Liberace's handbag!

[Bomberclaat]

After some serious ribbing and my cruiser (xvs1100 dragstar) being nicknamed Liberace handbag I
Sat back one day and thought boll#### she is going to be painted.
One day in late 2016 a customer of mine dropped off some very special paint. . It was sat at work for a year before I had had enough of the ribbing so took the bull by the horns and started the process of everything goes black.
View attachment 57042

The paint on all the tin work is IR absorbent paint. It's the same paint used on certain aircraft .

I know she isn't everyone's cup of tea but the chrome was starting to turn and I had seriously had enough of the **** being extracted. So ?600 later I now have her back in stealth mode.

 

[rphillips]

I'll bet you can find somebody who really likes it like that. congrats.

 

[Guest]

Crikies, it looks like you even painted the rotors. If that's what you like, then that's all that matters. I think I would have used multiple tones of black instead of everything all one color. Well that's the way it looks to me. I hope you took off the chrome instead of just painting over it. Paint doesn't last very long on chrome. Not enough bite. In US dollars that comes out just shy of $760. That's quite expensive for gray or flat black or what ever that color is.

 

[Bomberclaat]

We used a different make and colour for the engine.(still black) One run out and I had the discs sorted.
The paint we used on the tank and fenders etc is weird as it changes colour when you touch it, then it returns back to original. We acid etched the chrome a couple of times then undercoated, then painted.. the bike was stripped down to bare bo####ks and everything was painted. It took 3 weeks to complete so with the Labour costs I think I paid a fair price, I know it wasn't cheap but I don't think I had my back teeth pulled

 

[Guest]

That explains everything. I've had a couple of bikes over the years that came into the shop for repairs, that they took a few cans of rattle can flat black and just went to town on everything.What do you mean the paint changes color when you touch it? Can you take pics of the change? Maybe some closer pics also. I thought the rear rack looked a different shade, but the rest all looked the same to me.

 

[Bomberclaat]

Yeah I will do when I get her back. (Got electric issues)

The paint reacts to the touch and has a green tinge to it when touched, then returns back to the black.
We tried to get it matched but the paint didn't reflect the infa red from the machine the dude was using to get the shade. Quite cool as I'm hoping it does the same to the radar that the rozzers use on their speed guns.
I'm trying to get more of the paint but it's like hens teeth as it's used for those there special aeroplanes that go stealth.

 

[Bomberclaat]

More pics of paint

More pics of paint



Here is a pic of it mid paint

 

[Bomberclaat]

More pics of paint

More pics of paint

View attachment 57054


Here is a pic of it mid paint

 

[roeme]

Nope, speed radar won't care the least bit about that paint. Neither legacy nor laser operate withing the infra-red spectrum. On top of that, military and civilian radar operate in different frequency bands. Not to rain on your parade here, but that paint is very unlikely to originate from any stealth aeroplane application.

There are civilian radar absorbent paints available, but do know they're a gimmick at most. On a bike, it's your belly or headlight that most likely is used for speed measurement, and in any case, those paints cannot fully absorb radar, they're just one of many countermeasures. The most important is not presenting any flat surface to the radar emitter, to minimize reflections. In a street speed measurement setting, one does not have any hope of doing that, since distances are so close that even angled surfaces are useful to the measurement device. Modern devices search for a valid point of measurement, and measure, within a fraction of a second.

That all-black sure looks novel, yup. Not my cuppa tea, but it's your bike, so all that matters is that it's to your liking. Also, it looks like a job properly done.

 

[Bomberclaat]

Nope, speed radar won't care the least bit about that paint. Neither legacy nor laser operate withing the infra-red spectrum. On top of that, military and civilian radar operate in different frequency bands. Not to rain on your parade here, but that paint is very unlikely to originate from any stealth ....

It is military grade as the factory I acquired it sells it to the US. Twas a lucky bugger to get it... however, stuff it, if it works then fine, if not, it makes that bike look shed loads better than what it did before.
Paint work is like artwork, very subjective.