Powder Coated Parts

[isleoman]

Got my pieces back from the Powder Coater. Only took pics of the wheels so far. Lighting isn't too great in my basement but its heated and de-humidified so I can't complain

First is the original RF900 rear after getting rear ended by Chevy Pick up



Bandit replacement was in very nice condition but the color was similar to the RF900 sort of a black gray and I knew my GSXR1100 front was peeling and wanted both front and back to match so went gloss black. It's shiny, probably going to be high maintenance



Here's the front and back together, they finally match now.



Now the brake rotor carriers are gonna look plain. It never ends.

[Tarbash 27]

Those look great, I should have done mine in gloss black. I powdercoated my gs1000 wheels satin black instead.

[jwhelan65]

Does anyone else have the feeling we are going to see something remarkable with this build?

[isleoman]

Thanks, the gloss does show up dirt and even finger prints pretty badly. The powder coater did a nice job but to be honest he didn't have much in the way of paint chips to review. Said he could get anything but only had about 30 stock colors he kept on hand. I would have liked to see a bunch of small metal plates done up in different colors.

I went with satin black ceramic on the Yosh header which came out nice but not as eye catching. Hopefully less maintenance for a hard to reach part.

I asked about either powder coating or ceramic coating my Earl's oil cooler while it was off and he highly recommended against it. Said the ceramic would hold the heat in and the powder was too thick. He recommended light coat of high temp rattle can spray. Got to give him credit for turning the work away when he knew it wasn't the right application.

[isleoman]

Does anyone else have the feeling we are going to see something remarkable with this build?

Thanks Joe, Don't know about remarkable, just want to get it back to pre crash condition.

When I got up close to my original frame during the stripping process it really had gotten pitted over the years. Looked good from 3' but up close was aging. Got my monies worth out of it though when you consider it had 107K on it.

[posplayr]

Got my pieces back from the Powder Coater. Only took pics of the wheels so far. Lighting isn't too great in my basement but its heated and de-humidified so I can't complain

First is the original RF900 rear after getting rear ended by Chevy Pick up



Bandit replacement was in very nice condition but the color was similar to the RF900 sort of a black gray and I knew my GSXR1100 front was peeling and wanted both front and back to match so went gloss black. It's shiny, probably going to be high maintenance



Here's the front and back together, they finally match now.



Now the brake rotor carriers are gonna look plain. It never ends.

They sure are pretty, but you WILL have your work cut out for you. I just painted those two tanks BLACK and they show every bit of dust.

Glad things are coming along.

[bonanzadave]

This is gonna be great !!!

[isleoman]

Here's a pic of the ceramic coated Yosh in satin black. The can had some scuffs from the incident so I did some polishing to try and get some of them out. Made the mistake of using a wire wheel to start. That brings out a grain in the aluminum that then took quite an effort to get out. Still needs some work up close to the emblem.



Here's a closer view of a dis-assembled Yosh collar. Powder coater suggested drilling out the three rivets that holds it on to the mid pipe. Good idea as it allowed him to do a better job applying the ceramic without having to mask the collar also gave me opportuity to buff it out. That's a stock baffle up top there. Hard to believe that header has been in use since 1984 and at least 90K miles. Of course it got painted every few years or so with hi tem rattle can. We'll see if ceramic lasts any longer.

[Mysuzyq]

Looks great Isleoman! I had my system (Wolf) ceramic coated (the same low gloss satin black as yours) in '03 and it proved extremely durable. Cosmetically, the pipes did lighten up about two shades over a period of 6 years and 25,000 miles though. Couple months ago, I scuffed up the finish a little, and shot a couple coats of the new VHT black ceramic hi-temp paint over it, and it looks renewed and has adhered very well (probably because the underlying coating still insulates it to a large extent).

What's the sound level like with these Yosh cans? The Wolf is of similar design, but uses a larger dia canister... that serves to lower sound levels, and makes for a deep exhaust note.... not too loud, except at high revs.

Tony.

[isleoman]

Thanks Tony,

Good info. Looked up a pic of your bike, the Wolf can is pretty short too. Can't imagine its that much quiter than a Yosh

I wrap the baffle with fiberglass packing and then wrap that with a couple layers of ballistic kevlar. I love the sound from idle up to about 4000 rpm, low and throaty but after that its too loud for my tastes. I prefer the whisper quite stealth sound of modern stock pipe but they are so big they would never look right on an old skool. I have a stock carbon R1 can that will bolt up and it does provide excellant mid range after adjusting the RS needles but it looks totally out of place. The only good thing about the noise level is it probably slows me down some because I prefer not to hear it for long.

Got a ticket last year on the GS going around a local lake. I had been getting on the pipe coming up a hill (maybe 50 mph in a 30) and as I crested the hill there was the LEO out of his car waiting for me. He had been sitting at a boat ramp and like they say he heard me coming and the echo from the lake just made it that much worse. So I'm a believer in stealth. Plus I don't like to pi$$ people off or turn them off to bikes.

[Mysuzyq]

That's before the 'touch up'.

Yup, it is short too, but larger dia can. I;m thinking of bidding on the Yosh on ebay, but wanted an idea of the sound level...don't want something real loud, esp for long highway rides. The Wolf baffle is identical to the one you pictured above....I re-wrapped mine in fiberglass too (no kevlar though...didn't think of that!). If the sound levels are roughly comparable, I (along with everyone else eh ) would like to try & acquire a Yosh.
Tony.

[jwhelan65]

Mr Leo,

That pipe looks new, amazing! more please...

[tejasmud]

Parts look awesome!!!

In opinion, your painter is a good one to mention the painting of the oil cooler. I would have assumed the same. Rattle can painted mine too.

I deal with powder coat paint every day on our products, have seen them after salt spray tests, from out of the field in acceptable usage after years of service, and supervised a powder paint line which we masked and painted 1000s of aluminum parts daily. We did formulation tests daily as well. The powder formulations are really good these days, and much better than in the past. Best is to have the parts irrodited and not run through the phosphate wash. Just masked and painted.

Although...

One thing bad about powder paint is when used on aluminum, one little ding in the surface can lead to a compounded corrosion issue if not maintained. The corrosion will will creep under the paint, and for a long while never even be noticed till a big flake peels off. Especially where galvanic cells can develop from mating parts. Powder paint is also subject to ozone and UV, and will fade and chalk. But, as with any paint a good wax or polymer to protect it will keep the paint looking like day one.

Really, powder coat painted parts need loving too. It is just real easy to just leave them as received from the painter since they just look so beautiful.

[doctorgonzo]

I'm watching that pipe as well, hope we don't run it up against each other, though I am not willing to go that high. Crappy old V&H on mine.

Those wheels look INCREDIBLE!