Have just got back from my first ride on my big green beast for over a year! wooohoo!

Anyways, had to do a spot of painting and chose the el cheapo rattle can option (as Ive done for the last 25 years....) and had a horrible outcome. Gloss black FYI.

Did a wonderful prep job, laid down some nice paint, and shot clear coat over it all (for the first time)...left it for about a week in the sun....fit the panels...and they are now covered in horrible impressions of my finger tips, the pattern of the fabric of my clothes etc....IE the paint is super super soft....might be because i laid it on pretty think, or it may be something to do with the clear coat which I have no experience with...

Anyways...heres my question... Any Aussie wanna chime in with a guess, by all means....
How much would it cost to get a (cheap, not super high end) paint job on the following:
-RS front fairing upper section 
-Side coveres
-Front 2 piece fender
-Tail section (upper only)
-Tank

Id do as much prep myself to keep costs down..I know the only real way is go get quotes etc, im just seeking advice from anyone whos paid for paint before and what a ball park figure may be.

floyd wrote:might be because i laid it on pretty think

Good compound word that, Floyd, if you can't remember which way round you did it...

Floyd,  

In Brisbane you could try aceofsprays.com.au in Capalaba.  Looks like they have a quote function on their website. 

Never been there but mentions that they specialise in bike work.   

Cheers, Dave.

smithys brother in law might be able to help with the question Floyd
Warren  is well experienced in paining and relative costs

perhaps a pm to smithy might help ..as warren (his brother in law) knows k bikes ...pretty well

and may have some good contacts up in our area ?

just a thought

TacKler wrote:Floyd,  

In Brisbane you could try aceofsprays.com.au in Capalaba.  Looks like they have a quote function on their website. 

Never been there but mentions that they specialise in bike work.   

Cheers, Dave.

Thanks mate...heres his prompt reply...

"hey floyd
if you do all the sanding and priming it will cost you about $1200
                    cheers Bob"




me thinks ill try 2 pac at a later date  

Ouch!

If you want a job like that done for next to nothing then expect a rubbish job. You get what you pay for. Sorry to be harsh, but it is true.

The black and clear aren't compatible. You will have a real hard time cleaning it all off and if you used it on the plastic be prepared to just chuck the bits.

I have a cheap airbrush that can run off a spare tire(Badger 250).  I do all my prep work which is time consuming and where a lot of the labor cost is.  I arrange for the clear to be done by a pro shop ahead of time.  They will tell you what kind of base coat to use so it is compatible with their clear.  If you are doing a tank, make sure they are going to use a two part clear that is fuel stain resistant.

Go to a shop that supplies auto painters and get your paints there.  They will also have good advice on best stuff to use and tips on getting the best results.  I use rattle can auto primer, the lightest gray I can find.  Rattle can primer is okay because you're going to sand it smooth anyway. 

I then get a base coat paint and reducer for the airbrush.  Make sure it is compatible with 2 part clear coats(most of them are these days).  Apply it slowly in thin coats until you have good coverage.  After it cures, a very light sanding with 1200 grit to knock down any dust or roughness will have it ready for clear coat.

I then take my parts to a local collision shop where I have arranged to have them cleared.  They do the clear in their paint booth usually with the clear left from doing one of their other jobs. 

I pay around $25 for a lower panel, $10 for a pair of mirrors and have paid $50 for the upper fairing, the right lower and right mirror.  A belly pan cost me $25.  I can't buy the clear coat for those prices.  By having the clear done this way I have a professional looking job for a very low price.  I have painted a complete K1100RS for under $400 this way.  That includes all the prep materials, paints and clear coat.

Floyd Point Seven Fives method works well but is slow. You might want to try a small pot touch up gun if your compressor will run it. If not you can hire a compressor and gun. But get the clear done professionally I've had work done by http://www.qualitybikerepairs.com.au/ in Lawnton easy and fair to deal with and may just do the clear.
Regards Martin.

MartinW wrote:...If not you can hire a compressor and gun...
Regards Martin.

NEVER USE A RENTED GUN!!!  The ones I have seen do a worse job than a cheap paint brush.  Crappy patterns and delivery from dirty broken parts.  Not on anything I will ride.

I have both HVLP gun and airbrush.  While it takes a bit(sometimes a large bit) longer to get the paint down, the precision and small pattern really does a good job of avoiding those annoying runs and sags.  The big payoff comes when I clean up.  The simplicity of the Badger 250 makes it possible to clean it in 2-3 minutes with a couple tablespoons of reducer and a paper towel where I can spend up to a half hour on my gun before I'm happy. 

