Bobber Build by a total Newb

[dilbone]

I finally got some primer on the engine mounts and used the engine paint for it. I thought maybe they'd do better with the heat that way, but what do I know.
I really like the duplicolor engine paint with ceramic...it really dries hard and smooth.

Today I dropped the frame off for sandblasting...there's no way I was going to tackle that with my little portable unit. The small bits have been a PITA as it is anyway so the $75 will be well worth it I think.
While I wait on the frame to get blasted I'm going to at least prime and maybe start painting all of the small bits I've been blasting the past couple of days.

I'm trying to figure out where and how I'll hang everything up and how to get a few coats on everything within the re-coat window. I don't even know how much to mix up for what I'm going to be working on...This whole 2k urethane is a pain to get done logistically.

I'm gonna cross my fingers and say a prayer and hope it works out ok.

 

[Airwolfie]

Looking good bud! Keep it up!

I used some wire to hang all of my bits on the washing line.All nicely in a row! I then just painted one after the other, waiting time about 15 mins, and then recoated, and repeated this a few times. If the sun is out, even better! When the sun sets, I just hung them up inside my shed, and left them there for a few weeks. Nice and solid once done!

 

[dilbone]

Airwolfie,

That's just about the route I ended up going today. Here's the ridiculous spectacle all wired up and ready to spray.

It took so long to get this done that I only had time to spray the etching primer from the spray can... tomorrow I'll at least get the 2k primer done...maybe the black/color too, but I noticed a dent in the tank that I hadn't seen and have no idea where/when/how that happened. Looks like I'll have a little body work to do tomorrow too

 

[Johnt3]

Looking good dilbone. Hanging everything is a job by itself!
You will need to scuff the etch prime before you spray the 2k primer. with a gray 3M scotchbrite or something similar. I usually spray the etch prime right before I prime.
Are you planning on some sanding before you paint the black?

 

[dilbone]

Looking good dilbone. Hanging everything is a job by itself!
You will need to scuff the etch prime before you spray the 2k primer. with a gray 3M scotchbrite or something similar. I usually spray the etch prime right before I prime.
Are you planning on some sanding before you paint the black?

Yeah, I wasn't sure if I'd need to scuff it...the plan was to spray the 2k primer right after this but I just ran out of time

I'm not sure how the 2k primer is going to go. They recommend a 1.8 or 2.0mm tip for this primer and I've only got a 1.4mm so I'm going to have to add a bit of reducer which will probably prolong the cure time. They said this primer usually isn't ready for sanding for 1.5 to 2hrs...but that if you thin it for a sealer coat to wait 24hrs. I figure I'll be somewhere inbetween that timing wise. We'll see...very nervous to spray 2k for the first time.

 

[Johnt3]

Yes, you'll want to reduce the 2k for that size of tip. Your on the right track man.
For your smaller brackets and bits that aren't in need of a filler primer, you can just spray them with the etch prime and go straight to paint. That way you aren't using up your 2k primer and don't have to sand those little pieces for paint.

 

[dilbone]

Yes, you'll want to reduce the 2k for that size of tip. Your on the right track man.
For your smaller brackets and bits that aren't in need of a filler primer, you can just spray them with the etch prime and go straight to paint. That way you aren't using up your 2k primer and don't have to sand those little pieces for paint.

Thanks for the advice John, I'm glad I saw your response before I started spraying. I had no idea how much primer to mix up and they recommend 4:1 ratio so I put 8oz of primer, 2oz activator, and thinned it a bit with 1.5oz of reducer and had no idea how far that nearly 12oz would get me.

I ended up spraying just the tank, fender, fake oil tank with caps, and battery box and had my stopwatch going so I could keep track of re-coat times. That stuff was so thick I was having a hard time figuring out how exactly to spray it. It felt like what I would imagine spraying pudding would be like... to lay a wet coat down seemed nearly impossible. I did 3 coats and those were mostly dry coats...finally by the 3rd I was able to get a little bit more of a wet coat by going super slow on my passes but I kept getting build up on the horns of my tip. Did I mention that this stuff was THICK

This stuff was so different than anything I've sprayed before, but now that I've sprayed it and have had some time to think about it I would be able to do a much better job with it next time...I probably should have thinned it further but I think it'll be ok.

Here's the primer coat

Here's the ding in the tank I have to fill

After the fiasco with the primer I was pretty leery of doing the black semi gloss. So I mixed up 12oz total with a 4:1:1 ratio similar to what I had done with the primer. First off when I opened the can it was pretty clear that this was paint not primer and it actually sprayed really well. The only problem was that 12oz was waaaaaaaay too much for what I was spraying. I went ahead and hit the batt box and the inside of the fender with 400 grit so I could paint those black. I thought maybe the underside of the fender would be better black than the color coat with clear...I hope I don't regret that decision.

Here's the black...I'm clearly not a pro but it will look fine going 60mph

 

[Johnt3]

Well first off, great job on the black painted parts dilbone! 60mph or not!
Sorry that the primer was giving you fits.I shoot with a 1.8 tip at work and sometimes I'll get to where I have to reduce a little too. From the pics your tank and other parts don't look bad man. That dent isn't bad either, you'll be able to smooth that one up pretty easy. Looks like you've had one hell of a day! Got a lot done. I don't drink,but I think you need a beer!
I'm really starting to miss mine now dude! Some of those parts look a lot like my build!

