It's official! Looking for paint shop in Tampa

[pr1v1t]

I officially suck at painting my bike. Even following the awesome tutorial, I ended up with a garbage paint job. As such, I am looking for a professional shop in Tampa that paints bikes. Does anyone know of any paint/body shops that are reputable (not rip-offs or shoddy quality) around here? I don't have any plastics on it, if that matters.

[jbo197]

Explain exactly what went wrong ....
I painted mine myself with rattle cans and it came out perfect ~
Look at my avatar ....

[ratrider]

Matt black it. if you scratch it or some falls off,just give it a quick squirt and alls good again!

[pr1v1t]

That might work (matte black). Basically, two things went wrong. First, I didn't apply the coats evenly enough. Second, I neglected to remove some moisture prior to applying one of the coats, which led to some bubbling. Trying to sand it out hasn't worked so great yet. I'm working on evening it out, but you can still tell where the dripping and bubbling were (I started with 1000 grit, worked my way down, and am currently trying 400 grit).

[il_ragazzo]

Ok so you know what you did wrong... now learn from your mistake and try again. The cost of painting it your self, failing and trying again is still far less then trying failing and taking it to a shop.

[sekter]

well one thing too you definitely don't want to start with the finest sandpaper and work towards rough if that's what you're doing (based on what you typed, starting with 1000 and working down).

[ratrider]

I Matt blacked mine nearly two years ago cos I had purple and green panels,mismatched cos I was given it after a mate trashed her. Quick run over with scotchbrite,mask the necessary bits off and away! Can hide a lot and marks can be easily fixed with no effort.
I like ratty bikes but Matt black can be made to look really good,easy to work with and easy to look after. Satin black too! Polished bits and gloss black make a nice mix with Matt or satin.

[pr1v1t]

Ok so you know what you did wrong... now learn from your mistake and try again. The cost of painting it your self, failing and trying again is still far less then trying failing and taking it to a shop.

And on that note, back to the garage to try again. I prefer DIY anyways. I suppose the only way to get better is to through practice (and getting it right this time, of course).

[hinow41]

practice on one piece first, or try and get a scrap fairing off some one cheap. Practice is the only way man. You could paint your bike your self 5 times and it would still cost less then taking it to a shop. ( unless you need it done right away)

[pr1v1t]

I took your advice and started to repaint the frame and tank. It's looking a lot better this time around. Not perfect, but nothing clear coat can't cover up. I'll be picking up some fairings in the next week, so I'll have plenty of time to practice some more. Thanks for running me away from the paint shops.