HOW TO: Paint your bike

This is a slightly dented CBR 954 tank that had been poorly painted in the past. Since it was so messed up I decided to write a how to on how you can get an awesome paint job done on your entire bike following the How to I wrote here.

It's a rattle can job with Duplicolor Perfect Match... it's basically high quality auto paint pro's spray with their fancy HVLP guns but loaded in 8oz aerosol cans with nice spray nozzles that lay paint down evenly. 

I use the rattle can to show how easy it can be to paint well with minimal resources, room, and supplies. 

-Matt Behning
(Stillwater, MN)

So here's the tank... basically painted with thick outdoor rustolium crap.

 Probably the worst paint job ever. Therefore it needs to be stripped off instead of sanded down... only do this on metal parts. never plastic or fiber glass etc.

 Put the paint stripper on thick

 A paint scrapper like this seems to work the best

 It may take a few applications of stripper

 Used a wire wheel on the detailed areas

 A second coating (of three)

 So that's all the crap that came off with the second treatment

 Not once, Not Twice, But Three times I had to strip the paint off.

 After the 3rd strip you can sand with 80 grit. Don't sand in circles. Sand side to side and up and down.

 After an hour or so of sanding I was done sanding and ready for thin application of bondo.

 For big dents you need bondo (but don't do more than 1/8" thick) otherwise for less than 1/8" you can use glazing putty. Wipe it off with alcohol first.

 Put a marble size dab of putty on the plastic blade and drag it over the low spot

 Make sure to make as few passes as possible because it drys fast and will start to clump

 Use a block and I like 180 grit to sand down each application. the putty drys/cures in 10 minutes or so.

 Sand with the grade of the flat area... as flat as possible.

 The dark areas are low spots. Use multiple series of thin coats rather than caking it on. Wipe with alcohol between applications.

 Use a metal putty knife to clean off the applicator after each run

 These spots took 6 series of putty and block sanding to get it right. Very thin coats dry fast so the work doesn't have to stop if you are alternating between sites.

 Filler primer can take care of scratches

after five hours of work the gas tank is ready for primer.

 Use filler/spot primer not sand-able primer here because it lays on more thick.

 Lay the first coat on thin after wiping it down with alcohol first.

 As you can see the first coat is so thin you can see through it.

 After you get a few coats you're ready to sand with 400 grit. Only use as much as you need. Some areas need more than others.

 I like 400 because it cuts fast dry yet doesn't leave deep scratches

 These block sanders are nice. the holes help prevent clogging of the sand paper

 They're Norton brand you can get them at any car paint supplier

 Going to the metal a little is okay

All the sand paper used to sand just the first coat of primer

This amount of sand paper is about one big sheet's worth

Ready for more primer now. Good idea to tape off the gas cap;)

I used alternating coats of red and gray in order to see the progress of sanding

Before painting clean the tank with a clean cloth damp with alcohol

Primer the entire tank with brown sandable to provide a base reference when sanding the gray that'll go over the top of this layer.

When you hit the colored primer under you know you have gone far enough

Finish building up the areas that need primer work 

Use the sanding methods described earlier to prepare the tank for a final coat of primer.

For the best results stick with the same brand paint.

Got the gray duplicolor primer on since my paint and clear is duplicolor too.

sand the entire tank with the brand name primer (not that plastikote is bad)

After sanding with 600 and wiping it down

Dupli-Color perfect match

If you get a run in the pain it's an easy fix by wet sanding with 1,000 grit.

The paint spatter sanded out... if it wasn't for that you can go right to clear coat

I put 5 layers of Dupli-color perfect match clear coat on the gas tank

Lots of painters call this done... not me.

But the "egg shell" texture/look of the clear coat is hideous!

Use 1,000 then 2,000 grit wet sanding

before and during wet sanding

Here's a close up on the clear coat that needs the entire tank to look like this little area

Turtle wax. Coarse, medium, and final stage polish

First stage of rubbing compound is finished

Close up after the first stage of heavy compound finished

first stage and second stage of polishing the clear coat

After the 3rd stage of hand buffing the clear coat 

CBR 954 gas tank final 

Amazing rattle can job

Hope this thread helped. Be sure to check out my article on how to paint graphics.

-Matt Behning
(Stillwater, MN)