[Lowered07]

I've read through many of the paint posts, but I haven't seen anything addressing how much paint is needed. Bike ended up on its side, and I've got scratches on the large lower panel and the saddle bag. There's also the rectangular piece that goes on the side panel, and I thought I may as well fix up the mirrors while I'm at it. I went ahead and replaced the upper panel which came already painted. I bought the aerosal kit from ColorRite. It comes with a can of primer, a can of color and a can of clear coat (07 in dark cherry). Now I'm thinking I may need at least one more can of color and another can of clear coat. Anyone done this before who can share some perspective please? Has anyone tried to paint just part of a panel and have it blend with the undamaged portion?

 

[Garauld]

I don't think the '07 Dark Cherry from Colorrite is a close enough match to blend. Paint the whole thing. You can get clear paint locally and cheaper.

 

[Lowered07]

Thanks for the feedback Garauld. Was hoping to hear from the expert! Any thoughts on how much paint will be needed? 2 cans enough?

 

[Garauld]

Pictures would be useful. The large side panel uses a lot of paint depending on the color of the primer which is? I used dark gray for the '07 Cherry color. I suggest getting a 1/2 pt and spray it with a real spray gun. You'll have enough to paint more pieces the next time you fall over. I don't use spray cans so I cannot answer that question.

 

[Lowered07]

Ah yes, that would take care of things. Appreciate the tip.

 

[Linton West]

If there are scratches they will need rubbing down with possibly a skim of filler before painting, a very skilled job.
Far easier to buy new panels.

 

[Garauld]

Pictures would be helpful.

 

[Lowered07]

Here's a picture of the lower fairing. I've started working on it to get it ready to paint. Linton, I agree it would be much easier to buy new panels, but also a bit more expensive!

 

[Garauld]

Get yourself some thin finishing putty called "icing"- it edges nicely and comes in handy for all sorts of projects. I used epoxy primer for all the panels I painted.

 

[Lowered07]

The icing is a great tip. I hadn't heard of that before. I finally got around to doing my spray card. I actually used an old piece of fairing that I replaced. I taped over some sections so I could see the results right next to the original paint job. The color turned out reasonable in some lighting, but it wasn't nearly as smooth as the original. The directions say not to sand anything after primer. Any tips to getting the paint even flat? Will using some polishing compound after the fact help? I've gone this far so I'll play it out, but it's probably not going to look anything like new...

 

[Garauld]

Sand the icing, spray primer and wet sand the primer with 320/360 sandpaper on a flat pad - I use both rubber and thin wood pieces. Look for low spots and repeat. Final prime should be wet sanded with 400 - 600 grit. I used to spray large areas of icing with catalyzed clear as a sealer before priming. Don't ever sand metallic color coats - only sand primer and clear coats (use 2000 or finer paper) and then polish.