Need Paint advice

[Dozuki]

I recently dropped my 1975 off to have it rebuilt by someone who knows what he is doing. Unfortunately he doesn't do paint and the quote he got from his paint guy is $1800. $700 of that is for the tank and side panels, decals not included. Now is it me or is that really high. If you have a good lead for a good paint job that doesn't cost as much please help.

 

[xjwmx]

Yes, that is deplorably high. That painter goes into what I like to call the basket of deplorables. If you want to try, you can do a professional-looking job yourself for maybe $100 tops. You can do a passable job yourself for maybe $25. There should be a how-to here on how to get a professional looking job with no equipment or experience and $100.

Something else you can do is surreptitiously approach body men on their lunch hour and see what they would charge you to do the work at home. You might be surprised.

 

[650Skull]

$700 for the Tank and side-panels, so I'm guessing, (No information given), he is doing all the prep and repairs as well, the $1100 is for the frame, guards, headlight and fork ears???

If that $1100 is for stripping/sandblasting, priming and painting the frame, headlight and fork ears and same for the guards, then maybe yea, depending on where you live.

Here in Oz $700 for a tank and side-cover is in the ballpark, especially if the painter is going to use metal flake like the original 75B. And again that is sand/media Blasting priming and painting..................maybe he has a couple of dents to fix............????.

Lots to consider, especially since there is little information given.

 

[Young blood]

I have painted a few motorcycles and it is a lot harder than you'd expect. If you want a professional looking job that is. I did it for much less than that and I was kicking myself. For that price it should be outstanding with high quality paint. You could easily spen a few hundred bucks on supplies if you use RM or something of high quality. You could most likely get someone to do it for less but be careful you get what you pay for. Sometimes the high guys are rip offs, check his work and procedures. I'll post a picture of a Honda tank I did when I get on my computer later.

 

[Royboy]

With serious shopping around I'd expect to pay about $500 USD for tank and tins. That would include application of any decals. I've had good luck getting body shop guys to do this on the side.

roy

 

[Young blood]

That sounds like a decent price for a professional job. Here's a picture of a candy sword blue Honda tank I did. I had to strip it to bare metal and do some body work on it and the side covers. It took two tries to get the decal correct. This was a mind boggling amount of work but it was worth it.

 

[Young blood]

Here's another one I did. This is actually an annoying plastic tank but I fixed it up good. I had to strip it to bare plastic because the paint was lifting. It took two attempts and a lot of carnage to get what you see here. The first try lifted so back to the drawing board. The small rounded shape of tanks and side covers makes it very difficult to lay down the paint evenly.

 

[cra-z1]

I would say 1,100 for the tank side panels and frame is a good price. I paid 1,200 for mine(just the tank and panels) for an over restored paint job. He had to color match , properly place the stripping (painted on) and line the inside (Por 15). It depends on the quality you are looking for. He has done multiple paint jobs for me so I know his work. If you don't want something special (like stock colors) than you could spend less. Nice job on the tank Young Blood. You normally get what you pay for.

 

[Young blood]

I would say 1,100 for the tank side panels and frame is a good price. I paid 1,200 for mine(just the tank and panels) for an over restored paint job. He had to color match , properly place the stripping (painted on) and line the inside (Por 15). It depends on the quality you are looking for. He has done multiple paint jobs for me so I know his work. If you don't want something special (like stock colors) than you could spend less. Nice job on the tank Young Blood. You normally get what you pay for.

Thanks, it's a lot of hard work packed in those little things but I was going for perfection. I can't wait to paint my cafe project.

 

[xjwmx]

Here's a picture of a candy sword blue Honda tank I did.

Is the decal under clear? If so, did you put the decal on a sanded coat, or did you put the clear that's covering the decal over a gloss coat? Looks like good work. The design is really Honda-esque.

 

[mrtwowheel]

A few thoughts about motorcycle paint. I was formally trained in auto body work, worked two years after that in a body shop. Paints, primers and spray equipment have changed since then. Most paint jobs come with no guarantee, none that I've ever known. The fails that I have had on tanks have been hair line cracks in the primer, I think these were caused by the tanks expanding because of clogged fuel cap vents, only ever had this happen on tanks, never on other parts.

Scott

 

[Young blood]

That Honda tank is the factory color scheme for a 550 four, mid seventies. I put the base color and then a few coats of candy and then the clear. After the clear was dry I sanded it to 1000 grit then I applied the decals. After that I did three coats of RM glamor clear. Then I polished the aluminum lettering and repainted the black and clear coated them. Lots of work but look at. It was worth it.

 

[Young blood]

To bad you don't live in New Orleans. I'd be more than happy to paint it for you.

 

[cra-z1]

That Honda tank is the factory color scheme for a 550 four, mid seventies. I put the base color and then a few coats of candy and then the clear. After the clear was dry I sanded it to 1000 grit then I applied the decals. After that I did three coats of RM glamor clear. Then I polished the aluminum lettering and repainted the black and clear coated them. Lots of work but look at. It was worth it.

Notice the words base coats,few coats of candy,clear coat,sanding,three more coats. You have to respect the talent. I had this paint job done in San Diego on my Z1900 in 1974. I could not believe how many colors he put on and the taping involved. I started to worry about the cost after him working on it for more than a month. I was into choppers and as you can tell I was18 years old when I started building my first hardtail(wish I still had ny TX650 you see) and was paying 1,000-1,500 back then for paint. He charged me $99 bucks for the Z1 paint

 

[Young blood]

N

View attachment 89773

Notice the words base coats,few coats of candy,clear coat,sanding,three more coats. You have to respect the talent. I had this paint job done in San Diego on my Z1900 in 1974. I could not believe how many colors he put on and the taping involved. I started to worry about the cost after him working on it for more than a month. I was into choppers and as you can tell I was18 years old when I started building my first hardtail(wish I still had ny TX650 you see) and was paying 1,000-1,500 back then for paint. He charged me $99 bucks for the Z1 paint

Nice stuff, I gave a ridiculously low price. I didn't realize that it had to be stripped to bare metal. I put well over 40 hours into the tank and side covers.

 

[Dozuki]

That price is just for the tank and tins. The builder says the frame is going to the powder coating. It is true that you get what you pay for I guess I just wasn't expecting that big a hit. And that doesn't include the decals. For that pric nit better look like a new star black tank. That's for all the input.

 

[ThatXS650Guy]

Have you tried some of the motorcycle paint places that advertise in some of the magazines? I'm thinking of these guys http://www.paintworkz.com/
or http://precisionmotorcyclepainting.com/ or http://marblesmotors.com/

when I was looking for someone to paint my H1 I think it was around 1,400 but that was for candy paint, decals, the works.
Good luck,
Jim

 

[cra-z1]

Ralph at Paintworkz does my Z1900 bikes. He also did my XS2 I think as a favor. Not sure if he would do another. He has not been taking any jobs lately and has been concentrating on selling paint kits for the Z1900. he sells PPG paint that he has formulated for the correct factory colors. The Kawasaki paint was a three step process to get the desired effect. I would however find someone who is able to do the complete job includung the decals. Another painter may not want to work with somthing he did not do. Powder on the frame goes for 300-400 depending on the shop. they may also charge for the blasting as an add on. Be sure to get it in writing.

 

[Dozuki]

Thanks for all of the help. I will post pics and final cost when I can

 

[Young blood]

To bad you don't live in New Orleans, I'd paint it for you.