Paint time!

Well, the VFR is now officially 16 years old and she is showing her age. A few trips to the ground and years of weather have taken their toll on the fairings. I plan to go with a gloss black with no decals, murdered out, as my friends in the hood would say. This will be done all by me in my garage with rattle cans over the course of multiple weeks. Today I did some sanding on some bad scratches. As i get more done, I'll post more, with pictures. Any advice or tips would be much appreciated.

 

I rattle canned mine (using OEM color from colorite), and got better than OEM finish... tips:

1. make sure your filling and sanding is 100% complete before priming the bike (yes, you need primer to get the paint to stick). Dont assume you can correct minor scratches or blemishes with paint.
2. make sure the plastics are 100% clean by cleaning multiple times with TOTAL PREP or some other spray designed for cleaning before painting
3. spray 2-3 coats fill a high fill primer following the directions for recoats on the label - let set up for 2-3 days before wet sanding
4. wet sand primer to a total smooth with 1000 grit - liberally wet. If the sandpaper is dragging, it's either full or you arent using enough water
5. was down the freshly sanded fairings 3x with clean water and let dry - humidity is not your friend
6. lay down 2-3 coats of color and let dry for at least 3 weeks for the paint to fully cure before again wet sanding (1000 grit) - when properly wet sanded the paint when wet will look and feel like glass, your objective is to remove all imperfections and orange peel as a result of using rattle cans
7. from here you can either add more color (2-3 more coats) and let set up for another 3 weeks and wet sand again (well advised) or go for #8
8. lay down 2-3 coats of clear and let set up for 3-4 weeks
9. wet sand again...
10. use a high quality polishing compound (I use Griots machine polish 1,2,3,4)
11. finish with a high quality wax

 

Well, as good as betarace's step by step is I say screw going gloss. If you're gonna go black, go matte finish for that real "murdered out look". And you can call it "Asphalt Black" just like Honda!!

 

So Betarace. I am not questioning you here, well I guess I am. Cause I am a back yard know fuck all type of a person when it comes to this. But my math indicated to rattle can yourself, there is 10 1/2 weeks of just sitting time, not counting the time you actually spend on the job. Is that correct? That's 2 an a half self fornicating months. No damned way I am painting mine. We're off, we're off, we're off,.... off to the paint shop. I would not last waiting that long.

But hey 15. Why not start a photo show of your progress in this thread.

 

Good day all ,
Specially to 15dollar....a noble cause to put some shine back on your beast...and not to be "contradictory " to the second poster 1000 grit paper will barley give you a base for paint to "Adhere"
and as far as primer goes you really need to buy "Sandable " primer....this stuff takes a while to dry and if you aren't in a heated room it will take time to dry and to build too.
On the scuffs on your bike try to feather out around the edges not too deeply but try first with some #80 grit ,as it isn't that abrasive.If you have access to a compressor and a spray gun PPG offers a very good spoxy type of primer ,its a very "hi-build" but this like the other products call for a temperature controlled area....unless you are gonna wait til Spring to do this job. In fact there is a lot more to knoe than can be shared in one or two postings on a forum to really get a job done properly on a motorcycle....unless you want a flat look.....getting thre decals off and ready to have paint put back on and not be able to tell where they were is gonna take a lot more than a basic rattle can job.....You really should start with as particular a wash job you can then proceed on to a prep cleanner...before you ever drag a piece of sand paper over it.....D oyu know anyone that is into this work professionally? a lot of info can be gleaned at the web site of the company who's paint you plan to use......get advice at youe local paint shops before you start too....Good luck and keep us informed on your progress.....
Rodm850g

 

amat/pro - a good paint job is all in the prep and cleanliness. The actual work time was 2-3 hours here and there and a lot of waiting around. I say 2-3 weeks of waiting as I didnt (went like a week) and paid the consequences and had to re-do. I have a full time job, and like most of us like puttering around in my man cave. All in I would say the real time in the barn doing this project was maybe 40 hours over a long winter. Real time it was like 4 months (Nov-Mar). I enjoyed the project and if I were to do again (I will some day) would go with a spray gun and an RC30 or Rothman's paint job. Based on the project, I would have complete confidence in taking this on.

 

Lots of good tips ya'll, thanks. I may end up going with a flat finish. The only solid decision at this point is that the bike will be painted.

My basic plan right now is to remove the decals, repair the cracks, and smooth up the scratches. I also plan on prime, paint and clear coat for the finish. This will have to wait for warmer weather as I unfortunatly don't have access to a paint booth. Thabkfully, I do live in a warmer part of the country.

Truthfully, I don't have very high expectations as this will be my first paint job. I will be posting pics, no worries there.

 

How many tabs can I break?

Started on the disassembly tonight. I got the side panels, radiator shroud, and front fender off and sanded. With liberal use of heat, chemicals and sanding, I removed the big VFR decals on the side panels.

In the course of removal, I broke about four pieces of plastic. Not real happy about that. I didn't think I would have to spend too much time on plastic repair.

 

this thread may help
Plastic fairing surgery : Honda CBR 600RR Sportbike Forum : 600RR.Net
or this one
CBRWorld.net - Plastic fairing repair

 

The rough sanding is done. I've located all the cracks and am ready for plastic repair. These are the pieces that need repair. I will be using a basic 2-part plastic repair epoxy.

 

Who's stupid idea was it to paint this bike!!? I have learned one very important thing this week; I really should not paint motorcycles. Everything has been painted and is ready for clear coat. It's not pretty. I'll post some pics tomorrow.

 

Dolla, When your done I wouldnt mind seeing the end results. We can finish up that ride that we never really started. PM me when your ready.

 

I tried painting mine once. I painted it with Laqueur in a closed garage. I don't have a resparator. Who needs them. I was fine:



Ended up looking like shit so got grandma to help me fix it...What do you thingk:

 

i am prepping my track bike for a rattle can job lol
i could have my painter do it, but i dont want to spend the money on something thats gonna get laid down.

ill put some pics up when i get a chance.. right now im in the fixing all the cracked fiberglass stage.

i hate working with fiberglass its to fucking messy.

and in creates alot of pin holes you have to go back over and fill.

 

Guesss you've already painted the bike. Gloss black shows every imperfection far more than any other color. White is the most forgiving of surface imperfections. Lighter colors generally do hide flaws better.

 

I found with painting it's allways alot of work, did I mention allwas alot of work? so I bit the bullet and did my RWB with basecoat clearcoat, since all the work is prep I wanted a factory finish after all the prep effort. Mine came out like new using TCP Global products..,.much cheaper than PPG I used in the past, but it worked very well. If I were to use rattle can I would use laquer, you can spray and sand fast till you get it how you want it. Good luck with the ordeal.

 

Painting is done. I met one of my goals of repairing all the cracks in the plastic. This project has taught me a few things...
1. Painting is a lot of work
2. Painting is best left to patient, detail oriented people
3. I am impatient
4. I can drink a lot of beer when I spend multiple hours in the garage

All in all, I had fun and my bike has a completly different look. It's not perfect (or even good) but I like it. I'll try to get some better pictures but here is a teaser shot.

 

let it set and wet sand and buff... you will be shocked

 

Hate to take credit for the paint job you chose, but I'm gonna anyway!!! Looks SICK man :thumbsup: can't wait for more pics. Hey, after the paint sets and you wet sand (if you're gonna) you could put some slutty red pinstripes on her, maybe look kinda like a SR71 Blackbird lane:

 

Flat black with red pin stripes is my favorite.

Looking forward to more pics