Color Rite Vs. Body Shop Supply House Paint

[Stenchy]

Body shop supply houses can supply paint to cover ABS bike panels and such can they not? At least I think the bodywork on bike are ABS, please correct me otherwise.

For small jobs, is color Rite the best way to go and is it worth the $$.

Thanks.

K.

[tzortn]

I am sure that you can find other sources for high quality ABS compatabile paint. I went with ColorRite Spray cans because it was an easy and proven solution (matched colors) to the chip in my tank.

[KatanaSoldier]

I bought the half pint of colorrite for the painting of my cowl and it was a perfect match and nice quality.

[Mojoe]

contrary to what you might think, they do not use a special paint for ABS plastics on vehicles. The paint on the metal body of a car is the exact same paint as used on the plastic bumpers. even the primer is the same.
The only difference is the prep before the primer. When you paint on ABS, you SHOULD use an adhesive. This is just a clear spray that seals the plastic and allows the primer to bond without a reaction to the plastic.
Once you have applied the adhesive, you can spray the part with virtually any type of paint and primer you wish, as long as it is compatible with the adhesive and does not cause a reaction.
Also, you need to add a flex agent if the plastic is quite flexible. That is why you can push in a rubber bumper without the paint cracking....cuz of the flex agent. It used to be that you had to add this, but more and more paint companies are including this already mixed in the reducer or hardner to prevent painters from having to buy/mix it seperately just for plastic work.

Here is a fairing that I sandblasted, then applied the adhesive to. As you can tell, you can't even see it. The black you see is primer. Regular basecoat clearcoat was used after the regular primer.

If you are painting over parts that are already painted, it doesn't matter if the parts are metal or steel. What matters is that the paint you are using does not react with the paint that is already there.

[Mojoe]

here is a tip for painting bare plastic.

the general rule of thumb is try sanding the bare plastic with say 220 grit sandpaper. if it sands good and leaves a "dust" behind, you can usually directly prime it. If it rolls off in little balls when sanding, you are likely to run into a problem with reaction or inadequate bonding.

Same theory for reparing plastics with automotive glues for plastic repair. If it sands nicely, the glue will hold. If it rolls into little balls, the glue won't hold.

Which parts on a bike are good to go, and which aren't? Lower fairings and sidecovers.....good sanding, good to repair. tail sections and upper fairings....different plastic. Not as easy to repair.

Upper fairing and tail = a harder, stiffer plastic.
Lower fairings and sidecovers = more flexible plastic.

[suzukisportrider2004]

i went with color rite only because i was trying to match the paint non of the local pait shops could get the codes to mix up the paint them selfs

[Mojoe]

i went with color rite only because i was trying to match the paint non of the local pait shops could get the codes to mix up the paint them selfs

This is something I find sucks. Automotive paint suppliers do not carry motorcycle paint codes. They should. Maybe one day they will.
However, a competent supplier with a scanner could match it.

[philwecksr]

If you have a yellow Kat I have primer, base, and clear coat that I'll sell you for less than colorrite is charging! Decided I'm going to go a different color all together and they want to charge me a 25% restocking fee.....

[suzukisportrider2004]

i went with color rite only because i was trying to match the paint non of the local pait shops could get the codes to mix up the paint them selfs

This is something I find sucks. Automotive paint suppliers do not carry motorcycle paint codes. They should. Maybe one day they will.
However, a competent supplier with a scanner could match it.

i was told they couldnt use it on the white of my bike becoause of the pearl.

[Mojoe]

i went with color rite only because i was trying to match the paint non of the local pait shops could get the codes to mix up the paint them selfs

This is something I find sucks. Automotive paint suppliers do not carry motorcycle paint codes. They should. Maybe one day they will.
However, a competent supplier with a scanner could match it.

i was told they couldnt use it on the white of my bike becoause of the pearl.

in a situation like that, look for a car company that produces a car in pearl white. There are a few I believe, and some have some really nice white pearls......then ask for the paint for that.

In fact, do that with any color. If a paint supplier can't give you the exact match because they do not have the codes for bikes, then find a vehicle that matches the color you want and ask for that paint. Ideal would be to get your hands an a paint chip booklet.

[shagg_9]

i went with color rite only because i was trying to match the paint non of the local pait shops could get the codes to mix up the paint them selfs

This is something I find sucks. Automotive paint suppliers do not carry motorcycle paint codes. They should. Maybe one day they will.
However, a competent supplier with a scanner could match it.

i was told they couldnt use it on the white of my bike because of the pearl.

Hold on... the light scanner couldn't see the pearl? That is what it does, scans to a blend color. Myself, i had my 00 kat scanned and it turned out to be a Mopar (dodge-chrysler) color named PB3 "intense blue". It was very close but the pearls and metallics didn't match. We all should know that any time you respray any panel with a different paint gun that the pearls and or metallic flakes will not atomize the same and seem a slight bit off from the original paint. This could happen even if you take one pint of paint and split it between two paint guns and shoot two panels. They wont match exactly. Close but never the exact same.

As for now, my pieces are almost ready to go back on after i had a custom white sprayed. ABS for our bikes are the same composition as most auto panels. Paint sticks if you prep it correctly. I suggest Spies Hecker Paint - a german auto paint company- this paint is extremely user friendly and quite easy to shoot and fix. I had my shop paint my two tone pieces to all blue one year ago and now the entire bike. Ive had no problems w flexing causing cracking or non adhesion to the ABS. With that being said, don't worry with using standard auto companies such as Dupont or PPG... etc.

Good luck with your paint jobs.

[Stenchy]

Body supply shop

I took a piece of my bodywork into the local supply house and they scanned the paint, nothing would come up. Could not read the color as I am told. No paint matches, no formulas, nothing. I have an 06 in black / silver.

Dealing with color-rite would not be so bad, but my goodness this stuff is EXPENSIVE!!!!

[Mojoe]

Re: Body supply shop

I took a piece of my bodywork into the local supply house and they scanned the paint, nothing would come up. Could not read the color as I am told. No paint matches, no formulas, nothing. I have an 06 in black / silver.

Dealing with color-rite would not be so bad, but my goodness this stuff is EXPENSIVE!!!!

then just find a color that is available that matches it as closely as possible, and spray the whole bike. aftet that, touch ups will never be a problem cuz you should have paint left over from a pint.

[shagg_9]

use the color fan wheels they have... then you can get uberclose to the actual color. for each color code they have a light and dark blend. so do the math, a bunch of silver colors and three of each.
i second what mojoe says and go with spraying the whole bike. plus you can change it to a color of silver that really appeals to you. Just remember to keep some of the extra paint for touch ups and remember how many coats of paint your painter laid for you.

good luck matching it... it may be a pain in the neck but it will all pay off when you get her back to normal or better than stock!

[Mojoe]

Hold on... the light scanner couldn't see the pearl? That is what it does, scans to a blend color.

if the pearl is of the type that was added in the first coat of clear....over the basecoat instead of actually being part of the basecoat, then a scanner can have a difficult time to decypher the mix. same problem with tri-coats (1st coat base, 2nd coat tint or pearl, 3rd coat clear). the scanner will try to make one color out of what is actually two. if that color could be achieved with just one reciper, they would have no need to do it in a tri-coat fashion....if you follow what I mean.