Ball park figure for a professional paint job ?

[Ipa62]

First, I am totally humbled by the thought that my painting skills were all that great, that is my XS1b tank in the top of this tread. Most importantly, I am a total amateur, did that paint job in a shed with rattle cans. Cost was about US$300 in supplies, only because I screwed up on the 2k clear coat. Grewth, if you want to take this on I would be more than happy to tell you how I went about it.
Finally, my apologies to this fine web site and all the people who contribute, I'm not much of a social media guy, but still watch because there is so much good info here, you guys are great.

 

[Jim]

Many thanks everyone.
I've not tried to get any quotes here in the UK yet, but as rip-off Britain seems to be alive and well, I'm not expecting things to be substantially cheaper.
Point taken about finding someone who moonlights at painting motorcycle tinware.
It might well pay off, but on the other hand, I always beleive that if you only pay peanuts, you get monkeys !
The only real alternative is to make an investment, and do the paintwork myself.
Not easy I know, but I've got a couple of years to go at it, no rush.
My XS1B could survive with a quick rattle can job in the short run

There's actually a lot of Youtube video tutorials on paint and body that are surprisingly well done. There's even good ones on 2K rattle cans.

 

[46th Georgia]

Many thanks everyone.
I've not tried to get any quotes here in the UK yet, but as rip-off Britain seems to be alive and well, I'm not expecting things to be substantially cheaper.
Point taken about finding someone who moonlights at painting motorcycle tinware.
It might well pay off, but on the other hand, I always beleive that if you only pay peanuts, you get monkeys !
The only real alternative is to make an investment, and do the paintwork myself.
Not easy I know, but I've got a couple of years to go at it, no rush.
My XS1B could survive with a quick rattle can job in the short run

You CAN do this! You can make a "Paint Booth" with pvc pipe and clear plastic. You don't have to spend a King's (or Queen's) ransom on a paint gun. and you can aquire some old damaged body panels to practice on. See if your local auto paint supply store has some mismatched paint that you can get at a discount and then practice, practice, practice. The U.K. being cool and damp, you need to keep your air dry, if you don't do that....I don't care how good your skills are, it will lead to failure.

 

[Mannyroad]

If you have a good spot of clean original paint, you can get it scanned and put in an aerosol. To do 8 pieces, it’s probably more cost effective to spay out of a gun though.

Each can of color is about 25/30 bucks, you need primers (30 bucks for 2k), maybe a base coat and your clear(spray max is 20-25). (Painted white stripes or decals add some $$)

Sand paper, tape, cleaners…

Then you gotta be skilled enough to do a clean job.

It’s more work to get a good finish out of cans too. Much more sanding of the clear to get out your orange peel.

Photos online can be deceptive. A 10ft stunner is no problem, up close side by side with a pro job, easy to tell the difference.

*** I’ve painted multiple bikes/tanks with cans and quite happy with em but I’m not delusional haha I know their aren’t show quality ***

I've seen some very presentable looking jobs done with rattle cans.
But in my experience it they don't hold up well over a long period, often fading and going patchy.
I've always thought that this was because the paint film laid down by a proper spray gun was much thicker ?

Candies (& even more so, flourscents) will always fade over time as the inks are not UV stable. That's why using a good quality 2k lacquer, with UV stabilisation properties is essential on candy paint jobs. Rattle cans use a 1k lacquer (which I'm not a lover of and don't use) which, if I'm correct, does not offer the same UV stabilisation.

 

[WideAWAKE]

Candies (& even more so, flourscents) will always fade over time as the inks are not UV stable. That's why using a good quality 2k lacquer, with UV stabilisation properties is essential on candy paint jobs. Rattle cans use a 1k lacquer (which I'm not a lover of and don't use) which, if I'm correct, does not offer the same UV stabilisation.

Not if you use a 2k rattle can…

 

[Mannyroad]

Not if you use a 2k rattle can…

Well, obviously, but I was talking about 1K cans, which many people still tend to use.