Bobber Build by a total Newb

Dude that black is TASTY. That's exactly how I'm hoping to do mine as well. Have you done much painting in the past? Think you could have done the fork legs without disassembling?
 
Daaaaamn that paint looks sweet!
I just dig the color combo. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
It rains alot here in the summer.
My XS has no front fender and a short back fender so getting caught in the rain has it's throw backs :shrug:
 
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Dude that black is TASTY. That's exactly how I'm hoping to do mine as well. Have you done much painting in the past? Think you could have done the fork legs without disassembling?

Thanks Vansnxtweek, the only painting I've done is on a handful of guitars I've built and that's been rattle can color with nitro lacquer clear through my HVLP gun. Lacquer is hard to screw up as you can just wipe it off with acetone or lacquer thinner and start over or wet sand mistakes out and polish it out easily. This is my first time spraying 2k paints and it's going ok I think, but I'm probably most nervous about spraying the clear. There's just no good way to hang the tank.

Daaaaamn that paint looks sweet!
I just dig the color combo. :thumbsup: :Thumbsup:
It rains alot here in the summer.
My XS has no front fender and a short back fender so getting caught in the rain has it's throw backs :shrug:

Thanks Carbon the more I look at it the more excited I am to get this thing done. Your xs is a sweet ride for sure, I hope you're getting plenty of dry miles on it!!!
 
Dude that black is TASTY. That's exactly how I'm hoping to do mine as well. Have you done much painting in the past? Think you could have done the fork legs without disassembling?
I see I didn't answer your question about the fork legs. Most definitely could have painted without taking them apart and was hoping to myself but I had a leaky seal so I had to break them down
 
Heck yeah dilbone! Stripes and frame look great man!
I wouldn't worry too much about the 2k clear, if you get the chance to spray something small for test you'll feel more comfortable with it.
On sitting the tank up for spraying, a saw horse or even your 2x4 between two ladders would work. Just make sure you wrap the 2x4 with masking paper and tape it down tight to keep the dirt and crap from blowing around.
 
Heck yeah dilbone! Stripes and frame look great man!
I wouldn't worry too much about the 2k clear, if you get the chance to spray something small for test you'll feel more comfortable with it.
On sitting the tank up for spraying, a saw horse or even your 2x4 between two ladders would work. Just make sure you wrap the 2x4 with masking paper and tape it down tight to keep the dirt and crap from blowing around.
Thanks John, I thought about that but how do you get to the bottom then? If I had used a 2k paint I probably wouldn't worry too much about the bottom but being lacquer I'm gonna have to spray the bottom too. I suppose I could just do the bottom one day and then mix up a batch for the top but I just wanted to spray once and be done.

Worse case scenario I'll hang it from the front mounting tabs with a bracket from the same hook I have the frame hanging from then I won't have to hold the dang thing up with my left arm while I spray like I did for primer and color...I'm not very bright and that tank is freakin heavy...only took twice to realize there must be a better way lol
 
I made up a wooden washer toggle bolt kinda contraption that sandwiched the top fuel opening, and hung it from there. The top wooden washer was a sprap piece leftover from a hole-saw project. Clamped to the top of the fill opening, it prevented paint from layering onto the top seal surface. The allthread that clamped the whole thing together was long and stiff enuff to hold the tank at various orientations, like to get the bottom first, then hang it for the top and sides.
 
I made up a wooden washer toggle bolt kinda contraption that sandwiched the top fuel opening, and hung it from there. The top wooden washer was a sprap piece leftover from a hole-saw project. Clamped to the top of the fill opening, it prevented paint from layering onto the top seal surface. The allthread that clamped the whole thing together was long and stiff enuff to hold the tank at various orientations, like to get the bottom first, then hang it for the top and sides.
Now that sounds like a great idea...I've been wishing for a "paint stick" like what I use for guitar bodies but was unsure how exactly to go about it
 
I have this bad habit of handling fresh paint 30 minutes after it's been shot. Can't help myself.

Don't do that...

At least 2-3 days, or even a week should let it full cure.

Chew on a box of nails while you're waitin'...
 
TwoManyXS1Bs rig sounds like it would work. I understand your concern about the lacquer,but it won't be a problem. I shot mine on a stand and just sprayed what I could reach underneath. Yes, don't rush the paint, I'm just as guilty as the next guy when it comes to patience.... watching paint dry is as boring as it sounds.:wink2:
Go prep that engine instead.:D
 
Oh and how long should I wait to start assembly after spraying the frame and fork lowers etc?

I left mine for two weeks, and it was still a bit "green"! Took about a month to get quite hard.

I would say a week minimum! Or if you are careful(Inevitably you will get a knock or scratch! So don't do it!!) you can stick it all together.

