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Hey guys. I recently repainted my emblems with a few tips from other folks on the board. I would have purchased new ones, but they come in gold and I really needed the chrome look so as not to clash with the rest of the bike. I did this for both the side and tank emblems
I'll keep this pretty short.....
1. First I stripped the existing paint using aircraft remover. Easy.
2. Next I applied some primer paint. I did maybe 3 or 4 coats just to lay a simple base. I used an enamel primer from duplicolor.
Note: Someone had suggested laying down vasoline on the portions of the emblem where I did not want paint sticking. My initial attempts at this failed pretty significantly, and here's why... Vasoline is incredible difficult to limit to a specific area, even with a Q-Tip. Though it was very easy to remove the paint from the vasolined areas, it tended to get on the sides of the letters too, thus creating an uneven line.
3. I painted over everything with caliper paint. I chose caliper paint over engine enamel or regular paint just because it was thicker, and I thought it might be more resistant to gas or wear in the long run, no other reason.
4. I put two or three medium coats on the emblems. I let them sit for about two hours.
5. Using my thumb nail, I slowly began scratching off the paint from the front of the letters. I was very careful not to scratch it off of areas where I wanted it to remain. Timing is the key here. After more than two hours it begins to get harder and harder to scratch off the paint. Before two hours then it hasn't hardened all the way and it can peel off some paint from the sides. I use my nail because its hard enough to scrape it off, but not hard enough to hurt the finish
Anyway, I ask so darn many questions here I thought I might be able to provide someone else information. Hope this helps.
I'll keep this pretty short.....
1. First I stripped the existing paint using aircraft remover. Easy.
2. Next I applied some primer paint. I did maybe 3 or 4 coats just to lay a simple base. I used an enamel primer from duplicolor.
Note: Someone had suggested laying down vasoline on the portions of the emblem where I did not want paint sticking. My initial attempts at this failed pretty significantly, and here's why... Vasoline is incredible difficult to limit to a specific area, even with a Q-Tip. Though it was very easy to remove the paint from the vasolined areas, it tended to get on the sides of the letters too, thus creating an uneven line.
3. I painted over everything with caliper paint. I chose caliper paint over engine enamel or regular paint just because it was thicker, and I thought it might be more resistant to gas or wear in the long run, no other reason.
4. I put two or three medium coats on the emblems. I let them sit for about two hours.
5. Using my thumb nail, I slowly began scratching off the paint from the front of the letters. I was very careful not to scratch it off of areas where I wanted it to remain. Timing is the key here. After more than two hours it begins to get harder and harder to scratch off the paint. Before two hours then it hasn't hardened all the way and it can peel off some paint from the sides. I use my nail because its hard enough to scrape it off, but not hard enough to hurt the finish
Anyway, I ask so darn many questions here I thought I might be able to provide someone else information. Hope this helps.
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