Paint disaster / new colour

[Nurse Julie]

The black paint is Honda NH1, still widely available and if you loose the tank badge clips, or if they fall apart, I have plenty in stock.

[Robert W]

All fast drying spray cans are lacquer based. They have a high amount of lacquer thinner in them. In order to do multiple coats and multiple colors, they need to be sprayed within an hour or so or you'll get the dreaded wrinkling effect. These paints are not gasoline resistant. The high lacquer content is used to slightly dissolve the 1st coat for 2nd coat adherence. If you wait too long, like a day, you will get the wrinkle effect.

There are enamel paints which are oil based and can take up to a day or 2 to dry enough for a second coat or second color. They are more gasoline resistant but color choices are limited. These paints do not wrinkle because they don't have the same solvents in them.

The best paints would be automotive paint and a HVLP paint sprayer setup. Unfortunately, most people don't have this. I used to paint with lacquers and then finalize my paint with several coats of clear lacquer to resist gasoline spills. It worked to a certain degree if you wiped it off immediately. But now that I've gotten used to spraying automotive paints, urethane based, it's really the best and most durable way.

What you could do is paint either lacquer or enamel with spray cans, and organize with an automotive paint shop to finalize your paint job with a urethane clear coat. It won't react with either. You may have to lightly wet sand your paint job with 600 grit just to give something for the urethane clear coat to adhere to.

I am not a paint guru but I have lacquer painted a lot of motorcycles in the past like 40 years ago and just restarted painting motorcycles after teaching myself how to paint cars.

[AshimotoK0]

My experience with taking a DIY tank to an automotive paint shop  just to clear- coat was a real downer. Everyone I took it to wouldn't
 entertain it, even though I said there would be no recriminations if it turned out crap due to the DIY paint. The final straw was when I took it to a back street guy who rents space from my friend for his own spray business. He just said "dont do bikes mate ".  However, he recommended I have a go myself, which I did.....OK I had to invest in decent gear which second hand cost me around £300 but if you choose wisely (Devibiss, Sata, Iwata etc). and look after it you will always get a reasonable resale price when you have finished with it. When I went to quite a few of the back street spray guys around here around here there was no sign of an air fed mask even though they were spraying 2k. They were simply using Gersen type carbon filter masks. I saw those masks advertised on eBay being sold as suitable for painting 2k paint. However, when I  challenged the seller  if they were suitable for use with 2K isocyanate paint, he backed down saying that people use them when painting 2K outside.

[Bryanj]

Same as everything, might only be 1 in 500 that gets poisened but if you are that one!

[Seabeowner]

I have some brown candy paint supplied that came with 500ml of what is marked 2K thinners. Am I right in assuming that the nasty stuff is in the hardener which I don't have? I also have some other "normal" thinners that was supplied from elsewhere.
I intend to finish with the Spraymax lacquer and use a oil free compressor to feed me air in mask. May do outdoors or in shed with fan blowing air out. Do I need full body protection?

[DomP]

Makes me think paying to get it done is a. Safer, b. Cheaper considering purchasing all the kit and c. Likely a better job

[AshimotoK0]

Makes me think paying to get it done is a. Safer, b. Cheaper considering purchasing all the kit and c. Likely a better job

I only did it myself as I had lots of painting to do..... also, some bikes just don't justify a pro paint job financially ... the CB250RSA being a prime example.

[Matt_Harrington]

Whilst we talk about DIY painting - anyone used a LVLP spray gun as opposed to the HVLP ones. I've have always used the latter but gleaned the former maybe better for smaller items.