Painting, pin striping the GS the cheap way

[shirazdrum]

After some nutcase scratched the living hell out of the gas tank on the GS, every time I looked at it, it made my blood boil. I found a shop to do the work and to do it for $45.

The paint is the original black, pin stripes are metallic-goldish grey, and I bought the best paint and clear that I could find ($45).

Since the parts were in great shape it was an easy and fast job. We just finished stripping, priming, sanding and the pin striping and we'll shoot it in a few hours. The original pin stripe decals are about $65 and not wanting to pay the extortion, we decided to tape it. I took some pictures of the pin stripping tape work just in case you need to do it. The tape is $1.80 down here.

[Nessism]

Looks like you did a fantastic job. Good work.

Sorry if this sounds negative, but you can buy pinstripe tape at auto parts stores for cheap to save all that masking. I did this tank with such tape and it turned our well (I think anyway).

[shirazdrum]

That's a gorgeous tank Ed. You should do this for living. I wish i could find pinstripe tape down here but even finding fork oil is next to impossible. The girl that did the work was very nervous because i kept telling her please make it nice

I'm off to the shop to shoot the base and clear coasts. The only problem is that it's in open air and arsenal of bugs flying around. I'll keep you guys posted.

[tkent02]

The only problem is that it's in open air and arsenal of bugs flying around.

Nothing a little very fine wet sanding won't fix.

How did she get the tape on so straight?
The gap looks perfect, that's hard to do.

[Steve]

The tape is $1.80 down here.

Where is your current "down here"?

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[shirazdrum]

Nothing a little very fine wet sanding won't fix.

How did she get the tape on so straight?
The gap looks perfect, that's hard to do.

She just kept the tape stretched out going from one corner to another. She did a great job with the gap. After the first gap that she did, I just shut up and let her work.:P

This tape is great for doing two tone work I would think.

Steve, I'm in Paraguay fixing the bike. (rewiring completely, fixing fork seals, changing shocks, painting, etc...)

[nvr2old]

Looks pretty good. Make sure she/you seals the raw paint line at the filler opening with JB Weld after it's clear coated, or the gas fumes will eat the new paint.

[shirazdrum]

Well they went ahead and did it without me. And they screwed up. When I got there, they have already shot the base-coats and clears and it was already dry to touch.

What they didn't do was to make sure that the pin stripe tapes were completely sticking to tank before shooting the black coat. The tapes had been lifting off and the black paint got under them. The result is not what I would have liked but nothing I can do now. That's the price of going cheap or not having the tools to do it myself.

I can buy some pin stripe tapes from the US and have it shipped here, stick it over and clear it again, but that would be too much work. This bike goes through so much stuff that the new paint will be scratched up before I know it anyway.

From a few feet away, it looks great but the lines look like gold flakes, definitely not straight, but I guess I’ll get used to it. Or I could say that’s how I wanted it to be in the first place :P
On the bright side, the paint and clear look perfect. The dust you see in the pictures is not embedded in the clear. A good sanding with 2000 grit and a good polish should bring it to life.

[Steve]

From a few feet away, it looks great but the lines look like gold flakes, definitely not straight, but I guess I’ll get used to it. Or I could say that’s how I wanted it to be in the first place ...

That's right.

Just tell any critics "anybody can do a straight, even edge, it takes special talent to do it this way".

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[shirazdrum]

That's right.

Just tell any critics "anybody can do a straight, even edge, it takes special talent to do it this way".

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It's just sad. These people have the talent to do something right, but they have a mentality of doing it fast and cheap with the least attention to details. You have to be there the whole time and hold their hands if you want it done right.

[Redman]

I, too, am impressed at how even and straight and how parrallell the two stripes are. And how well if follows the stock pattern.

Havent seen front fender.

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[amxsteve]

Didn't really look like proper fine line painters tape and anything else will bleed. Drag cause the rest of the job looks good. Put some thicker pinstriping over the top and call it done. Great trip by the way

[shirazdrum]

Havent seen front fender.

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My front fender is at Tom Murphy's house in California. I have a chrome fender which is taller than the stock so i can fit knobies on the bike

[shirazdrum]

Didn't really look like proper fine line painters tape and anything else will bleed. Drag cause the rest of the job looks good. Put some thicker pinstriping over the top and call it done. Great trip by the way

I know that 3M makes a really nice tape, I wish I had that here. Here's the link.

[sschering]

Paper masking will do that even if you press it down right before shooting.

A good trick is to shoot a coat or two of the stripe color over the masking before shooting the main color. The extra stripe coats still bleed under but it also seals the edges so following coats don't.

Try some test panels and see how it works.