[Streetlethal1000]

So I purchased a tired hugger, a targa solo cover and an undertail. I then went to my local paint shop and purchased some specialized European bike paint. It wasn't the exact color code I found online but the paint chip was the only thing close they had. ( to be honest it was pretty dam spot on too) So I purchased this high end paint and fish eye reducer. Cost me like 200 some odd dollars. Had a good friend who pants cars for a living try to paint the pieces.....

Its now like 5 "paint and re sands" into the project and the paint is horribly off. The paint is so "see through" its hard to get the right shade. It looks more like a banana yellow then the 04 yellow.

If this is only a tip to others....purchase all your parts factory painted please. Painting this **** is the biggest hassle ever. I tired to save a few bucks with unpainted used parts and paint them myself but its pretty much worthless.

Does anyone out there have any magical tips they can give me? Has anyone tried to do this before with different results.....please tell. Ill do anything at this point.

 

[bighammer]

Not sure you want a yellow hugger if the banana look is not your thing.

 

[Streetlethal1000]

With what the paint cost me, I could of picked a whole new color and painted the entire bike for the same price and almost the same effort. Hind sight is 20/20. What a pain

 

[Jay V]

So I purchased a tired hugger, a targa solo cover and an undertail. I then went to my local paint shop and purchased some specialized European bike paint. It wasn't the exact color code I found online but the paint chip was the only thing close they had. ( to be honest it was pretty dam spot on too) So I purchased this high end paint and fish eye reducer. Cost me like 200 some odd dollars. Had a good friend who pants cars for a living try to paint the pieces.....

Its now like 5 "paint and re sands" into the project and the paint is horribly off. The paint is so "see through" its hard to get the right shade. It looks more like a banana yellow then the 04 yellow.

If this is only a tip to others....purchase all your parts factory painted please. Painting this **** is the biggest hassle ever. I tired to save a few bucks with unpainted used parts and paint them myself but its pretty much worthless.

Does anyone out there have any magical tips they can give me? Has anyone tried to do this before with different results.....please tell. Ill do anything at this point.

First, I think you need to find a new paint supply shop - fisheye eliminator is a LAST DITCH effort to correct a fisheye problem, and shouldn't be needed! In all the years I did body work I never used it - better to stop and start over later.

You should find a decent shop that has a mixing machine and bring a small piece of the bike in to have them scan it. Make sure the piece is clean and not faded. They should be able to mix a match for it and check it against the part before you leave.

Yellow shouldn't be that hard to match - silver, champaign, gold - that's another story.

Chips in a book are never correct. Aftermarket pieces painted "factory color" are rarely exact matches. A true OEM piece would be the best bet, but that's not a sure thing either.


Jay

 

[Streetlethal1000]

They tired to use the machine to match the paint but it didnt read the color. They tired it a number of times.

Well maybe it wanst fish eye reducer....but I bought a pint of yellow, a pint of pearl, and a gallon of something else (thought it was a fish eye reducer possibly) It was soposed to be mixed 1 to 1. You lay the base down with the 1 to 1 mixture, and then the pearl and then the clear. They guy doing it does body work for a living too. Thats how I have always known paint is mixed. I never heard of anyone taking the paint and spraying it straight out of the can. So Maybe I just gave the stuff the worng name. Not sure.

The problem with bike paint is that the chips are not redaly available. The paint shop I went too had to pull some strings to get this chip book custom ordered. Because all the paint comes from europe and are special paints. The paint shop gave me the whole detailed story on the paint but that was the gist of it.

I have one picture off a cell phone right now. Ill post more if we get the color any closer.

 

[02SVSRIDER]

When I repainted my farings and tank I just took the paint code to a local Napa and they matched to code to an automotive code and mixed me the paint. When the parts were painted you could hardly tell the difference.

 

[Jay V]

It sounds like you have just reducer then - basically paint thinner, but for emamel base instead of lacquer.

Pearl will make it more difficult to match.

A computerized matching machine should be able to give them the base and amounts of tint colors - no chips needed. Home (int/ext latex) paints have been doing this for years.

Color matching, at it's best, is an art - but mostly it's a PITA.


Jay

 

[Streetlethal1000]

When I repainted my farings and tank I just took the paint code to a local Napa and they matched to code to an automotive code and mixed me the paint. When the parts were painted you could hardly tell the difference.

