Painting question

[arveejay]

I'm going to paint parts for 2 bikes this winter but I've been told for the plastic parts which are not solid and will flex I must use a paint which will flex a little. I'm having trouble believing the parts actually distort enough to make paint break off? Please advise as I don't want to do it twice.

[Jay B]

Yep that will happen. Find yourself some paint used for interior parts such as door panels and dashboards. Might be better.

[argonsagas]

As Jay said, Yep...it will happen. In fact, it's guaranteed to happen.

You might try a UAP/NAPA store, tell them what you need, and ask them to mix up a small batch for you. They can make whatever standard colour you want and will add a polymer that will leave the paint flexible after it dries.

For small jobs, they sell a reuseable/refillable pump spray can in their store near me, but I cannot comment on it more as I have not used it.

This will be more expensive than buying spray cans, but it's a better paint and will meet your needs, while the normal spray can results will look good, but only temporarily.

[Anonymous]

Maybe try to find the kind of paint they use on the plastic bumpers and whatnot on cars?
It doesn't seem to last as long as that on the body panels but I've seen some older cars still holding paint on their bumpers, 10 years old and more.

[Billy Ricks]

There is a paint additive called Flex that can be added to any automotive paint for use on plastic bumpers and such. Most automotive paint stores can fill aerosol cans with any paint you want so you don't have to have spray equipment. Personally I've never had a problem with paint cracking even without the additive. If you use quality acrylic enamel it is not as brittle as lacquer finishes.

[Anonymous]

Yepper! I was also going to suggest rubber bumper paint. Check out PPG brand two part paint at the automotive outlets. They can be custom blended and matched to what ever color you want. And, they will not crack or craze with normal handling...
GY

[arveejay]

OK, thanks guys. I'll check into these suggestions. I want it to look good but I'm lazy and would rather ride than spend valuable time repainting.

[Anonymous]

Years ago I painted my GT750 that had plastic side covers using a standard Automotive acrylic laquer primer , basecoat/ clearcoat . There was no problem as the plastic parts on a bike do not need to flex at all , much like a fibreglass car . My wife has an Australian Holden Calais Car that has a lot of plastic panels , again I have painted using a standard basecoat / clearcoat system with no problems. I realy think you only need to worry when you are painting soft plastic such as those rubber type bumpers used on some US cars in the 70's.
In my opinion the plastic parts are lees affected by thermal expansion than metal parts , modern paints can deal with this pretty well.

Dave

[arveejay]

I was hoping someone would tell me that. I couldn't imagine that the covers were going to flex. They seem pretty solid and I've never seen any of these bend without breaking.