Paint

[Yellownuts]

Hey guys , looking into painting my bike soon, what's the most common used, enamel ? , powder coating ?, lacquer ? , water based ?, not looking for a show bike just a good looking finish that will last ,,,,,

 

[CarPlayLB]

I like powder coat for a couple reasons. One, it is very durable, and two, I am lazy! Drop off the parts and pick 'em up when they're done! However, the purists don't like this approach as classic minibikes were all painted. I like it ...cause I'm lazy and not a restorer!

my .02

 

[125ccCrazy]

Eric is correct about powder coating, it's much more durable but if your bike needs a lot of body work like the crap I find in the northeast painting is pretty much the only option...I prefer automotive paint with two part urethane clear for a show finish...

 

[buckeye]

I have stripped and sanded more than I like but, for some crazy reason, I enjoy that part of building these things.
By the time I figure in costs of all needed supplies, sandpaper, wire brushes, acetone, stripper, primer, more sandpaper, paint, more,sandapaper, more paint, sandpaper, clear, buffing compound, and most importantly, my time, it's cheaper and easier to powder coat. And with me, a whole lot less scratches than paint.

I will powder coat most all my builds since my last poor attempt at painting.

 

[ole4]

I love painting and also use DTM epoxy primer then basecoat clearcoat. Comes out very nice but I agree with buckeye it is a lot less time consuming to go get it powdercoated and these days with clear powder they come out almost as good. My problem is the local powder coater screwed me over once and I won't ever go back. If TXPOWDERCOATER was closer I would use him instead of painting. His work is outstanding.

 

[capguncowboy]

Another vote for powder coat. I even picked up a paint gun a few months back and it hasn't seen daylight yet. I still recommend painting the engines and gas tanks though

And yes, if you go Powder Coat, Tim (TXPowderCoater) is an incredibly reasonable guy to work with. He did my 70 Rupp Roadster recently and it turned out miles better than I had expected!