Painting question

Since my off at oulton I have had to fiberglass and bodyfill quite a few parts on my fairings. So I thought F*ck it! Might aswell repaint the buggers while I'm at it..

Started prepping them yesterday and have just about done the whole lot once over, now need to start using the finer grits to flatten them off nicely ready for painting.

My question is has anyone ever just primed fairings??? Chances are I will drop the bike again so don't want an amazing paint job/finish. Was thinking of just doing a matte black primer and just a few layers of that.

Has anyone tried it before and do I need to the primer, paint, lacquer thing to get just an OK finish.

Cheers fellow bladers

 

Mate I'm sure it might have been Jimbo or another forum member that turned their blade into a sweet track bike with a Matt black finish. Had me drooling for sure!!

 

Yeah I saw jimbos at Oulton last week thats when i finally made my mind up to go with the matt black. Perhaps he can help??? JIMBOOOOOOO!!!???!?!?????

 

to the rescue!!

yup - time and funding was the main driver for my paint, wanted it done quick but didnt want to spend a fortune on it due to knowing i'd likely bin it anytime soon anyway, plus id rather spend the money on the whole "TD Setup" ie warmers etc....

We rubbed it down, etch primed it and rattle canned it and few stickers later to mask a few imperfiections and imo it doesnt look too bad. all for a cost of about £100 and an afternoon messing around with it...

i didnt lacquer mine though as i didnt want to loose the matt finish but i think that was a mistake, as it marks easy and also any fuel spill on the take has burnt the paint... so will prob need a bit more prep, and local touch ups then some form of lacquer for a proper job.

then again, i might just leave it, looks ok - and not fussed about it being pristine.... because spills do happen on track!

Came up ok to be fair...

 

I did my race fairing myself and it isn't too bad really. Prepping them is the crucial bit, but after that I used Halfords spray cans and between each coat of topcoat, I used T-Cut just to smooth them over slightly. I decided to opt for lacquer to try to protect the overall finish and was pleasantly surprised by the results. If you are using a light colour top coat, I would opt for a white primer, as it helps to bring out the finish better. all this hard effort paid off, until on the second race day I decided to bin the bike and all my hours of hard work ended up smashed and the whole lot is now in the bin!

 

Love it Jimbo!!

 

it is surprising the finish you get - doesnt look too bad at all to be honest.

some of the paint jobs on trackdays are amazing, so nice i'd be gutted if i wrecked it though. which kind of defeats the purpose of the bike?

Ps - i was liking your tips robin, not that you smashed your bike up! lol

 

Bad luck rob!! I dont mind the prep its somethin to do on a night with a couple of beers! Used a sheet sander and 120 to do the once over of the fairings. My mate has a compressor and airbrush so will probs sheet off my shed and spray em up in there. Would 2/3 coats of matyr black primer and couple coats of lacquer do the trick? Just gonna leave it matte and powder coat the wheels same gold as the forks/rearsets/shock etc...

 

Reckon that will do fine YT.

Despite Dave thinking you'd def have to compressor and sray gun it in a sealed off area, pappa jimbo went maverrick on us, pulled up a plastic bin and went to town on it al fresco....

I think even Dave (he's a fussy fcuker) was quite surprised it looked ok.

if you have the time and set up, go for it, if not - dont worry too much.

 

Does lacquer protect the paint from fuel spills?

 

Yeah YT, that should be fine. Just go easy with the grade of wet and dry paper, as I found out that it takes about 300 cans of primer to fill any scratches left behind by enthusiastic sanding. I made the excuse that they were an "aerodynamic aid" and that it was proven that a smooth finish wasn't as efficient as a rough one. Kind of like a golf ball. Truth is I lost the will to live after realising that using the recommended halfords red primer with red topcoat ended up with the bike looking as though it was done in a red primer full stop. Hence the recommendation to use a white primer with anything remotely light in colour for a top coat. Failure to do this will send you round the bend. Just as long as you get round the bend, unlike me, who didn't and watched the bike cartwheel beside me.

 

GaryB must have had the best looking quality finish at Oulton, better than many a road bike finish.

 

Dependent on the type of paint you are using, you need clear on it to seal the paint off, as most will be waterbased and will have no resistance to damage.
Again depends on what you are using to spray with, if its a rattle can then you will need to couple of coats, if its out of a gun, then if your good you can get a wet coat in one, the main thing is not going dry on that first or subsequent coats otherwise it will just look dull.

 

So if I am layering say 3 coats of primer, I do 1 coat then start the next before the first has completely dried?? Then allow primer to dry fully and do same with lacquer?? I might look into coloured lacquer has anyone tried these?? By coloured I mean when you look through the clear lacquer from an angle it gives of a coloured sparkle. Was thinking black with gold sparkly lacquer would look quite smart with the wheels and forks etc. Thoughts?

 

You think I need to do just primer or all three??

 

Yeah I've read on other google searches that you can do matt primer folloed by matt lacquer? Just don't leave the bike out in the sun all the time... Basically I don't have loads of cash to spend on paint, and could do with it being painted for cadwell on the 16th, painting will commence next monday so will 3 nights painting give me enough time to do all 3? or just primer?