Paint removal question

[rabidmaggot]

Ok...bought my89 Kat in August and I decided to ride it as is for the remainder of the season. Now with about 2 more weeks of riding left here, I am starting to get the supplies and stuff i need to begin my winter project.

The tool that I bought this bike off, looks like he tried to Frankenstein it and butchered it pretty bad...he used black spray bomb and literally painted over everything, stickers included(but he did take the time to remove one K from suzuki on one side before)...

What is the best way to remove the spray paint and stickers underneath? Lots of sanding, varsol, Goo-gone? Or should I just skip it and replace the fairings? I got a line on a full set but they aint cheap. Personally I'd rather clean em up and paint it the way I want.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!

[Snapp600]

I would think sanding and priming-paint would be much cheaper than a new set.
could use a goof off or something that is safe for plastics for the decals. Once they are off i would hand sand with a 120 grit or so lightly until all paint is pretty much gone, then use 400 grit to smooth out finishing up with 400 grit wet. Wash it down and prep for prime.
if you have any gouges in the plastics, there is stuff to buy that will fill them in. Not sure what they are called, but there should be something on here that mentions it.
im sure a body pro will chime in soon good luck

[rabidmaggot]

Thanks for the tips! Not really lookin forward to buyin a new set of plastics considering they will cost me just as much as I paid for the bike. That's kind of a last resort option for me. I'd rather paint it myself just lookin for the easiest way to remove the crap that's on it now.

[Snapp600]

no prob. That to me would be the easiest.. Just do not use any paint strippers as they will/can melt your plastics. If you are painting the tank too, use aircraft stripper. I used that on a tank before, works great and fast.

[Mrclean81]

Prep Sol or Final Sol will remove spray paint easily without damaging the plastic. It will also remove the glue left over from the stickers. Sanding will still be your best bet though if your planning on doing a good paint job because your leveling the surface as your sanding it, making it much smoother.

[rabidmaggot]

I plan on painting the entire bike. 2 weeks I'm parking it and stripping it down...the tank has been pained multilple times it was originally purple then looks like yellow then this guy spray bombed it flat black. I was just gonna sand the tank down prime it, paint it then. A few coats of clear

[KatanaGirl.00]

My bike had about 10 coats of rattle-can glitter and stickers! I took the stickers off with 3M glue/sticker remover, then I actually had to begin with 80 grit sandpaper to cut through the layers. It took me about a week-working after work-to get it down to the plastic. Once I started cutting through the multiple layers of paint I went to 120 grit, then over it again with 400, then the final sanding was 800, then 800 wet. Then it was ready for primer. The finished product was well worth all that sanding! Good luck!

[rabidmaggot]

That sounds exactly like what I was looking for, something that can remove the top layers of paint. I planned on sanding all the plastics eventually, I have about 6 months of no riding, so what better time than to give the old girl a facelift!

Thanks so much for all the input! Definately gives me a solid starting direction! Thabks again!!!

[Mojoe]

y'all could have saved yourself a world of labor if you just had it all sandblasted. you will have a ton of folks (those who never tried it) telling you that you can't sandblast plastic, but they are full of shlt. I have been doing it for years, and it is the ONLY way I do it. I can have a complete bike stripped down (stickers included...they caome right off with the blasting) in a couple of hours tops....about as much time as it takes to remove one Katana sticker with goo-be-gone or whatever it is. and even with the dust from sandblasting, it's still cleaner than working with that shlt.

if you don't have a sandblaster, locate someplace that does. any bodyshop should be able to help you. if they try to tell you that plastic can't be done, insist it can if they are careful. like I said...been doing it for years. it's so fast, efficient and does such a great job that I refuse to do it any other way. if you have a compressor, a sandblaster can be had for not much more than it would cost you for chemicals and sandpaper.

[KatanaGirl.00]

[QUOTE=Mojoe;2130143]y'all could have saved yourself a world of labor if you just had it all sandblasted.

Asked about that and u are right..everyone I asked said no way. Said it would leave deep grooves in the plastic that I'd never get out and they'd show in the paint. I used a sander so it wasn't all that bad. I also enjoy working on my bike, so I can't really complain...but to get it done faster, if sandblasting is an option I'm sure, as you've said, it's MUCH quicker.

[Mojoe]

[
Asked about that and u are right..everyone I asked said no way. Said it would leave deep grooves in the plastic that I'd never get out and they'd show in the paint.

well it's a good thing they didn't try because they are morons. ok..moron might be harsh....but ignorant for sure.

all you gotta do is turn the pressure down a bit, bring the nozzle back to about 10 inches away from your work, and keep it moving. it works slick as pie.

I guess I need to make a nice little video showing how it's done. like I said...been doing it for years.

actually, go take a look at this thread. that part looks as good as oem, and that was all sandblasted before I started.

http://katriders.com/vb/showthread.php?t=68107

[KatanaGirl.00]

WOW!!!! Kudos...that's an AMAZING paint job!! I used 4 or 5 coats of clear myself, I figured I'd have orange peel and wanted to be able to get it all off and still have some clear left on the bike, lol! You are an awesome painter....thanks so much for the post and the advice. I am gonna paint my b/f's bike next and you have given great advice! I REALLY enjoyed painting my bike...I think I'm hooked.

[Mojoe]

I love to paint. it's all the prep work that I am not liking so much..lol.
I would love to paint something at least once a week just to stay "in tune" with it, but unless I am actually in it as a business, that is not very practical. I tried to do it as a business, but soon discovered how cheap people can be. my base price for one color with all supplies included is $500, and they act like I quoted them a million bucks. but hey...I do enjoy it when the odd one comes back after deciding to do it themselves and they say, "damn, it was a lot of work, and after making mistakes and such, it ended up costing me more than $500"

but ya...it's a fun hobby. I see you are getting the hang of it yourself. your bike turned out really nice by the looks of it. :