spray paint rant/realization

tire

tire

New Member
i'm killing myself in prep and sanding for as good a job as possible for rattle cans, but i should have just spent an extra 140 and gotten a professional job by people i trust. i've wasted about two days sanding/priming/painting and i'm just now getting to the color coats. oh well, this cranbrook has already taught me a couple things should i do another motorized bicycle or motorcycle build, and i haven't even gotten the motor kit yet. sigh.

austin
 
the only up side is that i garage my bike so it'll rarely be in rain nor will it get sun damage, so maybe the paint will last a year, i hope.
 
i know the feeling. i've spent weeks painting bikes, and it's never perfect, or the gas eats it, or it just doesn't turn out the way i want.

there's always powdercoating ads in my craigslist for as low as 55 bucks. next bike, i'm definately gonna go that route.
 
well this might be the most anal and expensive spray painting ever, but it's starting to look goooood. btw 1500 grit or any sand paper is way too coarse for a color coat. i'm doing 2000 grit on the hard clearcoat layer and it's dulling it a bit, then a med/fine rubbing compound to polish... so far so good. btw i am high off of fumes, it's ok i don't use all of my brain most of the time anyways.

and this grubee kit is utter trash as far as looks/company pride... the tank has dings and the chain guard is crinkled... they are black and my bike (will be) black but the paint is so horrible i stripped all the grubee parts of their paint and am on a primer coat right now. geez, i hope the mechanics don't follow close behind the aesthetics.... disappointed so far, but i haven't installed anything.

i was thinking about using some sort of dampener for the motor and every clamp that could potentially rattle. i heard someone used rubber from an old tire... will that not heat up too much for the motor?
 
now the red won't wet sand right... it looks nice enough now, i'm done repainting... time to start assembly.
 
You asked about a dampener. I don't use rubber, but have found that thin leather works very well. Something like the leather from an old suede coat is about the right thickness. Find something at a used shop, even a ladies handbag. Cut the pieces to size and use contact cement not on the bike itself, but on the things you want to clamp to the bike. The engine mounts, for example. Put some of the glue on each surface (the mount and the cut piece of leather) separately then wait for them to get tacky. Now join the leather to the metal surface of the mount and press it tight. The leather compresses for a good solid mounting to the bike without wrecking your paint.
SB
 
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