Look what I did!

[Tiffanator]

There she is, pic taken on my phone after coat #1 of 5 in satin black. This is a big step towards seeing my Vision back as a whole bike. I've been slowly repainting some parts such as the front forks, headlight bracket, center stand, horn and more, but was scared away by tackling the frame. So it sat in primer for months. Last weekend I finally made the move and put 2 coats of satin black paint on. Not the greatest paint job in the world, but not the prettiest frame in the world either. I'm going to sand it down a little to remove any orange peel then shoot another 2 coats, sand again then shoot a final coat. Hopefully it won't rain this weekend and I can get it all finished and start reassembling. The front end, engine and center stand are ready to go back on. I've decided to replace the headlight with a round one if I can find one cheap, then maybe a small fairing to cover the clocks. More ideas planned and tons of stuff flying around in my head at the moment, but not sure if I want to spend the money to customize the bike the way I want to.

[joevacc]

Look what I did!

You grew a vision frame???

I thought they grew out if the ground...  Like in all the junk yards I have been to!!!

:D  ;D 8)

[Tiffanator]

Silly boy... don't you know that... unlike the money that goes into them.... Visions grow on trees.  ;D

[YellowJacket!]

Not bad....not bad at all.  ;D

David

[Night Vision]

you bagged and skinned a Vision! atta Girl  :D

I had a carcass hanging from the ceiling for a bit.... turned into a RedSkunk when I got done.

now you get to know your Vision better than most people know their Visions

good luck!

[YellowJacket!]

Is that the mytical VisionZilla?

David

[QBS]

For inspiration, check out Zores' V fitted with a Ducati monster headlight.  Looks really most excellent!

[Rick G]

I have to hand it to you !!  I can't bring myself to tear it all the way down , I'd hate to be with out it for so long . I only have so many riding days left and i don't want to waste any of them!! ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)

[YellowJacket!]

Tiff is one up on me.  I tore mine down to the frame...all but the center stand...when I did my rebuild.

David

[Tiffanator]

you bagged and skinned a Vision! atta Girl  :D

I had a carcass hanging from the ceiling for a bit.... turned into a RedSkunk when I got done.

now you get to know your Vision better than most people know their Visions

good luck!

Woo... yeah baby... was a hard one to bag, but I got her. Still not sure on the final plastics color for this one. I've been thinking yellow and blue maybe.

The frame looked horrible and it had to be stripped to the frame and cleaned. At least 1/4" of road gunk/grease/oil was built up around the center stand mount. I had to soak it with Greased Lightening, scrub it with a brass brush and spray with a pressure washer to get it clean. Its ok for me to be without cause I have another bike, and the Vision is a project anyway, not a rider right now.
QBS... Zore's bike is the one that made me want to put a round headlight on. It just updates the look of the bike so much. I was cruising ebay last night and think I can pick one up for not much money. The one I was looking at was actually off a monster.
Dave... centerstand will actually be one of the first parts to go back on. That and the front wheel/handlebar assembly are ready to be put back as soon as the frame is done. Then the engine. I haven't touched the rear wheel yet, that is next.
We sanded the frame with 800 grit last night and took off most of the orange peel. Hoping to spray another coat tonight and maybe the rain will hold off and I can get a coat on tomorrow too.

[Tiger]

 8) Hey, your still around girl, good for you 8) Nice work going on there. Look forward to seeing the finished article... 8)

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

[h2olawyer]

Glad this project is going more smoothly than your fuel tank saga!  The frame looks great.  You've made me want to tear Tractor entirely apart & do a total restoration.  Just might have to do that.   8)

H₂O

[Rick G]

Tiff most spray can paint is not gas resistant , if any gas or grease gets on it it will destroy the paint. My suggestion is to sprinkle a small amount of gas on the paint and see what happens , before you go further.
Refrigerator epoxy spray paint  is very gas resistant and ACE hardware black lacquer is . other than those two I can't find  any that are.

[Night Vision]

when I did my frame, I used POR paint (not the tank sealer). The POR paint needs to be top coated because it's not UV resistant (neither is the tank sealer so don't let the sun in your tank too often)

anywaze... I used Krylon Rust Tough enamel semi flat black as the top coat on the frame.

It seems to be plenty gas resistant as I had many a dribble pulling the gas line, draining the carbs, uncapping the jets etc. when I was rejetting.

not sure how a Krylon Rust Tough gloss would hold up, but the flat or semi flat is working fine for me.

I'd even try it on someone else's tank  ;)

[YellowJacket!]

