DIY Motorcycle Painting: From How-to to Professional Costs! Includes Tips for Flawless Spray Can Results

Spraying water around the area before painting can prevent dust and sand from being kicked up from the ground, which also helps protect the painted surface. So, if you're painting outdoors, it's a good idea to spray water around beforehand.

If you remove motorcycle parts and paint indoors, be sure to ventilate well to avoid inhaling too much thinner.

Wearing a painting mask with an activated carbon filter is highly recommended, as it can significantly prevent thinner from entering your body.

Sand, sand, sand! You can't overdo it.

It's no exaggeration to say that the quality of a paint job is determined by the surface preparation.

If there are unevennesses in the base, no matter how perfectly the paint is applied, those unevennesses will remain.

If you want a smooth, slick finish, be sure to sand thoroughly.

It's just right if you feel like you're overdoing it.

Also, thoroughly sanding the base coat will help the paint adhere better, and if you're applying a primer, it will be less likely to peel off.

Degreasing must be thorough!

Degreasing (removing oil and grease) is also an important step.

If grease remains on the surface to be painted, the paint will sit on top of the grease and won't adhere properly.

As a result, the paint finish may be uneven or peel off, so like sanding, thorough degreasing is essential.

For degreasing plastic parts, washing with neutral detergent is common, while for metal parts, silicon-off is typically used.

A word of caution: do not touch the degreased surface with bare hands.

Even if you've degreased it properly, touching it will transfer oils from your hands.

Once degreasing is done, do not touch it with bare hands at all.

Allow plenty of time between coats for drying.

When applying multiple coats of paint, leave as much time as possible between coats and ensure each coat is thoroughly dry before applying the next.

Even with the same paint, if there are differences in curing time, cracks are more likely to appear, and there's a high possibility you'll have to redo the paint job.

For crackle finishes on motorcycles or guitars, different paints with varying curing times are intentionally applied to create cracks.

If you apply a new coat before the undercoat is dry, cracks are more likely to appear due to the difference in curing times. Therefore, allow plenty of drying time and ensure it's thoroughly dry before moving on to the next step.

Tips for Spray Can Painting

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Here are some quick tips about spray cans.

Warm the can in lukewarm water before use.

By warming a spray can in lukewarm water (20 to 30 degrees Celsius) for about 10 minutes before use, the paint particles become finer and less prone to dripping.

If the water is too hot, the gas inside can heat up and expand, risking explosion, so be sure to only warm it slightly.

Painting is determined by surface preparation.

It's no exaggeration to say that the quality of a paint job is determined by the surface preparation, so make sure to thoroughly prepare the surface before painting.

If there are unevennesses, simply spraying a thicker layer of paint on those areas will not eliminate them.

To avoid this, thoroughly prepare the surface before painting.

Vent the gas completely before disposal.

It's better not to use up a spray can completely due to internal gas pressure, but for disposal, it's essential to fully vent the gas.

Accidents have occurred where cans explode during disposal or collection trucks catch fire due to explosions when gas remains inside. Therefore, always ensure the gas is completely vented before disposing of cans.

There was a time when puncturing cans after venting the gas was mandatory for disposal, but because many incidents of explosions occurred during this process, some municipalities now allow disposal without puncturing.

When disposing of cans, follow your local municipality's rules and dispose of them correctly.

What tools are needed for DIY motorcycle painting?

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The main tools required for DIY motorcycle painting are as follows:

• Sander, wet sandpaper
• Paint stripper, scraper for paint removal
• Neutral detergent or silicone-off for degreasing
• Primer (for base coating)
• Urethane paint
• Clear coat (urethane clear)

For wet sandpaper, it's good to have a range from #200 to #1500 (lower numbers indicate coarser grit).

Paint stripper is used to remove paint and is not necessary if you are applying a new paint job.

If even a small amount of paint stripper remains, the paint applied on top will quickly peel off, so it must be thoroughly removed after use.

Primer acts as a bridge between the paint and the substrate (the item being painted), making the paint less likely to peel and improving paint adhesion, so apply it thoroughly.

Since primers often come in somewhat dark colors, especially when aiming for a bright finish like white, it's effective to first spray silver after the primer, and then layer the desired color like white on top for a beautiful finish.

How to DIY Paint Your Motorcycle

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We'll explain the steps involved in painting your motorcycle yourself.

The main steps are:

1. Surface preparation (including paint stripper use)
2. Sanding
3. Degreasing
4. Primer
5. Sanding
6. Painting
7. Finishing

This is the general flow of painting.

Let's look at each item in detail.

1. Surface Preparation (including paint stripper use)

When painting metal parts like gas tanks, if they have OEM paint, the process begins with stripping the paint using a stripper.

If you're applying new paint, start from step 2, sanding.

Apply paint stripper to the area you want to strip, leave it for a while until the paint surface lifts, then remove it with a scraper.

You can also use a large cutter to remove old paint, but be careful not to scratch the base material with the blade.

If the scratches are deep, sanding alone may not be enough, and you might need to fill the grooves with putty.

This will add extra steps, time, and effort, so try to use it only to remove the paint.

2. Sanding

Prepare the surface by sanding it with #1000 wet sandpaper.

