Paint Finally Done

[1980GS1000E]

Thank you to Nessism and others- I finally finished the GS. It was a repainted copper-red before. I got some Repro Decals and some black paint, rather than the stock red cause I think it looked better, and after a few screw-ups, I am done.

 

[Baatfam]

Nice work!! Looks very, very nice.

 

[KiwiGS]

Looks great!
Now you will have to change your sig picture :-\\\

 

[1980GS1000E]

Yes, but for now, you can see the before and after.

 

[gsgeezer]

Looks great!
The decals have a great retro look and fit the shape of the tank well.

 

[Guest]

Very nice, looks way better than the previous red. Planning on stripping/polishing the cases too? That'll probably be the finishing touch.
Tony.

 

[tkent02]

I have those exact stripes on a maroon 1000, it looks much better on the black. What paint did you use? It looks very nice.
Did you take enough pictures along the way to post up a "How I Painted my Bike" thread?

 

[Dan Ruddock]

The right side looks great. Does the left side look good too.

 

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Looks like you did a great job. And as a bonus, we all know black bikes are faster too.

 

[bonanzadave]

Looks like you did a great job. And as a bonus, we all know black bikes are faster too.

Not just faster but "cooler" too.

Nice job ! That paint looks awesome !!

 

[posplayr]

Yes, but for now, you can see the before and after.

Boy I hate to say it but the black with OEM strips looks soooooooooo much better than your old plain red color :-\\\.

Very nice combo

 

[1980GS1000E]

Thanks for the cheers It was a learning experience, I can tell you. I did take some pics of the work and I can post those. I do plan on doing the cases, too. This bike runs like a top, so it does deserve it.

 

[1980GS1000E]

I have those exact stripes on a maroon 1000, it looks much better on the black. What paint did you use? It looks very nice.
Did you take enough pictures along the way to post up a "How I Painted my Bike" thread?

I used PPG black and 50 buck a quart clear.

 

[Nessism]

Looks great! Well done.

Which clear did you use?

 

[TheCafeKid]

Wow bravo man! I wish it wasn too cold to paint here already. I would really like to try my hand at it. Then again I'm kinda chicken chit about it and may never and just pay someone to do it heh.

 

[tkent02]

Don't be a puss, go paint a bike.

After about the third try it will look pretty good.

 

[posplayr]

Don't be a puss, go paint a bike.

After about the third try it will look pretty good.

I remember when I did mine ; it was tense and stressful worrying about my under the gun timeline for completion. Getting the base, pearl, clear coat, wet sand, decals and final clear coat all in the last few weeks (err days) before a rally.

What I also remember distinctly was the big sigh of relief I had after getting a presentable final finish. I was still bunch to do to ret the restore done but the paint was really stressful the first time.

Great job 1980GS1000E, Black is a scary color as well and not because it is near Halloween. It needs to be perfect to look good and your does.

 

[jive13]

Looks great.What type of spray gun did you use? I will be painting my bike (hopefully next month) and would like to now if i need to get one of those expense guns or will a cheap one do.

 

[1980GS1000E]

Looks great! Well done.

Which clear did you use?

Thanks. I used Transtar 6874 and Transtar activator. It's inexpensive and what the paint supply guy recommended. There were some issues with the final coat, though. The sticker manufacturer recommends to apply them over clear, not color, and then recoat with clear to bury them. But then they caution to go easy and light with a "dry coat" initially so the stickers won't wrinkle. It was tough getting it to go on smoothly with minimal orange peel, but I managed. Then, there was some "solvent pop" issue that required me to recut the clear and spray again. I wish I had a better compressor. The gun was a 40 buck Harbor Freight HVLP job. The color went on real easy, but the clear,,, THAT was a lot thicker out of the gun and I should have reduced it a little more.

 

[1980GS1000E]

Looks great.What type of spray gun did you use? I will be painting my bike (hopefully next month) and would like to now if i need to get one of those expense guns or will a cheap one do.

My advice is to get a powerful compressor and just make sure you know how to adjust the gun. A cheap one should work. It needs to be clean before each use, obviously.