the paints used. With minimal practice and a decent gun/compressor/dryer, shooting the color coat is not all that difficult. It's all the "other things" that preceded the final spray which will make or break the final result.

 

Exactly why I went with the pro for my job. I spent days on my kaw tank, looked perfect until I sprayed something shiny on it

If your doing your own prep first, I have to imagine it would knock a decent chunk out of the final cost.

 

A good paint job is 99% prep. I have to think most pros are going to want to do the prep work to ensure the end result, I would be worried that a shop might do a splash and dash, and if the paint looks crappy, they would blame it on the prep job..
First off, if you have a compressor that can move enough air for an HVLP gun, the rest is fairly inexpensive. Take a look at the paint I did on VooDoo here . That was done entirely with a Harbor Freight HVLP cheapie. This was the third bike I painted, so I'm no pro by far. I get my paint from TCP global/ HOK. where I can purchase the colors I want in small quantity, you can even get them pre-mixed. I always use rattle can filler/primer, and have to admit that I have mixed and matched primers, with no discernable differences in adhesion, durability or longevity of the paint job. The nigger concern with paint compatibility, IMO, is when base/Clear coat is involved. Plan to spend about $200 on paint and clear coat, more if you start getting into pearl paints.
While experience with painting is helpful, it;s not a deal breaker if you're like me, and hate paying someone to do something you could do yourself. Check out the Custom Paint Forum, those guys are to painting, what XJbikes.com is to motorcycles..very friendly and willing to help. Get a cheap gun, some basic supplies and practice on some things around the house...a filing cabinet, a tool box, the washer and dryer you'll be surprised what you can accomplish and take lots of pics!

 

Uh, I think you meant BIGGER concern -----

Tried to let you know in a conversation, but your mailbox is full.

 

oops... yes.. Bigger..I meant the BIGGER concern... note to self... don't reply to posts at 1:30 AM.... with the lights off....since I type using a modified 3 finger hunt and peck method ! lol

 

If you were a premium member you could make it look like that never happened....hint, hint