Painting the rear tail piece, how?

[Hug0]

The tank is PORed and I've finally fixed a crack in the sidecover for the battery. So it's time to paint the bike this week!
I've seen some vision-people painting their rear tail piece, and I've seen in some thread that one stated that it was easy and the plastic was not a problem. Think I threw away an e-mail to that guy but with no answer. So now I ask here:

Has anyone here done it, and what was needed in preparations to give the paint a good grip on that plastic?

Greetings from a snowy Sweden
Christian

[Tiger]

:) Preparation is everything to end with a nice, long lasting finish. All part's to be painted need to be clean and smooth, otherwise you may find the paint "Hi-lights" an imperfection rather than hides it.
As for the tail piece, like all plastic, you will need a proper flexible undercoat. Take the tail piece to your paint supplier and the should be able to advise you on the correct product(s)...Although I can paint...I cheated :o When I had "The Mistress" re-painted in the custom "Pearl Orange" I took the part's to a buddy with a paint shop and paid him to do the necessary prep' and re-spray ;D :D :D... ;) Best $300.00 I've spent ;D :D :D... 8) I have since found a good shop in Toronto who loves doing bike's and does real good work...He will be doing "The Canadian"... 8)

                  8).......TIGER....... 8)

[YellowJacket!]

Hi Hugo,

I just painted mine last fall and it turned out pretty good.  I started by sanding it realy good to get the scratches out and give the primer a good surface to hold to.  Next I used some body filler to fil in a couple deep scratches.  When the body filler was completely dry, I sanded again to even up the texture.  After sanding, I sprayed a couple coats of primer and lightly sanded.
After the primer had ample time to dry I pyt on a few coats of the same gloss black that I used on my Shark Fairing.  Once all the paint was dry I finished it off with a layer of clear coat.  It looks pretty good. ;D

David

[Hug0]

Thanks for your answers guys :)
It was as I had hoped for, that nothing magical was needed, just some time and work. Will take that part with me when I buy the spraypaint and see what the shop tells me to do/what products I need!

Pictures of finished bike will come!

[reckon]

technically you need an adhesion promoter, and an epoxy sealer/primer to use as "tie coats", before topcoating with either a polyurethane base/clear system (HIGHLY reccomended) or you can use rattlecan paints if you don't have access to a compressor.

BULLDOG is my "PAP" (plastic adhesion promoter) of choice, I like the spray cans for this one

I use this stuff for the sealer:  http://www.southernpolyurethanes.com/homepage.htm (click product lines, scroll down to epoxy primer)
VERY HIGH QUALITY paints developed BY A PAINTER, not a huge paint corporation, and they WORK, plus his phone tech support is beyond description, he'll answer on a sunday night!!

here's what I do: 1st: WASH THE PIECE TO BE PAINTED WITH HOT WATER AND A DEGREASER DETERGENT, or you will just sand the wax, silicone, and road grime into the plastic, and then wonder why it all peels off in a year.
Then sand the piece with 320-400 grit till it's nice and dull all over, then wash it again, or use a prep solvent (wax and grease remover), now shoot the bulldog, follow the directions on the packaging to the letter, two nice even coats, about 15 minutes between coats.  now I give it about an hour to dry, and then shoot the epoxy sealer, two nice coats, again about 15 minutes between coats. now with the SPI epoxy, you have about 4 or 5 days where you can paint directly over the top of the epoxy, without sanding again! (huge time saver) if you wait longer than that, it's just a light scuff with a red scotch pad, and paint.

after the bulldog step, you can substitute any paint of your choice, it's just that with rattlecan stuff, the nice looks are short lived.

here are some links for motorcycle paints in rattle cans  (the U-POL clearcoat is the best ratlecan  stuffI have ever seen, I know of a U-pol cleared paint job that has lasted over 5 years now and still looks awesome))

http://www.cyclecolor.com/

http://www.color-rite.com/

http://www.levineautoparts.com/upclear1uvre.html

http://www.u-pol.com/   (select language, then products, then aerosols, they also make adhesion promoter and a sealer, and even custom aerosols)


this is sound advice from a painter with over 25 years experience.  here's some stuff I have painted:  http://photos.yahoo.com/jab3rw0x


let me know if you have any specific questions, I'll be happy to help

[kiawrench]

i thinking of just doing it the easy way myself-- just strip off all that needs painted, mail it all to reckon with a paint scheme written down,,, then will sell my neighbors to raise money to pay my bill. am sure the gypsies will pay for one or five of them .  lmao


   on a real note-- as long as i had tank off for por, once upon a time,,, i just cleaned ,sanded and washed the tail piece, and dipped it in the por that wasnt used in the tank. once dry, i sanded it lightly and then painted it to match bike .   it has lasted,,, but it isnt the right way .

[Hug0]

Thanks reckon for your answer!
One problem for me, living in Sweden, is that I rarely have the possibility to find the same products that you guys in US have.
But, I went to the shop that mixes auto-paint on spraycans if you give them a color-code, and asked them what to do with a plastic piece like this one. One guy that seemed very experienced in painting gave me a spraycan with a solution that was like water, he said that I should clean all parts and spray that on, and leave it for the night. And then I could spraypaint that piece like the other ones that had been painted before. The solution would penetrate the plastic and give the coming layers of paint a good grip.

I've have painted the primer on all parts now, and in one hour I will go down to the garage and paint with the black paint. After that, a few layers of clearcoating with hardener. I have no camera at home right now but will post pictures in the next weekend if everything is done by then!

