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Painting Your Own Track Fairings

9K views 20 replies 13 participants last post by  Jdreal21 
#1 · (Edited)
Anyone have any advice? ....painted your own fairings and they turned out alright?

I'd really like to get my fairings 'professionally' painted this time around, but I'm not having any luck with local painters in Raleigh. Nobody seems to understand what a "basic" paint job means. So, I guess I'm gonna have to do it myself.

The big catch is is I REALLY don't want to buy paint equipment, etc etc just to do this one time. Additionally, this is going to be a track day only bike -- I'm not racing, I'm not sponsored, I don't need a top step of the podium display quality paint job. One color with some highlights is all I'm looking for.

Anyone have any advice? On my ZX6R, I just used rattle can. I don't want to do that again :( Any help is appreciated. I'm also open to recommendations of paint shops if anyone knows of one within a few hours driving distance of Raleigh.


Edit --
If it matters: 2017 R6, (new) Armour Bodies fairings.
 
#14 ·
Wholly BeeGeezUzz, JD, do ever get any work done? I swear you must whore on the ethernet all day & nite. You are like a mix between Bill Nye, Oprah, & an Anonymous Infomercial Spokesperson. Where/how do you scour the recesses of the #www.-world to constantly provide cool/practical/little known products?

+1 once again. Just in time too, I unwittingly purchased an assortment of c/f goodies (chain guard, clutch cover, front fender & swingarm covers) from Carbon2Race. The finish wore off in about a week. Very disappointed in their products.

I've been looking around for an easy to use, reasonably priced product that wouldn't require removal from the swingarm & clutch cover since they are installed with an adhesive.
 
#4 ·
My last two "paint jobs" were all actually vinyl... Super minimal prep with the Armour bodies since they are already come with primer.
You might want to consider that option too.. It is less messy to deal with (but can be frustrating on its own right)... One thing though, vinyl is incredibly resilient to rock chips, bug guts, and oil splatter.

See below... Changed up my livery from 2017-2018 to 2019. Same bike, different years.
The Green/Black was done myself (having had ZERO prior experience with vinyl).
The Black was done by my sponsor.

Hope this helps.
 

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#5 ·
I definitely thought about vinyl and really like the idea better than paint, but it seemed like it would be just as expensive [or more] and harder to do than a shitty rattle can paint job.

Did you do it yourself? Do you have anyone you recommend?
 
#10 ·
The first time I did it, I did it myself. Total investment including the vinyl, heat gun, vinyl squeegee, and cutter - about $200 with lots of extra material left. I had ZERO experience..
It took a while to finish, but I did it during the winter in the off-season anyway, so I really was not rushing.

I don't know if it's more expensive than a shitty rattle can job, but I can tell you that a shitty rattle can job looks... Shitty.... But A sub-par vinyl job, even with some patchwork, will still look 10x better than a shitty rattle can job, and will hold up to rock chips easily.

But that's just me!


I also noticed that no body shop will provide a "basic job". They typically see their work with pride and joy, and a lot of them will not want their name attached to work that is "basic".
 
#6 ·
I've done three paint jobs now using water color paint (Auto Air Colors - not too expensive and easy to clean up) then a urethane clear coat finish, using a paint gun setup. There's some up front cost if you don't already have a gun or compressor, but the spray gun can be as little as about $30-40 for a cheap HVLP setup. All told each one cost me about $100-200 in materials not including the spray gun.

It holds up OK with the water color once clear coated, but there's some pretty significant fading after 5 years.

I've done it enough times so I'm pretty comfortable with the process but it is definitely NOT a professional job. You've got to use the best masking tape you can find and use one major tip - after applying the masking tape, shoot the underlying color one more time. That fills up any cracks under the tape and prevents the next color from bleeding under the masking tape. I only picked up on that one before the 3rd job and it made a HUGE difference - no signs of bleed-under anywhere.

I've never tried vinyl so can't comment on which one's easier or better.

My avatar is the latest paint job on a GSXR750
 
#7 ·
Painted the tank cover on my CBR600RR wit SprayMax 2K clear coat. I tried a 1 part but it came off. The 2 part was very tough and really glossy. IMO if you get a good even coat of color the 2K clear coat will look great. I was very impressed how it worked over the two spots I had touched up on the tank cover.

The side cases on my BMW are scuffed badly and Im contemplating using PlastiDip but maybe the 2 part paint with the matte clear is the way to go.
 
#8 ·
So I guess if you don't want to buy any paint equipment but don't want to do a rattle can job again, then the only other option is to have someone else paint it for you. You must've gone to the wrong people if they didn't understand what basic paint job is. You can try Andrew Swenson who is nationally known for the amazing job he does, but you'll probably be waiting months to get your fairings back. Or you can try Bart Defrancesco (DC Paintworx) but he's a bit far from you so you'd probably have to ship them.

But honestly, I would only use a pro if I wanted something more complex. If it's a basic paint job (just one color, or even two), I would do it myself. I've done a few so far and they turned out ok. Clear coat is always the tricky part though. I've used Spraymax 2K and found that to work the best but you can still fuck it up real quick if you're not careful. With new Armour Bodies fairings, the job should be a bit easier too.
 
#13 ·
I just painted my Hotbodies fairings recently with some OEM matched paint from a local paintshop ( in rattle cans).
Did the three stage process,
1. sand and primer.
2. sand again and base.
3. Clear.

bottom Fairing has some reactions which Im gonna paint again.
 

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#20 ·
As mentioned above it's all about prep. If your faring's are already primered that's great but get out the 400, 600 and even 1000 grit wet and dry and get some water in the mix to get that primer ready for paint. A good plain color rattle can will give you an ok track look (multiple thin layers are better than a single thick layer, which is guaranteed to drip, 1000 grit wet and dry in between coats).

I have the advantage of a good buddy giving me a compressor for Christmas a couple of years back so I got a couple of Husky HVLP guns in a box with all sorts of filters and attachments, but https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-Gravity-Feed-HVLP-Spray-Gun-H4840GHVSG/203497519 should work well.

If you go this route then you are into buying paint, I use https://www.colorrite.com but be prepared to bring your big wallet for the official color matched stuff (2004 Kawasaki Green was $100 for what seemed like a tiny tin, but it did my old bikes top fairing a treat after a little off road excursion and fiberglass repair). Not sure the pic does it justice as we had just wiped out a few thousand butterflies, which apparently are yellow on the inside.

I'll be doing a full hotbodies track fairing (top and bottom) and tail when it arrives in a few weeks in 2019 black. I have the advantage of living in San Diego so hot/dry air means I can spray outside (when the breeze is down) - freaks the neighbors out no end.
 

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