My Repaint/Repair Project

[jmcl3an]

Well, I finally got tired of all the scratches and cracks on my kat. The po had dropped it, so the whole left side was a mess and there is a huge dent in the gas tank. After looking around at after market fairings, and a lot of reading on here, I decided to give repairing and repainting a try.

I'm using Duplicolor Paintshop paints for this. I've already done the plastic repair, sanded it down, and finished priming last night. Getting ready to go wet sand and start the base candy coat today. I'm going with candy orange for the bike, not 100% sure how it's going to look in the end, but at least it won't be scratched and cracked. I attached some pics of the progress so far. Yes, the gas tank is still on the bike in the pic. I got one on ebay primed and ready to go, so I haven't removed the old one yet. I'll post more when I get further along.

[jmcl3an]

Repaint Update

Ok, got through the candy base coat today as well as 1 can of the orange candy coat. I still need to put another light coat or 2 of the orange on to finish it up, but won't be able to get to that for a week or so. After that, clear coat and I can finally get back to riding it.

[cmurdah]

looking very good so far! i have been working on mine but am very inexperienced at painting..it looks like crap

[MadMax]

Looking really good. Nice work. My friend has an SV that colour and it looks phenomenal. Make sure to post back when you get her back together.

[Woodmysta]

Great work. Will be keeping an eye on this thread to see your finished results.

looking very good so far! i have been working on mine but am very inexperienced at painting..it looks like crap

+1

[2wheelnPit]

Great work. Will be keeping an eye on this thread to see your finished results.


+1

+2

[jmcl3an]

looking very good so far! i have been working on mine but am very inexperienced at painting..it looks like crap

This is my first attempt at painting, never done it before, at least not with anything other than my fingers. I've found that you need to have a lot of patience and prepping properly is a definite help. I screwed up the first fairing I tried to prime, it was running all over the place. I had to sand it down and redo it. That was enough motivation to take my time and do it right. Keep at it, I'm sure you'll get it.

Great work. Will be keeping an eye on this thread to see your finished results.


+1

I'll be posting the finished results when I'm done. I need to wait for another qt of orange to come in so I can finish that before I can clear coat it. I'm also waiting for my new fairing bolts, mirrors, Illumiglo gauges to come in, so I don't want to put it all back together before I get that in.

[cmurdah]

i forgot to mention that mine looks like crap probably cuz im using rattle can lol. if only i had an air compressor....

[jmcl3an]

The compressor helps a lot. I picked up a $15 paint gun from Harbor Freight. I'm actually on my 2nd one for this project, I didn't clean the 1st one properly. I did see a thread on here where someone rattle canned their bike and it came out real nice.

[scott73]

The compressor helps a lot. I picked up a $15 paint gun from Harbor Freight. I'm actually on my 2nd one for this project, I didn't clean the 1st one properly. I did see a thread on here where someone rattle canned their bike and it came out real nice.

Like the color! Is your paint acetone based or urethane?

If you are using a urethane, go to your local autopaint store and ask for a can of gun cleaner. Here in Washington it runs about $15 a gallon. You just put a little in the color cup, give it a shake and a few minutes later spray it out. I use an old can with a screw on cap to collect the spray so I'm not polluting. Repeat till the fluid coming out of your spray gun is clear. This stuff works a lot better than paint thinner. You can also soak the first gun in the cleaner or acetone to get the leftover paint out of it.

[jmcl3an]

Thanks. That's what I ended up doing. I picked up some lacquer thinner and soaked the guns for a little bit in it. I'll probably run some through it before I go to start the next coat, just to make sure it's all cleared out.

[Woodmysta]

looking very good so far! i have been working on mine but am very inexperienced at painting..it looks like crap

i forgot to mention that mine looks like crap probably cuz im using rattle can lol. if only i had an air compressor....

Rattle can here too!
+ 1 on the air compressor

[akarob]

You can get good results with a rattle can - or a brush for that matter. It just takes some extra work to wetsand and polish.

The key to sucess is to figure out what method you will use and understand the steps you need to take completely.

Temerature and humidity can RUIN an otherwise good paintjob as well. Wait for good weather / low humidity.

[jmcl3an]

Haven't been able to get anymore painting done yet and I have my kids this weekend, so the bike goes on the back burner for a few more days. Still have a touch-up coat of the orange and then clear to go. I did manage to get the Illumiglow gauge faces installed tonight though. The pictures aren't the best, couldn't get the camera to focus real well in the dark, but I'm sure most of you have seen these before.

Still waiting for my ZG windscreen, mirrors and new headlight bulbs to come in. Strange thing, I can get the bulbs shipped from the UK for about $12-$15 less than I would pay at any local store, or even US dealer, weird. Went with the Philips MotoVision bulbs, they have an orange glow to them, so it should add a nice touch to the bike, well see though. It looks like this is turning into more of a remodel than a repaint, but I figure it's best to get it all done while I've got it apart now. Can't wait to get it done, it's been almost a month since I've been able to ride now. I'll post more as it progresses.

[bob393]

I used Dupli-color to paint a tank a while ago. I was happy with the results.