pretty VS rugged

[bennett]

so im having a dilemma about the painting of my almost finished fighterkat....

Im torn between doing the boddywork perfect and dowing a highend paintjob.ooooorrrrrrrr making it workable and doing a flat black everything kinda deal.by workable i mean pull out the dents kinda half @$$ed and leaving some of the imperfections in the bodywork before painting.ive seen this done on fighters before and sometimes it looks awsome.other times not so much.since its gonna be a streetbeater with no intentions of winning show prizes.i just thought id ask everyones opinions

[venturesomerite]

Really, to me there's nothing wrong with dents and scrapes on a fighter. If I ever dumped mine, that's probably the route I would go. Maybe get a new tank (used one) and just matte black everything.

[crazy1]

All depends what your after.
I tried the flat black with mine, but wasnt happy with the results, so I still didnt do any body work, or hardly any prep for that matter and shot about 5 coats of paint and called it a day.
I think it looks pretty damn good for what it is.

[clwind21]

no

I dont realy like the flat black look. but do what you want. thats just what i think....IF YOU ARE HAPPY.... THEN I AM HAPPY

[ninabl]

primer

go to the auto parts store and just see what they got.
i got tired of the flat black (every thing i own is that color)
i went to see what i could find and found a flat green for about $6 a can and used 3 cans. every one that sees ot on person likes it and i love it,

[FastJetta97]

yeah mine was all flat black when i got it... it looks to boring to me so im mixin it up with some polished parts and prolly some red and gloss black all thrown together....

[NiteMare]

at the end of the day it's what you're going to be happy riding that determines the paintjob ...

my gsxr750ws has mismatched panels and roadrash, i love riding that just as it is, it would be nice to have it all pretty but then i'd have to clean it more than once a year....

my GL1100 i stripped and repainted everything including the fuel tank (hidden under the seat), that bike looks really pretty now all polished with a really nice subtle two-tone paintjob and polished alloy, i love posing on that ....

my Bonnie is in need of a cosmetic rebuild, but a bit of a polish and that's still a nice bike to ride ....

my fighter looks like a minimal collection of parts, flakey paint on the engine and cooler, alloy frame, blue tank, red renthal bars, blue rear wheel, purple (i think) front wheel and black minimal subframe, almost hidden lights, it really has the mnimalist appearance i'm gonna ride it as it is cos it's cool as f**k ...

my gsx1100f may get put on the road this year just so i can haul my girlfriend and camping gear on a touring holiday, it's just a big reliable (rapid) truck ...

at the end of the day it's not really about what anyone else thinks, it's what you're happy riding, most fighters/customs/chops are never finished they are evolving projects that get tinkered with as time goes on, you could paint your bike flat black this week and ride it for a month like that then get bored of it, then decide to grab another can (or three) of paint and redo everything in another scheme (only takes a day or two if you get ya finger out)

[JIB]

Beater bike good! No need to worry about damaging if it's already there.

[7thrifty]

go for the used but clean look

[Bright Wire]

I really like that matte green. It's reminiscent of a faded green army jacket. It gives me the feel of used military equipment. As for black, I found a semi flat sort of black that works really well. Get the black for vinyl. My fairings almost look like a black sofa and give me a little feeling like like they are supple and not rigid or rat canned.

[ninabl]

i like the rustolium (mis spelled) they nave a satim black out i think it is a BBQ grill paint. we got a can of that and had to use a spray gun but painted his car im my front yard.

[ninabl]

pic

satin black... it has a very low gloss kinda between flat and gloss. goes on smooth like primer.

[talonguy450]

rugged