Painting My bike

[ras]

I am starting the long and "FUN" process of painting my bike. This is my first time wish me luck. I will post pics now and again but for now I will just post before pics.
my bike.JPG

my bike 3.JPG

[teddy]

Good luck and a bit of advice...take your time and don't rush it. Now, get to work!

[Erki]

+1 Take your time. I know the feeling after a whlie you just want to get it done but its well worth it in the end if you take your time. And most of all HAVE FUN.

[reconstyle]

Are you using a spray gun or rattle can?

[ras]

Well I figure I have all winter to get it painted and well who am I kidding this is Indiana so I got all winter and all spring maybe part of summer. LOL! Yeah I don't plan on rushing anything and I think I'm going to take it to a body shop to get the cracks plastic welded and have them do the body filler as well. and Possible take the crossbar out of the upper fairing that covers the engine block. And while I'm at it does anyone know where everyone gets the wire mesh to put in the vents? and I plan on spraying it. I'll leave the rattlecan to my brother the king of half a$$ing everything.

[Erki]

spray gun is the best way to go if you have an air compresser. keep us updated on the progress. good luck.

[ras]

well so far the only thing I have gotten done is sand the front fender down and after looking at Erki's thread about his bike i think i took a lil to much paint off. Oh well I guess I will just put another coat of primer on it. Guess I will just have to learn from my mistakes as I go!

[Brian_M]

The process is fairly long but it's very rewarded painting your own bike. Mine took me a month to do but it was well worth it. What color are you painting it anyways?

[GytRDunKat]

and Possible take the crossbar out of the upper fairing that covers the engine block.

See, all you pre-haters, even some of the posts want to look like pre!!

And while I'm at it does anyone know where everyone gets the wire mesh to put in the vents?

Do a search on Home Depot, you will be overwhelmed. Good luck!!

[Erki]

depending on rock chips and stuff you may have to take er a little further to get the chips out. Nothing primer cant fix im sure.

[ras]

I am going with Black and silver with the black on top and the silver starting at the lower fairing and angling up just under the back of the seat. Since this is my first time i figured I would make it as complicated as possible.

Oh I did have one more ? for you guys is there really any difference between an electric orbital sander and a pneumatic DA sander? other than the RPM that they spin. and would anyone recommend against an orbital?

[Erki]

orbitals work good especially on flatter surfaces. for surfaces with more curvature to them if you do use an orbital take er easy for the first nockdown bit and then maybe finish by hand. Just cuz the orbital has a flat surface on it and you dont want to end up with a whole bunch of spots sanded flat on a round surface. Not sure if im making any sense here. As for electric and pneumatic. Ive only used a pneumatic so couldnt tell ya on that one.

Orbitals are good for feathering out chips and gouges though. A lot quicker than by hand.

[ras]

That made perfect sense once again thanks for the insight!

[KYrider]

good luck post lots of pics

[ChrisRam]

I am just outside of Indy and will have quite a bit of silver paint left over if you are intrested.

I will also have a half gallon of the priming thinner.