 

[dilbone]

Well first off, great job on the black painted parts dilbone! 60mph or not!
Sorry that the primer was giving you fits.I shoot with a 1.8 tip at work and sometimes I'll get to where I have to reduce a little too. From the pics your tank and other parts don't look bad man. That dent isn't bad either, you'll be able to smooth that one up pretty easy. Looks like you've had one hell of a day! Got a lot done. I don't drink,but I think you need a beer!
I'm really starting to miss mine now dude! Some of those parts look a lot like my build!

Thanks John, There's nothing there that's anything like your build... especially not the peg mounts...

There are a few of the parts in black that look pretty good, but some had some overspray from the primer that I didn't notice at the time and aren't quite so smooth. I may sand those a bit and hit them one more time when I finally hit the frame at the end of the week.

I did a little bondo work last night on the ding and didn't quite fill it enough...there's still a bit of a dip. I picked up some body glaze putty that I'll finish it up with and I think it'll be completely gone. The 2k primer sands REALLY nicely...the tank and fender are going to look awesome.

I'm not sure what to do with the fake oil tank. The end caps were pretty snug and now with the primer on they are too tight. I'm thinking I may have to paint it with the ends taped and keep the paint off after I sand the primer down some. I was afraid of that but thought I ground down ends far enough for the caps to fit well...apparently not.

I'm to the point that I just want to rush through and get it done, but I know that I need to slow down and do things right...I always get this way near the end of the a project.

I just gotta keep on keepin' on

 

[Johnt3]

Lol!! No, I'm pretty sure there's some parts in there that look....
I'm glad that primer is sanding good for you, I've ran into some that sanded like rubber or was hard as a rock!
The electrics tank was the one thing that I would've done different on my build.
I didn't like the idea of just slipping on the end caps,but the lid I came up with didn't work out as well as I had thought.
Yes, I know what you mean about rushing through.I do the same thing!
You'll get it done soon enough man! It'll be awesome.

 

[dilbone]

Well had a few days out of town with the family on a short vaca and just got back to the bike.

I took apart the fork tubes today and need to clean up the lowers so I can repaint them and the frame is supposed to be back from the sandblaster tomorrow, so tomorrow I should be able to finish the rest of the black paint.

I also picked up the wheels from being re-laced today, I'll have to take off the sprocket and rotor for paint too.

And here are the money shots...I decided to get the color on the tins since the frame still wasn't done. Duplicolor Burnt Orange paint shop is the color.

and no trace of the ding...

In the morning I think I might tape off for the black stripes I'm going to use on the tins and try to get the rest of the bits and pieces ready for the single stage black when I pick up the frame.

 

[Johnt3]

Hey man! I was wondering how you were doing! You've been busy.Tins look great, I love the color dilbone!
Good work on the dent.

 

[dilbone]

I originally wanted to use the same color I used before on a guitar build. It was the metal specks burnt copper...looks very orange. No one had the metal specks burnt copper locally so I went with the paint shop burnt orange...looks very copper

I'm not sure who named these colors from duplicolor but I think they might be a bit confused...again the tank is burnt orange and the guitar is burnt copper...go figure. I'm still not sure if I'm completely happy with the color as I did want it to be a bit more orange but it's growing on me.

Here's what I'm thinking in terms of the stripes. The hard part will be putting the tape on straight...

 

[dilbone]

Hey man! I was wondering how you were doing! You've been busy.Tins look great, I love the color dilbone!
Good work on the dent.

Thanks John, the color is growing on me for sure. I think the lighter copper will look even better with the black than the darker orange would.

I've still gotta get that frame back so I can get it painted!!!

 

[dilbone]

So this morning I brought the tins in and started masking...I was very nervous to be able to get these stripes straight and uniform. It took waaaaaaaay too long but I got it masked off.

and a couple coats of black lacquer

and the big reveal...I could hardly wait to pull the tape off. It has some spots where the black bled under the tape a smidge, but otherwise it turned out pretty well. I didn't want crepe paper tape, I thought I was ordering vinyl tape when I bought this quarter inch tape but apparently it wasn't. I have a couple things to clean up before clear but overall I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.
I couldn't resist taking them out to the deck for some sun

 

[Vansnxtweek]

Man that looks awesome!!!

 

[dilbone]

Man that looks awesome!!!

Thanks Vansnxtweek,

I think so too

 

[dilbone]

got my stainless laced wheels back...now I've got to clean those up...

picked up the frame today

It was as clean as a whistle so I got to work spraying that and the fork lowers with self etching primer. I also had a few things that didn't quite look right after the first round with the single stage black that I hit with 320 grit and sprayed again.

The frame was sooooo hard to spray. There were some places I just couldn't get paint, especially up in the neck gusset area. I'm gonna get the engine enamel once this cures and make sure to get into all those nooks and crannies a little better but overall it looks pretty good I think.

I'm really in the home stretch...I'll let the lacquer on the tins gas out for a week or so and then get the clear going on those. In the mean time I've gotta clean up the motor and then it'll be assembly time!!!!!!!!

 

[Airwolfie]

Making good progress! I know what you mean on paining the frame! I had the same problem! decided to just wing it and see if it holds up! Looked like I got most parts though! Seems you did as well!

 

[dilbone]

Making good progress! I know what you mean on paining the frame! I had the same problem! decided to just wing it and see if it holds up! Looked like I got most parts though! Seems you did as well!

yeah, I'm gonna have to get it out in the sun to see any spots I missed...I think the only spots in need of attention are the gusset at the seat hinge mount and the neck gussets otherwise as I looked at it tonight it seems pretty solid. I only did 2 nice and wet coats then went back and spent some time hitting some issue areas again. This will be garaged and rarely see rain(if I have anything to do with it) so I should be good for a long while. I don't mind getting caught in the rain on my electra glide with rain gear in the bags but this one...not so much