At this stage, there's no need to sand until the surface is perfectly smooth; rather, the goal is to lightly scuff it.

This will be followed by degreasing and priming, but lightly scuffing the surface (known as "keying") improves the adhesion of the primer.

As a precaution, scratches deep enough to create grooves may not disappear even after applying primer, so aim to create light, overall shallow scratches.

3. Degreasing

Next, thoroughly degrease and completely wash off any dust produced during sanding.

If dust from sanding remains after degreasing, it can cause powdery unevenness in the paint or make the paint peel easily, so wash it off thoroughly.

4. Primer

Once degreasing and cleaning are complete, apply the primer.

Applying primer is an important step that improves paint adhesion, makes it less likely to peel, and affects the finish and durability.

Primer takes a full day or more to dry, so allow it to dry thoroughly after application.

5. Sanding

Once the primer is thoroughly dry, smooth the surface with #1500 wet sandpaper and key the surface.

Keying the surface will improve paint adhesion for the subsequent steps, so do it carefully.

6. Painting

After the primer is keyed, you can start painting.

For darker colors, you can directly spray the desired color over the primer, but for white, yellow, or other bright colors where you want a more vivid hue, it's best to spray silver first.

Attempting to apply all the paint at once can cause drips, so gradually layer the paint, moving with a consistent rhythm, to achieve the desired color.

For a single color, just ensure even coverage. If using multiple colors for a design, meticulously mask off areas before painting.

Marble painting can also be done relatively easily with DIY, but it requires a larger quantity of specialized candy colors.

7. Finishing

Once the paint is dry, apply urethane clear coat to finish.

The more layers of clear coat you apply, the glossier it will become, but just like painting, trying to apply too much at once can cause drips, so build it up gradually.

Also, if you plan to apply stickers, put them on before spraying the clear coat. This will coat them with the clear coat and make them less likely to peel off.

Once you spray clear coat over stickers, you won't be able to reposition them, so it's a good idea to choose stickers that are resistant to discoloration from UV rays to prevent fading.

How to Request Motorcycle Painting from a Shop or Professional, and Average Costs

Source: https://www.pakutaso.com/20201006296post-25059.html

In addition to DIY motorcycle painting at home, there's also the option of hiring a professional.

Here, we'll explain how to request motorcycle painting from a professional and provide average costs, so if you're a bit hesitant about painting it yourself, please consider this option.

How to request motorcycle painting?

To request motorcycle painting, it's best to find a shop in your area that offers motorcycle painting services. However, unlike cars, the number of businesses that paint motorcycles is very small nationwide.

If there's no shop near you that paints motorcycles, some businesses accept requests nationwide.

This option is slightly more difficult as it requires removing and shipping the parts to be painted, and also accounts for shipping time in both directions.

Average cost of motorcycle painting

The average cost for professional motorcycle painting, for a single color, is approximately:

• Tank: around 20,000 yen
• Tail cowl: around 15,000 yen
• Side cover: around 12,000 yen
• Front cowl: around 23,000 yen
• Fender: around 8,000 yen

For a full paint job on a naked bike, the average cost is around 100,000 yen, and for a bike with a fairing, it will be even higher.

Motorcycle painting is more expensive than car painting.

Motorcycles have a smaller surface area to paint than cars, but painting costs are relatively higher compared to cars.

Motorcycles often require additional steps beyond just painting, such as disassembling parts before painting. As a result, labor costs for these extra steps can make motorcycle painting more expensive than car painting.

Summary of Motorcycle Paint Design Examples

Here, we will introduce examples of motorcycles that have received custom paint jobs.

1. YZF R25

This is an example of a custom paint job on a YZF R25, with a vibrant blue.

With both paint and self-made stickers, it further differentiates itself from other YZF25s.

2. CBX

これが完成したCBXです！
初のカスタムペイントで自分のバイクじゃないみたいです。乗っていても色が変わって、ラインも近くで見るとビビる仕掛けがしてあり鼻血もんです。

注目度も凄く大満足です🙇‍♂️

カスタムペイント #colors
プロショップ #KTS#腹痛スタイル pic.twitter.com/PmNG0vgFwc

— お腹痛いしーえいち@ショータ (@onakaitai400) October 25, 2020

A CBX with custom paint in black and red tones.

The dominant black creates a subdued atmosphere.

3. CBR1000RR

This CBR1000RR features a flames pattern.

With a white base adorned with a flames pattern, the CBR's image has drastically changed, making it very distinctive.

4. SR400

This is an example of a custom paint job applied to an SR400.

With its meticulously crafted sunburst paint job on the tank, it's sure to draw attention.

5. Balius

少し昔に乗っていたバリオス2 缶スプレー塗装だったな笑笑#缶スプレーで作った作品を晒して自慢しよう pic.twitter.com/mBJSscKNOS

— kaito@Z1000🍊 (@Z1000_kai) December 4, 2020

 

Here's an example of a DIY paint job on a Balios.

It's finished in a vivid color scheme, and it was done with spray cans.

 

6. CB400SF

Here's an example of a DIY paint job on a CB400SF.

It's their first time painting, but the two-tone color separation is well done.