Any advice on painting Samsonite sidebags?

[ThreeTimer]

When I bought my GS last year, the PO threw in a pair of Samsonite hard sidebags. I did a "how do they look" fitment yesterday, and they look really big on the bike. I am thinking that if I could paint them to match the bike's paint scheme (white/ivory with blue stripe), they might not appear quite so huge. However I'm not sure what approach will get paint to stick to these. They have that typical Samsonite surface - slick and textured - and I fear rattle-can paint will just peel off.

Anyone ever done this, or something similar?

BTW, New England weather has finally turned the corner. Most excellent weekend of riding!

ThreeTimer

[78550Detroit]

I am a painter in the collision repair buisness and my suggestion would be to take a 3M Red scuff pad or any red scuff pad wich you can probably get at your auto parts store. Take the red scuff pad and some ajax using water on the pad and scuff the parts to be painted. Make sure that you rinse off the parts real good to ensure that there is no residue left from the ajax. I use this process on new bumper covers and I have never had any peeling problems. You might also want to use an adhesion promoter also. If there is an auto body paint supply store by you , you should be able to take the part up there and ask there advice also. Is there any paint on them already or are they still in the factory primer color? If they are already painted a good scuff with the ajax and water should be sufficient to let the new paint stick. I would suggest using a basecoat/clearcoat system instead of rattlecan paint for better durability.

[bwringer]

Just start with a primer intended for plastics, and you should be OK. Plastics primer is a lot easier to find these days. It would probably be best to stick to the same brand primer as the paint you plan to use.

If there's old paint on there, you'll want to scuff it up pretty good, of course.

[Mike_H]

I have had pretty good luck with Krylon's platic paint. I think its called Fusion. I work in an injection molding plant, and have to paint some reject parts red. The plastic has a pebbled texture, typical in the automotive industry. Anyway, No priming, and the paint has stuck very well. The parts are going on 4 mos old, and they get handled very roughly. Give it a shot.