I would go and prep that engine!! It will take your mind off it!!
 
I have this bad habit of handling fresh paint 30 minutes after it's been shot. Can't help myself.

Don't do that...

At least 2-3 days, or even a week should let it full cure.

Chew on a box of nails while you're waitin'...

If it's lacquer 30 min may be ok lol


TwoManyXS1Bs rig sounds like it would work. I understand your concern about the lacquer,but it won't be a problem. I shot mine on a stand and just sprayed what I could reach underneath. Yes, don't rush the paint, I'm just as guilty as the next guy when it comes to patience.... watching paint dry is as boring as it sounds.:wink2:
Go prep that engine instead.:D

Do you think a week with the lacquer gassing off before clear is good enough?

I left mine for two weeks, and it was still a bit "green"! Took about a month to get quite hard.

I would say a week minimum! Or if you are careful(Inevitably you will get a knock or scratch! So don't do it!!) you can stick it all together.

I would go and prep that engine!! It will take your mind off it!!

I've noticed already the stuff I shot 7 days ago is exponentially harder than what I shot yesterday...I'll wait a week I suppose:shrug:
I'm mainly concerned with getting the motor in the frame. I may tape it up some to help not ding it too badly

It'll give me time to decide if I want to paint the rotor and sprocket. I really don't want to bother with it but I'm sure it'll add to the "finished" look even though the motor is just getting cleaned up and not painted.

looking good dude

thanks 3dognate, it's coming along for sure

Awesome, thanks for the info!

No prob
 
With you shooting from a spray bomb, yes I'd wait for the week. I didn't wait more than 15-20 minutes back in the day.
I didn't wait more than 2 days before I reinstalled my engine in the frame. You should be fine.
 
With you shooting from a spray bomb, yes I'd wait for the week. I didn't wait more than 15-20 minutes back in the day.
I didn't wait more than 2 days before I reinstalled my engine in the frame. You should be fine.

The burnt orange was from my gun not a rattle can, but the black was rattle can...a nice little lacquer cocktail :laugh:
 
3 each...the black from the rattle can seems much thicker than the orange ended up though. It's actually drying pretty well I just didn't know what trapping the remaining solvents under the 2k clear would eventyally do if anything.
 
busy day today...

I started off thinking I'd clean up the motor, then I remembered I had a few things I still needed to sandblast and hit with the engine paint...
That few things turned into a larger pile the longer I went. I really didn't want to deal with the sprocket and rotor, but I decided I should or I'd regret it so I took those off and cleaned them up for paint too. Here's the pile along with some bolt heads and nuts that aren't pictured... I didn't get a pic of it all painted so I'll have to post one up tomorrow


Then I started working on the motor...and after looking at the extended weather forecast saw that today would be the only day with the humidity less than 60% for the next week. I had to shoot the tins today then and not wait like I wanted to. It's been 3 days and they really don't smell much anymore so I think the lacquer has gassed out pretty well already.

I had to take the frame down so I could hang the tank from that hook and when I got it outside I saw all kinds of spots I missed...:banghead:
I grabbed my can of engine paint and hit all of those spots as best I could...I'm a little frustrated that I missed that much but oh well. Hopefully the engine paint will hold up ok. I should have probably mixed up another batch of the 2k black but I didn't feel like cleaning the gun yet again because I was already gonna have to load it with a smidge of the burnt orange again due to a scuff on the tank:doh: before I could spray the clear.

I just have to keep remembering that some guys have rattle canned whole bikes and had decent results... I guess I need to relax a bit...or hang the frame back up tomorrow and hit it with another coat...but then I'd have to scuff the whole thing and that just might be out of the cards:shrug:

ok, so on to the clear. I was pretty nervous about it but had planned out how to sit/hang the fender and tank to get it sprayed. I'm glad I sprayed the black on the inside of the fender so I only had to worry about clearing the top, that made it pretty easy to spray.
Here they are after 2 coats:




I was waiting the 10-15 minutes suggested flash times but apparently that wasn't enough because I ended up with a run on the tank and some pooling in some other areas. I didn't notice the run in the tank until the end of the 3rd coat.





After the 3rd coat the orange peel was still way too pronounced so I let it sit for over 30min before the 4th...this stuff just wasn't flashing well at all within their suggested time frames.

4th coat...we had a suicidal bug




I've still some orange peel but it should wetsand and polish out...if I even care to do that. It looks pretty good in the inside lighting, can't wait to see it out in the sun tomorrow


Now the run on the tank I will have to contend with...so I'll have to defer to the experts to tell me when and how to wet sand and polish this clear as my only experience is with nitro clear lacquer.
 
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