I am very new to paint and body work.

For the last 8 months most of my free time has been spent painting pieces of scrap sheet metal in the back yard or reading and learning on the forums and YouTube. I bought a decent compressor, air filter bank, a good gun (makes all the difference in the world), and a decent little airbrush. I have figured out how to get basecoat down nice and smooth and the new gun lays the clear out like glass. I have been fooling with pearls, metal flake, and candies from the beginning. Here are a couple of my latest pieces.




I have decided it is time to move up and try something larger. Enter my number 2 bike… a 2006 Kawasaki cruiser with 38,XXX miles. I have been wanting to paint the bags since I got them. I figure at this point I may as well paint the whole bike.



This bike has parts that are metal, plastic, and fiberglass… and each material will need a little work. From what I’ve read so far there will be a different approach to each material and each repair. I would like to get opinions on what products and processes to use to get the bike prepped properly. So here is the list…

Tank – Made of steel, has a small chip on the tank seam. Chip is only the BC and clear, OEM primer seems to be intact, zero rust. OEM finish is otherwise in very good condition.

Front and rear fender – Made of an unknown plastic, no identifying stamps or marks. There is one small scratch in the paint down into the plastic and a couple of areas where the paint has been rubbed off. OEM finish is dull, looks like someone sanded it with 2,000 grit. Could be micro cracks? It will take a shine if you hit it with some good wax, but that only lasts a week or two.

Side Covers – Again with the plastic. OEM finish is in excellent condition though.

Saddle Bags – These are aftermarket fiberglass which I bought used and have been on the bike for a few years now. They are still in the original black gelcoat. The surface is very wavy in some areas there are a few good scratches.

So, how to tackle each of these problems? What primers and sealers to use on each material? Do I need an adhesion promoter for the plastics? Is there an adhesion promoter that won’t burn the OEM finish?

Thanks!!!!

Your work looks great, so far.

Adhesion promoter only on raw plastic, and yes your auto body supplier (jobber) will be able to provide you with the right adhesion promoter. Bulldog is pretty popular...there are others.

Don't overthink the different materials. The days of worrying about flex agents are over. I'd coat everything in a good build primer or an epoxy primer (with the correct prep, of course) - and go from there.

Do some more searching, especially using the advanced search feature up above ^^

Your questions about how to prep/repair plastic, steel, fiberglass -- have been answered hundreds of times already...lot's of great threads to read up on...

Chris, is right about that overthinking the different materials thing.... That comes mostly from the good old days of lacquer/enamel systems. Modern sealer, primers, and topcoats don't shrink back like the old stuff and also are very flexible. You've obviously got your basics down pretty well, so keep reading here, and carry on.......

Thanks guys. I have done a lot of reading since yesterday, trying to work up a game plan and materials list. Started a couple of new threads on specific questions.

So, after much reading and talking with a few people this is my plan of attack:

Plastics – Sand damaged areas with 600 trying to feather out the damage while removing the least amount of OEM paint, apply adhesion promoter, follow with high build 2K primer and guide coat. Sand with 400 and repeat primer, guide coat, and sanding until nice and smooth. Lightly sand whole fender with 600.

Fiberglass – Block sand large flat areas with 180 to cut the tops off the waves. Hand sand with 180/320 to smooth out more complex areas and use 320 to scuff up remaining shiny areas. Spray a couple of coats of 2K, guide coat, and block sand with 180 followed by 320. Repeat until nice and smooth. Finish with 600.

Metal - Sand damaged areas with 600 trying to feather out the damage while removing the least amount of OEM paint, follow with 2K DTM primer and guide coat. Sand with 400 and repeat primer, guide coat, and sanding until nice and smooth. Finish up with 600 on the whole tank.

Any thoughts or feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hmmmmm..... the only thing I wouldn't trust is not doing an epoxy on the fiberglass to seal it off before going to a 2k high build. I've got into a habit of sealing off with epoxy both most plastics and fiberglass before moving on to the 2k high. Not saying you have to.... but stuff does try to sometimes "bleed" up from those surfaces.

DarrelK wrote:Hmmmmm..... the only thing I wouldn't trust is not doing an epoxy on the fiberglass to seal it off before going to a 2k high build. I've got into a habit of sealing off with epoxy both most plastics and fiberglass before moving on to the 2k high. Not saying you have to.... but stuff does try to sometimes "bleed" up from those surfaces.

No reason to epoxy the gelcoat on those bags, just shoot high build. I lost track of how many 'glass trike bodies and bike parts I've painted. Never had to seal plastics with epoxy. Maybe something bit you and you choose to.

Sanding out flaws with 4-600 prior to primer is not standard procedure. Grab a coarser grit.

I have my fingers crossed that I can get the bags flat without getting into the fiberglass. So, if I get past the gel coat and into the actual glass... would that be the point where I will need to seal?

When you say bleed through, what exactly do you mean? I am planning on painting the whole thing with a real coarse silver, taping out flames with fine line tape, then doing black on the outside and red on the inside of the flames. Pull the fine line off and I should have silver pinstripes. So we are looking at a minimum of 4 coats of BC, probably more like 6.

As for the defects on plastic fenders and tank... they are very small. I was planning on using 600 to minimize the amount of OEM paint removed. Are you saying I should start with 320?

Yeah, I know the epoxy "need" thing with me is because of being bitten by old bare gel coats that picked up stuff. Had a few more exotic plastics along the way that did the same thing. I've worked on a lot of older kit cars that sat out and weathered so I am assuming acid rain, bird crap, etc., may have gotten through and just under the gel coat to cause the bleeding up through primers. I started using the PPG DP epoxy back in the early 90's and I just never had any more of those problems.