Never knew nappa did paint. I should of looked into thise before I purchased my paint. But I went to a reputable paint shop and I checked the paint chips over and over again. It wasnt just picking on a whim. It was a special paint chip book especially for bikes. It was a suzuki yellow. The chip looked really really good. So my problem has to be somewhere with laying it on the parts. the steps to lay it down must be special, or Im missing a certain type of primer.

I have the base (yellow) and the pearl, and the clear....but Im not certain if there is a special primer to use to make the yellow pop and really match right. Thats where Im stuck. But Ill let me buddy read all your posts to see if it helps him in anyway.

Thanks guys. Keep the tips coming please....

 

[BossMan]

Not really a tip per say, but I think black huggers look really good on our bikes.

 

[Streetlethal1000]

well if it comes out completly terrable thats what i might just do. I may do a flat black front fender, a flat black tire hugger and a flat black design on the bottom of my full fairings. I just need the targa solo cover to look good because it buts up right against the stock paint. My only other option would be to put some number plates on the back end which would cover most of the targa seat cover and rear tail

 

[Zach]

sell targa

purchase OEM seat cowl

/headache

 

[Streetlethal1000]

meh....i would sell the targa on ebay, and buy a targa from the factory. Then paint the other parts with a rattle can.

But Im going to try one last time to paint them right, then try to cover it up with rear number plates, and if all else fails SELL SELLL SELL!!!!

 

[AJB]

well if it comes out completly terrable thats what i might just do. I may do a flat black front fender, a flat black tire hugger and a flat black design on the bottom of my full fairings. I just need the targa solo cover to look good because it buts up right against the stock paint. My only other option would be to put some number plates on the back end which would cover most of the targa seat cover and rear tail

Oiy! Post a pic and/or let me know how it comes out. I've an 04 yellow too and will be looking for a hugger later this season.

 

[Streetlethal1000]

Ill be with the bike this weekend. Ill take a few pictures of the mess and the resulting final outcome. Ill post them when i get it all together in some form I like.

Still looking for anyone with tips on how to use this paint, or anyone who has painted this type of yellow for an 04 before.....

 

[Zach]

what color is the base?

if it's black ABS, you're fooked.

I'm sure this color is very primer dependent.

 

[p2im0]

Here's Streetlethal's hugger vs. his rear plastic w/stock paint as it stands now. Terrible cell phone pic but it'll have to do.

My father's the one painting his parts. Definitely seems like there's something missing; he's tried:
no primer -> yellow base -> pearl -> clear
multiple types of primers -> yellow base -> pearl -> clear
white -> yellow base -> pearl -> clear

All of these result in either the primer or white being visible straight through the yellow, or the yellow not even coming close to a dark and deep enough shade to match the stock color.

Along with multiple coats of yellow to get a deeper shade, but it's still coming out too light. Almost seems like it should be a 4 stage as the current "base" yellow is more of a translucent or "tint" yellow.

Probably should have been a neutral base yellow -> multiple coats of the tint yellow to achieve a color and depth match -> pearl -> clear.

Welp, guess that's what happens when you match using paint chips + the human eye...

 

[p2im0]

double post... oops

 

[Lost1888]

I had the same problem with matching the 04 paint. It just was never quite right. I took the crowl in for a color match either by chip or the spectrum reading thingamabob. Had a highly renowned paint shop that does paint work for custom hot rods and the local custom bike builder. The closest color they could come up with was a customized 05 Honda S2000 yellow. Still didn't match especially when you were in direct sunlight. Holding the OEM crowl next to the PIT-eck hugger in the shop was very deceiving. Waste of money and waste of time.

I just end up going gloss black and am very happy with my decision. Easier to match up later on if I need to repaint plus IMO brakes up the yellow paint nicely, all yellow is just a little to much for me.

 

[Streetlethal1000]

Ill have to take a picture of the paint chips too....because these paint chips were spot on. I was a pain in the ass looking at tons of different ones. Every paint specialist at this place said it was a good match. I tend to lean towards having a special primer first. That bananna yellow is noooo where even remotly close to the paint chips

 

[Lost1888]

This is the closest they could get with the hugger painted with the S2000 yellow they did some extra tinting to.