Painting Lower Fork Legs - Help!

[Lester]

Hey guys,

I need some advice on painting the lower fork legs... I don't like the repolish polished aluminium and I like the looks of black painted lower forklegs... is there anything I need to take into consideration when painting Aluminium??? Powder Coating is good but I am on a low budget and I would like the entire build to be "in house" either way.
Any paint gurus out there? Tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Lester

 

[JP50515]

Here is mine. I used krylon $3 paint from the auto parts store, but used spraymaxx 2K as a clear coat which makes ALL the difference. I also used that paint and clear for the frame which still looks great after 1500 miles and months of riding.

 

[Paulrxs650]

I did mine and used "Tough Black" paint. Apart from the usual prep work, rubbing down, degreasing etc its pretty easy

 

[Lester]

Hmm.. yea I think it looks great but I have heard you need a special primer to make it all stick to aluminium better... any input?

 

[Grinder]

On that American Restoration show the guy said to use self etching primer for aluminum.

 

[jd750ace]

Self etching primer or etch it yourself with a phosphoric acid solution like Aluma prep, and you can use any good epoxy primer. Research the self etching primer first, as this will keep your cost and waste products down. Henkel Ardrox, and a couple of other companies make etchant, but it's usually a quart bottle, and you need about 3 ounces or less for fork lowers. Like any paint job, it's all in the prep. If you go etchant, it will clean as well, but if you go with the primer, you will have to use something like acetone or MEK to flush the surface completely clean, otherwise you can prime over a film, and the whole paint system will flake and peel in short order.

 

[Paulrxs650]

Ive always used self etching primer for alluminium and the paint work has lasted well, even on the trail bikes that get some hammer.
JD is bang on - its all in the prep! 95% prep : 5% paint

 

[Lester]

Aha... I knew there was some trick in the primer... thaks for putting me on the right track. I'll check up the self enching primers. Hope I don't have to buy a huge bucket... LOL. I'll let you know what I find in my neck of the woods.
Thanks guys..... hate the flaking and peeling paint on a otherwize nice looking build.
Keep other tips comming!

 

[Paulrxs650]

These are the two product Ive used:

Primer:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VHT-ETCHI...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3a76c8a94c

Paint:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Spray...ssories_Car_Care_Cleaning&hash=item25578ed28d

 

[marine1371]

I'm on my second xs project and when it came to painting the all the small parts i used self etching primer and and good quality "rattle can" paint. I then baked the parts in the oven @200 degrees for about a half an hour to hardin the paint it does dull the gloss some but it will still have a high shine and it will be much more durable. Be sure and clean any oily residue from the metal first. I have alot of parts going in the oven on Monday i will post some before and after pics when i am done. Last but not least make sure it's ok with the wife and open the windows in the house as it will smell the place up a little.
Dan.
75-xs project
05 vstrom 1000

 

[wherearewe]

Personally, if you have gone to the trouble of taking the forks apart for painting, id go powdercoat. Its not that expensive and im a do it once, do it right kind of guy. Im in NZ and i just did a front mag, axle, brake mount plate, speedo drive and another part for about $45us. They do all the prep too. If i was gonna do it with a rattle can, id still have to buy primer, the paint and spend time prepping etc etc and it would cost about half as much. Powdercoat is so much harder wearing and it will look mint. My 2 cents worth.

 

[weekendrider]

3rd option purchase a set of 82 forks or lowers.

 

[Lester]

Personally, if you have gone to the trouble of taking the forks apart for painting, id go powdercoat. Its not that expensive and im a do it once, do it right kind of guy. Im in NZ and i just did a front mag, axle, brake mount plate, speedo drive and another part for about $45us. They do all the prep too. If i was gonna do it with a rattle can, id still have to buy primer, the paint and spend time prepping etc etc and it would cost about half as much. Powdercoat is so much harder wearing and it will look mint. My 2 cents worth.

We pay wich that for one MAG her in Norway....

