Painting stock parts (selfdone)

[Bigbody45]

I was wondering how my bike would look if i decided to paint the swing arm or something metal myself. Would it look professional or could it look professional or would it look dull and flat. ???????

[Black_peter]

Just follow the tips you can find this forum..
I did my swing arm and think it looked pretty good!

[KatanaSoldier]

Fordfurious did it to his. It looks nice!

[chinto]

I would look into having it powdercoated, but I have seen some swingarms painted that turned out great. I just worry about the longevity.

[professorman]

If you have a pre-98, I'd just paint it. I have seen some painted ones which look pretty good. Just reasearch about proper painting techniques for painting and you should be able to do it easily. If you have a post 98, you still can do the paint or if you worry about longevity, you could go the powder coating route.

[chinto]

If you have a pre-98, I'd just paint it. I have seen some painted ones which look pretty good. Just reasearch about proper painting techniques for painting and you should be able to do it easily. If you have a post 98, you still can do the paint or if you worry about longevity, you could go the powder coating route.

out of curiousity, why would you treat the pre and post swingarm differently?

[EisBlade]

Maybe the thought there is if it's new it might be worth the investment to powder coat, and if a pre...not? Dunno.He's probably thinking that with a pre there is no sense in investing if painting it on his own looks alright...? Dunno.

profroopchan?

[chinto]

here is my pre 88 with a PC'd swingarm:

[Black_peter]

Maybe the thought there is if it's new it might be worth the investment to powder coat, and if a pre...not?

Well since the pre's are better bikes you have that backwards.
One advantage to paint over powder coat is that when you scratch it reinstalling it. (oh yes you will) touch up is easier..

[chinto]

Maybe the thought there is if it's new it might be worth the investment to powder coat, and if a pre...not?

Well since the pre's are better bikes you have that backwards.
One advantage to paint over powder coat is that when you scratch it reinstalling it. (oh yes you will) touch up is easier..

Agreed the pre's are better.


Disagree with your scratch theory. Although I do agree that paint is easier to touch up I will say that you are less likely to scratch powder coat. That's kind of the point of why I'd recomend powdercoat.

[Mojoe]

Re: Painting stock parts (selfdone)

I was wondering how my bike would look if i decided to paint the swing arm or something metal myself. Would it look professional or could it look professional or would it look dull and flat. ???????

would it look profession?
not to a professional.

could it look professional?
yes, if a professional paints it.
however, some folks have a natural talent and can get it pretty damn close.

will it look dull?
it will if you use flat paint.
it will also look dull if you do not spray it correctly.

paint will work ok, but I suggest clearing it with at least 4 or 5 coats of clear.

[professorman]

Maybe the thought there is if it's new it might be worth the investment to powder coat, and if a pre...not? Dunno.He's probably thinking that with a pre there is no sense in investing if painting it on his own looks alright...? Dunno.

profroopchan?

I do not like to 'loose money'. If I buy a pre lets say, for the average price it is selling right now, about $2k, and then I end up spending another $3k on it, in my mind, might as well I had bought a bike worth $5k in which everything is still flawless. As the bike ages, things start to break and I have to be prepared for when things break. I love to mod just like the next guy, but I want my money out of it when I am ready to upgrade. I guess in bike world, there is only so far you can go in upgrading to the top of the line bike, in the car world, even if I have a corvette, I want to be able to get my money out of it when I am ready to upgrade to a Viper and I still would want my money out of it when I am ready to upgrade to a ferarri. Who knows, I probably wont be able to afford the Ferarri in my life, but I like to easily move on to the next stage. Last summer, I spent a lot of my weekends working on my girl's Prelude. I changed everything that there was to change on it to ensure that she had the perfect reliable car. I sent her off to grad school confindent that she had a car reliable enough that I dont have to worry about her weekend trips to come visit me. YOu know what, some kids were joy riding and ran into the back of her Prelude totalling it. I spent so many hours working on that car, no money that the insurance company would give would give me a car that I had the same faith in as that car. I just dont like investing crazy amounts into a vehicle that the world will not give it the same financial value as I do.

[Bigbody45]

good point profroopchan. that's what i have been doing so far with mine