Paint

[meadeam]

I'm thinking about having my bike painted. The first quote I got was 1200-1300 which includes repairing a couple small dents. Around 1000 for labor, and 200-300 for paint. I would remove the parts and deliver or ship them. I removed an sold the fairing, so it's just tank, front fender, and tail pieces.

Seems a bit high to me for what I want. The bike is worth 2000 on a good day, but I don't much care about that because I intend to ride the wheels off of it. Do you have any experience with getting a bike painted?

 

[Gary in NJ]

I have experience in both having a bike painted and painting one myself. I paid $1,000 for a show-bike quality paint job on my cafe racer. It is beautiful. Work included repairs to dents in the tank as well as sanding the release finish off of the fiberglass parts and building them back up. It took the shop a solid 3 months to do the work on a part-time basis. I think they trained a few of their new guys on the job with my parts too. Like I said, the result is perfect and it was money well spent. All I had to do was drop it off and pick it up (well...I had to design the paint scheme and write a check too).

On my last bike build I decided to do the painting myself. The learning curve was steep and frustrating. I ended up sanding off the first paint job so I could do it again. In the end I'm happy with the job...but it's no where near as nice as the cafe racer. Material cost me around $200 (I already had the HPLV gun and a 60 gal compressor).

I think $1,200 is a fair price for a pro shop. It's a lot of work. I too want to repaint my FZ in a Kenny Roberts tribute style. I will probably do it myself. But I will need to make a decent temporary paint booth. The last time I did it outside and the bees really liked the paint.

I don't see myself spending $1,000+ on a paint job on the FZ, especially when I know I can do a "good enough" job myself. But if you don't have the tools or the experience, then $1,200 is money well spent.

 

[meadeam]

Those bikes look fantastic. I would love to attempt the work myself, but for now I don't have anything close to the proper workspace and I want it done during the off season when I'm not riding. I am sure it would look great; I was hoping to find a bargain priced paint job similar to what one might put on a track bike, but for the extra couple hundred dollars I guess it would be nice to have a great looking bike. Maybe I'll add a stripe or two if I decide to do it.

The FZ is never going to be a classic, but I'll probably have it for the rest of its life at this point. I'll get other bikes, but there's no money to be recovered in the FZ so I may as well just enjoy it.

 

[Gary in NJ]

The FZ is never going to be a classic, but I'll probably have it for the rest of its life at this point. I'll get other bikes, but there's no money to be recovered in the FZ so I may as well just enjoy it.

Exactly.

 

[trepetti]

Those bikes look fantastic. I would love to attempt the work myself, but for now I don't have anything close to the proper workspace and I want it done during the off season when I'm not riding. I am sure it would look great; I was hoping to find a bargain priced paint job similar to what one might put on a track bike, but for the extra couple hundred dollars I guess it would be nice to have a great looking bike. Maybe I'll add a stripe or two if I decide to do it.

The FZ is never going to be a classic, but I'll probably have it for the rest of its life at this point. I'll get other bikes, but there's no money to be recovered in the FZ so I may as well just enjoy it.

Yep, there's those for show and those for go. The FZ is an amazing bike that does enough things well enough to always put a smile on your face. I was looking at a Ducati ST when I bought mine (8 years and 53k ,miles ago). I remember reading at the time that most Ducati owners name their bike. Some call it Duke, others Duck. But the most popular name at the time was 'Come on, start you bastard'. Bought the FZ and never looked back.

 

[Gary in NJ]

Here is the paint job I want to put on my FZ. It's all one color which makes it simple. The Yamaha stripes are vinyl graphics. Doing it on a part time basis here's what I'm thinking:

A week to strip the blue paint from the tank/fenders/side covers/seat cowl
3 days...maybe a week to prep and fill ( I do have a dime size dent in the tank from a prior owner)
A day to tape a clean
A day to prime and sand
A day to paint

All in all I think I could have this done in 3 weeks.

I contacted the guy that did the vinyl graphics...he wants $129. That seems reasonable since I wont have to do any design work.