 

[YL82]

Self etching primer or etch it yourself with a phosphoric acid solution like Aluma prep, and you can use any good epoxy primer. Research the self etching primer first, as this will keep your cost and waste products down. Henkel Ardrox, and a couple of other companies make etchant, but it's usually a quart bottle, and you need about 3 ounces or less for fork lowers. Like any paint job, it's all in the prep. If you go etchant, it will clean as well, but if you go with the primer, you will have to use something like acetone or MEK to flush the surface completely clean, otherwise you can prime over a film, and the whole paint system will flake and peel in short order.

JD,

I've stripped the paint (in about 10 minutes) from my 82 Heritage Special's Forks.

I'm plan to use Brownell's Aluma-Hyde II Semi-Gloss Black (which touts "absolutely no primer needed"). In lieu of using a self-etching primer, I may use a phosphoric acid solution to etch per your comments.

Would you expect that the following Material from Home Depot will suffice in lieu of AlumiPrep and Alodine? Aside from 35-45% phosphoric acid, not sure of other constituents such as surfactants.

http://t.homedepot.com/p/Klean-Strip-1-gal-Phosphoric-Prep-and-Etch-GKPA30220/100406369

Thanks.

 

[hard_y_rd]

Can't understand why you would paint those black after the way they turned out after stripping them.

 

[angus67]

yeah, they look great, but a man wants what a man wants.
They are apart. did you rebuild them?

 

[YL82]

As my Member name implies, I strive for a stock appearance when it makes sense. I'm not all that hardcore on the matter and have an open-mind. . I've only got remnants of original black paint on my cylinder while the upper engine case has retained its ebony look - so there you have it...

One of our resident XS650 historians can weigh in, but I was thinking that the fork lowers on the 82 Heritage Special were originally black - though admittedly I've seen lots of images of polished aluminum on 82's as well as black. I failed to take images of the black lowers that I inherited from the PO a year or so ago, but it was a rather shitty paint job.

I appreciate the comments on my forks post stripping. I love that paint stripper from Lowes, although I had to run for the garden hose a few times...

Rebuild...

Well, thus far, I have done the Minton Mod (or modification thereof) of slightly enlarging (w/ #45 bit) the upper hole on the Damper Rod while adding an additional hole on the opposing side. On the bottom, I used a #1 bit to increase the diameter of the existing 4 holes on the lower section of the Damper Rod. Sanded Damper Rods with 600 & 800 sandpaper.

I plan to increase the preload on my stock springs by adding 1" pieces of PVC (3/4" dia., I believe). I have removed the fork seals (w/o too much profanity) and have new ones on order.

No plans to lower forks, replace my stock springs or go to cartridge fork emulators, etc.

 

[wannabridin]

Rustoleum professional makes an aluminum primer that's supposed to work well. I'll use a light dusting of self etching primer after doing some mag wheel cleaner to make sure everything sticks as well as it can. I'm using a RC enamel spray paint for my forks, tank and rear fender, then a 2k clear once everything is cured properly. I sure hope it all works well!!

 

[fredintoon]

- - - I've stripped the paint (in about 10 minutes) from my 82 Heritage Special's Forks. - - - I'm plan to use Brownell's Aluma-Hyde II Semi-Gloss Black (which touts "absolutely no primer needed"). In lieu of using a self-etching primer, I may use a phosphoric acid solution to etch per your comments. - - -

Hi YL76,
perhaps your bike was PO'd?
Heritage Specials left the factory with polished lowers and your work in progress photo of the stripping process sure looks like the death of aftermarket paint, Yamapaint don't die that easy.
I had to wait ~18 years for my Heritage Special's blacked out fins to fade back to the natural finish they should have come with and the blacked out crankcase paint still looks shiny new.

 

[YL82]

Hey, Fred.

I think you're absolutely correct about it likely being aftermarket paint the way it came off - coupled with the fact that the lowers looked like shit when I bought the bike.