I'm looking for a start to finish how-to on painting fairings myself, starting from removing the race stripes to a high gloss clear coat.

Yes, I've searched all over, but have not found answers to all of my questions: (I know this is kinda long, but please answer what you can :cheers)

1.) My fairings are painted with race stripes from the factory. How do I get the stripes off and go about sanding down the paint properly (i.e. what grit is best to get the paint off then put a good, prepped surface on for base coat)?

2.) I have a few dents that need to be repaired...what kind of filler should I use and how do I go about properly applying it and sanding it?

3.) I want to rattle can this, I don't have the cash to get a hold of spray guns and good quality paint. What's the best primer to use, how many coats, and what grit paper should I use in between coats and to finalize the primer?

4.) What is the best paint to use (I've hard that Krylon Fusion is not the best to use for this)? How many coats, how much time in between coats, what grit paper in between coats, and what grit too finish off the paint?

5.) Clear coat: should I use 2-3 coats of spray lacquer and work up to 2000 grit to finish it off with a nice gloss? Or is there a better method?

I am more mechanical than a paint pro. These are regular street plastics on an 03' 600 from the factory, not race glass or anything like that. Any advice is appreciated guys

P.S. I also have a few small cracks that I have used small holes and zip ties to "stitch" together, but is there a better way to safely get rid of the cracks? And, is the process the same for the tank as the fairings?

Im in the middle of doing the exact thing on my 04 750 right now. for the vinyls, use a razor blade to pull up a corner and little by little you can remove it by hand. now that will leave a nasty adheasive on the fairing that is pretty unsandable. Use rubbing alcohol to remove it. I used commercial grade isopropyl, just pour it over the adheasive and use the same razor blade to scrape the goo off. It comes off rediculously easy with the alcohol. I used 220 grit to pull of the clear coat. It works pretty well but once you get down to the base coat the paper loads up pretty fast, i used compressed air to unload the sandpaper and i got both fairings done with about 4-5 sheets. For filler i used standard 3m bondo. Directions are self explanitory. once you sand the fairing, lay the bondo in thin layers, allow 24hrs to dry hard and then use the same 220 to smooth it into the body lines. If you have hairline cracks in the plastic no biggy the bondo, even the primer/filler, will do that. If its a through crack, i would either do a plastic repair kit on the backside, or fiberglass cloth and resin on the backside. That "plastic weld" epoxy style glue works amazing, but dries in seconds so work fast. All of it does really, fiberglass resin, bondo, and epoxy, all begin to harden within a minute or so. Take your time but do it fast lol. Currently i have my fairings primed with one coat thats been drying for about 48hrs. Im going to wet sand with 800 or some 1200. Keep in mind im painting my fairings a matte black so i want a little bit of texture in my primer. if you going after a gloss you may want to use 2000 or something but im not sure. ill post a link to my post later tonight, i have more wet sanding to do!

Yea I have a pretty good idea of how to do everything, but I've never painted anything other than my walls before, so I'm trying to get the details straight. Sounds liek you know what you're talking about, so good luck and post pics when you're done.

I will be going with either haven't decided on gloos or matte yet, but either way it will be either black or gunmetal.

What type of paint are you using? Spray fed, rattle can, etc?

I'm not trying to be an ass here, but surely you can't be serious? I have done many of paint jobs in my life. In fact in trade school many years ago, I majored in Autobody.

I just can't see how you are even going to attempt this never painted before?

I'm not looking for a completely professional look, just something to give it a nice touch and get rid of the scratches on my fairings. I am very handy and have been fine doing all of my own work so far, both cosmetic and mechanical. I am polishing my frame at this point and think that new paoint would go great with it. I figure I can try, and if I screw it up bad enough then I can take it to someone else. But for now, I enjoy working on bikes and always want to learn something new.

Everyone has to start somewhere

I agree with Pro Lux Racing. Can it be done ... yes ... but the odds are against you.

If you still decide to do it, take a look at this thread ...

http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=284428

... and find / buy a cheap busted / cracked fairing to practice on.

-Doug

i say giv'er first paint job i ever did was on this bike......turned out great

i say giv'er first paint job i ever did was on this bike......turned out great

Yea, I've actually had a bunch of guys say that they've just rattle canned and sanded the right way and had pretty decent results...we'll have to see when I get around to it how it comes out

Yea iv never painted anything other than car rims. Not to contradict your schooling or anything but its not something you need to learn in school. Once you get the feel for it you got it. Spray off to off surface and really light coats. My aunt with down syndrome could spray a decent coat if i showed her how. I sprayed my first coat of matte last night. Looks good. the first coat didn't even exactly cover all of the primer but thats fine. You dont need it to. You need the coats to be very thin so they have a chance to dry. I am using rattle can so thats why its so important that you make the coats thin. Not to mention you want to prevent runs as much as possible. That will have you up in arms, pissed off. If you get un wanted runs you must let the coat dry, sand it back down, re prime and re coat. Its a bitch. Ill post some pics up in like a half hour.

here we go

more

a few more pictures

Last one.

looks pretty good, very clean and smooth...how does it look in person being done with a rattle can? I can only tell so much thorugh the pics.

I wanna do this to my fairings, but have some pretty significant cracks. The worst is the front ledge of my left fairing where it meets the ram air duct...a piece about 3"x1" completely snapped off, and I rigged it back on by drilling small holes and using zip ties (kind of like stitches). The other is where my tail fairing mounts under the seat. It is somewhat load bearing (minor pull keeping the fairing setting right) but I did the same "stitch" trick to keep it together.

How could I go about fixing these well enough that I could sand them safely?

And mrkubanftw, are you using 600 grit in between each primer coat only? Or did you move up higher too 800ish before painting? Last, whats the best grit to finish the paint off with to apply a clear coat?