My opinion is that if you aren't shooting regularly there is more opportunity to mess up a job with a gun vs. the airbrush.  In fact, I have found that it is almost impossible to mess up a job with an airbrush as long as you have the pattern set fairly light.

Point taken on the rented gun. Although a mate did an excellent job on a couple of cars with rented equipment, might be a bit of a crap shoot. 
Regards Martin.

I was faced with the paint problem about 20 years ago.I was restoring a 1965 Plymouth Barracuda .I read up on it and decided to buy a turbine system to paint with. I still use it today and it is an incredible tool .It set me back about 700 US but it ended up making me money in the end.I started with motorcycles,painting them with automotive paints.What I learned is that it's chemistry and there are rules. You can't use materials that are incompatible .You need to stay within one brand of material and even then you need to be certain that those products are compatible with each other. You do this by reading the product information sheets provided by the company that made the paint. They are to he had by the shop that sells the paint and they give you all the health info as well as the material info.This stuff is poison and you need to be real careful handling it wearing gloves and a respirator at all times. I got good at it,I painted about 20 bikes  for people before I did the car and then went on to paint other cars and more bikes.Painting takes lots of patience and you need to be meticulous .You can never touch your work with bare hands,the oils in your skin will cause problems .You need to wash the work with naptha between every coat.you need to tac rag it to get dust off,you need to work thin with some materials like base coat /clear coat systems and thicker and wet with others like single stage  catalized acrylic enamel . It's science and like working on these high tech bikes ,it can be learned but it takes a lot of effort.If you are going to be restoring bikes like I do it will be worth your while to learn this skill but if it's a one time thing just to make your bike presentable then you'd be better off leaving it to a professional and just pay the price.  Rattle can jobs are just a waste of money , automotive paint is very expensive these days and also dangerous to your health if you don't understand it.Be careful .

Beats the crap out of a spray gun every day of the week and you can be sure that nobody will copy it.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Beldray-Telescopic-Cloth-Mop-and-14-Litre-Mop-Bucket-Set-Brand-New-/182692179810?hash=item2a894d6f62:g:jaoAAOSwA2hZvsHi

I have just finished my K1 body work. I spent months, and I mean MONTHS of weekends and evenings removing two complete resprays and the oem coats to take every panel, all eighteen of them, back to bare plastic, and the the tank to alloy including underneath. I wanted no evidence that the bike had ever been any colour other than the oem metallic black. It was a total mare of a job, but I uncovered all the damaged tabs and shitty panel damage repairs hidden by up to 1.3mm of paint. After getting all the cracks and damage professionally repaired the primer was laid on. I then took the panels home and sanded them as best I could in preparation for base and clear coats. No matter how well I prepared them it wasn't good enough for the painter and he spent untold hours getting them good enough. With the base coat and one clear coat applied, the appropriate panels were scratched up and the big K1 decals applied before a second clear coat was applied. The other panels without the decals had had their second coat applied earlier. Then it was time to de nib all the panels of dust spots etc and that takes a heap of time too, which I did.
So, total cost was 315.00 of paint and consumables, and 25.5 hours of shop labour. If I had asked the shop to strip the panels to bare plastic the cost of the repaint would have been well over the value of the bike! So, if you can find a spray painter/panel shop that is sympathetic to your cause (saving money) this is definitely the way to go IMHO. Setting up a home booth unless you are going to do multiple bikes is not justified. Even then, painting is a skill, and as I learned being a fussy prick, even the best intentions to get the preparation perfect fell short of the professionals standards.

So I should also add, that on top of the 315.00 for paint and consumables, and 25.5 hours labour at 70.00 per hour, there is the USD400.00 plus USD75.00 freight for the K1 decals (total NZD 680.00), 75.00 for the pro to put the decals on 'cos I wasn't prepared to risk effing it all up at this stage of the game, and naturally a little stone chip film is required, so add another 150.00, and the bill for a cheap paint job really does add up quickly. A tad under 3000.00 for making a very sad old K1 look the goods and it is easy to see how a frame off restoration can get financially out of hand way too quickly. But, there are less than 2000 K1's left apparently, so to have a pristine one in the garage is, well, priceless!

wow !

yep can attest to little bits and pieces adding up to quite a bit .

great dedication

cheers