 

[meadeam]

That looks cool. I've always liked that graphic.
I am thinking about having the fender, tail pieces, and possibly the hugger sprayed black (or Raven according to Yamaha) and doing the tank in this green which may be called "Forest Green". I probably wouldn't do the stripes, and would use the Tuning Fork emblems in place of the decal. My headlight bucket is currently somewhat concealed by a dark smoke Puig fly screen, so I'd probably just leave that matte black.

 

[Gary in NJ]

Yes, that is a nice modern look. Is your frame black? That would make the "raven" pieces even more striking.

 

[meadeam]

Yes, black frame. Modern Classic is a thing these days, but I've always preferred that style. Round headlight, exposed engine, minimal plastics. I like other styles as well, but I always come back to that basic UJM/Brit bike look. Unless it's a Ducati 916.

 

[meadeam]

well, after looking at all the options and weight cost I've decided on a much more budget option. I found an autobody shop who will do the dent repair and paint work for just over $600 for a basic paint and clear. I've already done the disassembly and I agreed to do the sanding prior to dropping off the parts. No need to pay a shop $55/hr to sand. I was set to drop 1300-1500 on a fully custom pain job, but kept choking on the cost as compared to the value of the bike. I'm sure I'll find some way to put the savings back into the bike anyway.

 

[Gary in NJ]

That's a great solution. I'm looking forward to photos. Not just of the finished bike, but the work in progress as well.

 

[meadeam]

Here's the fender after the first pass with 600. I sanded wet to keep the dust down, photo was taken after rinsing and drying. I left the missed areas to show the difference in sanded vs. unsanded.

The damaged area had touchup paint. If I close my eyes and run my finger of that area, it feels totally smooth. There is a crack I will repair in that area. I had thought that the plastic itself was injection molded red, but the damaged area shows layers and a black base. It's pretty easy to knock the gloss down, I hope I don't need to go any further than that in most areas. I have probably a couple more hours of sanding left just to get the gloss consistently sanded back.

 

[Gary in NJ]

Yep, almost ready for primer. What type of paint will the shop be using (single stage, base & clear)?

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I absolutely love the old school Yellow and Black scheme.

I painted two bikes (an old 900 Harley (opposite side shifter)) and a full dressed Yamaha 1100) in the early 1980's.

I used Emron (silver on the Harley, blue on the Yamaha). Base coat /clear coat, I don't believe was even around then... The Emron laid out well but stuck WELL to anything nearby (no booth, in the garage). Spray and done. Being industrial stuff, no buffing, polishing, etc.. Both came out pretty good, especially for that time.

And meadeam, your looking good...

 

[meadeam]

Yep, almost ready for primer. What type of paint will the shop be using (single stage, base & clear)?

we discussed single stage to keep the cost down a bit, but I may opt for a base & clear. I'm on the schedule for next month, I probably need to make a decision in the next week or so.

 

[Gary in NJ]

Here would be my calculus on paint selection;

If I’m spraying, I’d lean towards single stage. If I’m paying, I insist on base+clear.

Single stage is a lot less work, and good results are easy to come by. However, nothing beats the durability of clear coat. Especially surface scratch repair.

 

[meadeam]

It's been awhile... Got distracted by early season mountain biking but finally picked up my parts from the painter. Turned out great. The color is a charcoal metallic but it looks pretty light in the photos. I'm very pleased. Unfortunately I managed to lose my key (ironically the last time I had it was when I went to make a copy) so now I need a locksmith. Called a couple and they don't do bikes.

*Just noticed I didn't include the tail piece/grab handles in the photo, but it was painted as well

 

[trepetti]

View attachment 74158
It's been awhile... Got distracted by early season mountain biking but finally picked up my parts from the painter. Turned out great. The color is a charcoal metallic but it looks pretty light in the photos. I'm very pleased. Unfortunately I managed to lose my key (ironically the last time I had it was when I went to make a copy) so now I need a locksmith. Called a couple and they don't do bikes.

*Just noticed I didn't include the tail piece/grab handles in the photo, but it was painted as well

Nice look. Can't wait to see them mounted on the bike.

What was the cost of the job?

 

[Gary in NJ]

They do look good. Nice color choice too, it will work well on the FZ.

 

[meadeam]

Nice look. Can't wait to see them mounted on the bike.

What was the cost of the job?

$627 USD. I did the sanding which knocked a couple hours off of the job.