Painting advice

[RedexRobB]

Now that my exams are over im planning to get the ZXR painted and on the road!

Now, ive got no problems painting the fairings themselves, they just need rubbing down then painting. What my problem is, is with the tank, i stripped it down last summer and is bare metal, now can i just spray the primer straight on then spray matt black on top of that?

Im planning to matt black the bike for now just to get it on the road and get about on it this summer

cheers

RobB

[Cloud Wolf]

thats what i did and seems to have worked fine for me. Only thing is i finished rubbing mine down, cleaned it and sprayed with primer instantly, if you're worried about it rusting and then peeling/flaking then use rust treatment under the primer i believe. hope this helps

[RedexRobB]

yeah ill give the bare metal a rub down with some emery cloth or fine glass paper then prime right away. Thing is i got some etch primer with a paint kit that i bought to paint the ZXR with years ago and i was told its for painting on bare metal so wondered if primer straight onto the tank was fine or not.

[masterofinsanity]

think you only need etching primer on galvanised finishes?don't do it matt black mate, use that green!

[zimm]

im with baz on this mate ..

matt black looks ace the day you do it ...

like this ..



then goes a bit rubbish a month or so later ..

like this ..



part of the problem being that you cant polish it, or it goes weird .. so its just unprotected paint.

I sprayed my tank (not the balck one, that was a quick/bodge job) from keyed bare metal without any primer and it still looks great a year later .. but that was 2-pack ..

[RedexRobB]

I need to pay someone to do that green Baz, and i think it may be past its best now its been sat on the shelf for nearly three years, over three years in fact! ive just remembered my other plan! How difficult is it to spray metallic paint with cans?

I think yours looks really nice zimm.

decisions decision

[Jamz]

im with baz on this mate ..

matt black looks ace the day you do it ...

like this ..



then goes a bit rubbish a month or so later ..

like this ..



part of the problem being that you cant polish it, or it goes weird .. so its just unprotected paint.

I sprayed my tank (not the balck one, that was a quick/bodge job) from keyed bare metal without any primer and it still looks great a year later .. but that was 2-pack ..

Did you laquer it after?

I didn't, and mine was as good as new even through the winter. The only thing I found was petrol splashes left a big greasy stain... but the reason I didn't laquer it was so I could just spray over any stuff like that!

[deviant]

etch primer I think is just for doing non-ferrous metals (ie ally) where regular primer won't stick properly.

iirc you are talking about just doing a single colour rattle can job so you can actually ride the thing. I'd get down to your local halfords, pick up the colour you want, then read the back of the can, which will tell you what primer to use - probably bog standard grey rattle can primer.

[RedexRobB]

My god im just so bloody fickle!

One minute i decide to matt black with rattle cans, next im thinking no, spray it metallic green myself and then finally thinking that i should up the few hundred quid to get it done properly!

But yes your right i just want it on the road, in which case matt black will be fine. Im not too worried if it goes funny like zimm said it might, but exactly as Jamz put it if you dont primer over it you can take the panels off and give yaself a whole new paint job in one day!

at the end of the day it is only a temporary paint job until i can afford to get the bodywork done properly, so if it doesnt look that great matt blacked, it will look beter than it does now all mix and matched and even better when i properly have the money.

[zimm]

if its as per your sig mate, just matt black the fairing lowers and add a few decals .. i think that would look ace.

[zimm]

Did you laquer it after?

I didn't, and mine was as good as new even through the winter. The only thing I found was petrol splashes left a big greasy stain... but the reason I didn't laquer it was so I could just spray over any stuff like that!

no i didnt lacquer it afterwards, and it was halfords acrylic matt black.. it was a quick job to tidy up some badly scarred panels so the bike didnt look a mess at a track-day.. so i wasnt really bothered how long it lasted.

[Scott221]

Gem will back me up on this......



Green kawasaki's are faster.

[RedexRobB]

It will be green eventually, just not kwak green im afraid.

[zxr_oli]

Base the paint scheme around this

[RedexRobB]

why the hell would i base it round what looks like someones arehole?