Looked at the parts on your website that you've painted, reckon, many of those are so beatiful. Wish I had your skills in this. But, I'm satisfied if my bike looks shiny after this :)

[Sorry for bad english here...]

[h2olawyer]

HugO -

Your english is better than many of us who use it as our primary language!

Surprised you can find anyplace warm enough in Sweden to paint right now.   ;D  My garage here in Colorado is staying in the low 40s (F).  Need another 20 degrees or so before I can get to painting my project Vision.

Look forward to seeing your successful results!  Good luck.

H₂O

[Hug0]

HugO -

Your english is better than many of us who use it as our primary language!

Surprised you can find anyplace warm enough in Sweden to paint right now.   ;D  My garage here in Colorado is staying in the low 40s (F).  Need another 20 degrees or so before I can get to painting my project Vision.

Look forward to seeing your successful results!  Good luck.

H₂O

Haha, thanks h2olawyer :)
Well, it's a bit cold outside but I have the luxury of being young and living at my parents house with a heated garage. And while they're on vacation, the garage is empty, so I rush down with everything that needs new paint.

I have now sprayed the black paint on, and all parts looks really good. Except for that none of them shine.
It makes me a bit worried, that the gloss is nonexistent. Or well, some parts of the tank shine and some don't. I talked with the shop that sold the spraycans and they recommended me to use a paint with "no shine" (there are good swedish words for this but I don't know any in english) since I would use clearcoat on all parts after.

So, hopefully the clearcoat will save the situation. Will let everything settle to tomorrow night and then attack all parts with the clearcoat and hope for the best!

[h2olawyer]

Many 2 part paint systems look dull after the color coat.  The clearcoat is what gives it the shine.  The normal english word for dull surface when used in this situation is "matte" finish.  (pronounced like "mat")  Actually, matte is from the French, I believe.

My garage has a heat vent but the garage door is opened & closed so often, it just stays cool in there.  Never actually freezes but never really warms up in the winter, either.  By mid to late March, the outside air temperatures should get warm enough here to do some painting.  I have a well protected area on the east side off my house where I can use the compressor & spray gun without worrying the wind will pick up dust & deposit it on the paint.  I do have to worry about bugs but they aren't very common in March or April.

H₂O

[reckon]

HugO -

Your english is better than many of us who use it as our primary language!

Surprised you can find anyplace warm enough in Sweden to paint right now.   ;D  My garage here in Colorado is staying in the low 40s (F).  Need another 20 degrees or so before I can get to painting my project Vision.

Look forward to seeing your successful results!  Good luck.

H₂O

Haha, thanks h2olawyer :)
Well, it's a bit cold outside but I have the luxury of being young and living at my parents house with a heated garage. And while they're on vacation, the garage is empty, so I rush down with everything that needs new paint.

I have now sprayed the black paint on, and all parts looks really good. Except for that none of them shine.
It makes me a bit worried, that the gloss is nonexistent. Or well, some parts of the tank shine and some don't. I talked with the shop that sold the spraycans and they recommended me to use a paint with "no shine" (there are good swedish words for this but I don't know any in english) since I would use clearcoat on all parts after.

So, hopefully the clearcoat will save the situation. Will let everything settle to tomorrow night and then attack all parts with the clearcoat and hope for the best!

yes, the black basecoat will dry sort of dull looking, and thats supposed to do that, that dull look, is what the next coat of clear binds to.  when you shoot a basecoat you shoot for "hiding", or so you can't see whats underneath the basecoat, and the color is even, then stop, wait overnight, and then shoot the clearcoat the following day.

watch the "flash times" (drying time between coats) with urethane type clearcoats when it's cool, or cold , and when it's cool or cold (below 65F degrees) , use the "string method" to determine when to shoot the next coat of clear, rather than strictly by time alone: when you shoot the clearcoat, shoot some on a piece of masking tape, thats stuck somewhere near the bike (or on the bike, gas cap?), shoot it EXACTLY like you are shooting the bike, now as it starts drying, it will be liquid at first, if you touch your gloved finger to the masking tape and pull it away, it will pull away clean, with some clear on your finger, and a big goober left on the masking tape, now wait five minutes, and touch the masking again (in a different spot). now you should see tiny "strings" when you pull your finger off of the masking.
now wait another ten minutes (thats fifteen minutes, so far) and your finger should pull away sticky, but no longer "string".  when it no longer is stringing, it's ready for the next coat of clear
also if your particular clearcoat needs reducer (thinner for urethanes) MAKE SURE you use the PROPER TEMP RANGE, for your shop. they usually come in slow for when it's hot out: 75F-95F medium, for when it's between 65F-75F, and fast for when it's below 65F.  this is critical because clearcoat is shot quite thick, and if it doesn't flash off (start evaporating) fast enough, it can run, or sag, and you can also get whats known as "die back", when the clearcoat looks sort of hazy and dull after drying overnight, if it evaporates too fast, you can have adhesion problems, or it will be orange peeled beyond description.
if your clear comes with just hardener, and needs no reducer, then use the string method all the time, to determine when to shoot the next coat, no mater what the temperature is

also the U-POL paints are available in europe, including sweden, and they make a fantastic "euro clear" (thick, ridiculously glossy, very sexy stuff), I HIGHLY recommend anything that company makes, rattlecan, or professional paints.

gimme a few months,  and all you guys will be very good hobby painters  :D