LOL....just had a funny thought.  It's kinda sad to see a Vison strung up and gutted like that...but knowing that its for a good cause (restoration), I'm good with that.  After going to a local hangout the other night....unbeknownst to me that it was Bike Night...and I was in my cage.  The place was infiltrated by high dollar super customized Harleys and the guys with the attitudes to go along with it. (posers...most of them)
Would have been much more funny/appropriate to have seen a "Hog" strung up and "gutted" in those trees.  ;D

David

[h2olawyer]

Here's your gutted hog!

So got back last night from Carmel, CA.  First night we were doing a night time visibility study to see how far the lights on our Vmax will illuminate the road and dead pig.




The next day was supposed to be some maneuvering around some fixed points with the bike to see what the bike is capable of but Carmel traffic had other plans and cut some of our testing short.  The boss sent us back down to the scene 10 mins before we were to board on our plane to come back to Denver.  So, another rental car and 4 hours later we went back to the scene and outfitted the bike with the Vbox recording system.


I was able to make the 5 feet swerve maneuver about 30 feet from a fixed point at 55mph so the vmax actually has some decent abilities. So, I guess that task is complete...

Next week I am supposed to rent a new Malibu, remove the front sway bar, and install a new set of tires so that H20's friend Jim can spin this thing out at speed.  Not sure if I'll be in the car or not but it should be fun.

H₂O

[Tiffanator]

Rick... this was sprayed with Rustoleum Professional paint, the kinda that comes in a gallon can and I thinnned it and sprayed it with a gun. I'm really hoping for gas proof here, but not too sure. I figured since people are painting their cars with this stuff it must be somewhat resistant. You do bring up a good point though. I will try that tonight, hopefully with positive results.
H2O, I hope this is going more smoothly than the gas tank project. So far it has. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and mouth shut so I don't jinx it.
Tiger... good to still be around. I've been pootling along with little projects on the bike, knowing that the daunting task of spraying the frame was eventually going to have to be faced.
NV... Por paint is a good idea and I had actually looked into that when I was getting the POR for my tank. However I felt it kinda lost purpose if I would have to top coat it with something else.
YJ... what is even more sad is seeing the rest of the Vision in a big plastic bin in my workshop, where its been for quite some time. But I do know its for a good cause and I think I'm getting to the top of the hill by getting the frame finished so I can start building it back up. It gets discouraging trying to get to that point, but when the bike starts coming back together it will be good.
In other news... I made contact last night with an old friend whose father just happens to be a polymer scientist who created a super hard, super durable paint used by the department of defense at the pentagon... and she's going to ask if he's ever dabbled in automotive paint and if he can get me some. I told her if he has done any work or wants to do any work with 2 stage auto paints I would glady guinea pig for him. I'm going to learn auto body painting soon, the Z and the Vision need paint.  8)

[YellowJacket!]

YJ... what is even more sad is seeing the rest of the Vision in a big plastic bin in my workshop, where its been for quite some time. But I do know its for a good cause and I think I'm getting to the top of the hill by getting the frame finished so I can start building it back up. It gets discouraging trying to get to that point, but when the bike starts coming back together it will be good.

If you need some inspiration...or need to be scared, I can send you some of the pics I took during my restoration project and the neat little piles of parts that took up most of my two car garage.  ;D

David

[Rick G]

Tiff, no paint it gas proof , all paints will suffer some degradation over time. Dulling of the finish and  staining  are a few of the problems. However most spray can paints will litterally wash off or wrinkle up and debond.  I hope your paint is not one of those. The EPA has been messing with paint companies since the late 80's And their products reflect that.

[Tiffanator]

Dave... oh its scary enough every time I walk into my shop and see the big storage bin with hoses and cables sticking out where 90% of the vision parts are stored.  :o However, I know all will be ok, cause I labeled everything well when it came off the bike and have photos to back it up... I hope.   :-\

Rick... I started to figure as much the more research I did. I'm examining my options now... lay down the cash and get a decent 2 stage automotive black paint for the frame, lay down the cash and have the frame powder coated, lay down the cash and have the frame painted by a shop, or find an epoxy paint and try that. I think my dad has an epoxy marine topcoat paint that I will spray on a test panel and see how it works. I also have the option of some POR15 2 part coatings, like the rust preventative paint and chassis black for 80 bucks. Not too bad. I have emailed a local powder coater for a price to have the frame powder coated. We'll see. I know that I could probably get it painted by my friend who owns a body shop, but that would run 200-300 bucks with the odd shape and complexity of the frame. Its a pain to get the paint on all those little parts.

At least I know a fast and easy way to strip the paint.. well ventilated area, respirator (for you Dave), gas soaked rag.  ;D
In the meantime I think I'll finish sanding down the plastics to get all the old paint off. I'm almost done stripping the paint, just have to sand it with a finer grit to start smoothing it out.