Painting not powdercoating?

[barbwire44]

Well im getting ready to paint my 250r frame, I'm not going to powdercoat , but would like to know what type of paint you suggest using. Laquer, enamel,etc. I want a metal flake paint.:D

["BLAHH"300!!]

i did mine monday. i was just ganna go over my swingarm and a-arms. looked good..i did it in about the same color grey as the stock paint so if it chips it wont be too noticable..
when i got the a-arms back on i notied where they tied in was a slitly differant color so i did the front of the frame..got carried away next thing i know i'm under the seat hittin' that part of the frame. i'm sure it will chip but you know. and i'm not sure what kind of paint it was . i threw it away after i was done with it.
are you stripping your bike before you paint it.?. i took off my a-arms and undid the bottom of the rear shock but for the frame i just put a piece of cardboard between stuff..you know...looks' good i did mess up on the bottom .right where the shifter is i got a little paint on the side case..but hardly noticeable. take your time with it.and don't use too much paint...just enugh

[muff]

i just finished putting my 300 back together after painting it, i used PJ1 frame paint and PJ1 primer that i found at the honda shop, i removed everything off the frame, sanded it pretty good, primed it and the next day i painted it, the overall quality of it is pretty good but you have to make sure you let the paint dry a few days if you want it to be nice and shiny

[R-Crazy]

why sis you guys ot not to powercoat or gusset (sp) it? does it weaken the frame?

dave

[R-Crazy]

lets try this again.

why did you guys opt not to powercoat or gusset(sp) it? Does it weaken the frame?

dave

[CBW]

yeah:huh ...............
why go through all the work to tear it down..........and not powdercoat the frame...........it is not that much more
and to 300ex rules........neither gusseting or powdercoating weakens the frame.....

[muff]

i didnt powder coat because i dont want to spend the $ for it, plus I dont know anyone around here that does it

[CBW]

i could not find any one here to do it either so i know what you mean..........plus that is why i decided to start doing it myself.......

[barbwire44]

Answer: I weigh about 235 lbs. And powdercoating doesnt weaken the frame ,,but aahh ya theres a but to this one: But the sandblasting required to powdercoat does, any time you sanblast metal extensively you will releive the stress in the metal and all of the welds. It is in a welders term the same thing as peening. Peening is a process used on a lot of cast irons while there being welded, It is just a way to releive stress so the cast won't crack.Peening is like taking an air hammer and rapping away on metal. Sandblasting does pretty much the same thing. I have a friend i deal with who owns a large macine shop that could have got me a deal on a powdercoat job for my frame for $100.00 bucks but after talking to his brother in law, (the one who has the paint shop) he said over the past few years he has had some problems with welds cracking on the off-road frames he had powdercoated, and with some research had come to the conclusion it was the sandblasting that was taking the stress out of the welds. He said i would have no trouble if just trail riding. but wasn't suggesting it, if i wanted to motocross or jump alot. And the final deciding factor for me was that he had three bikes brought back in the last 6 months with welds cracking and all three were 250r's , so i figured it was in my best interest not to do it. I did however have my frame sandblasted but i just barely hit the metal just enough to get the loose paint off and some of the hard to sand spots but like i said i was very gentle with the blaster and only did a few spots that i couldnt reach to sand. By the way the metal flake candy apple blue looks great.:D

[CBW]

so use chemical strippers...........it only takes a little more time:D and from what i have seen when the frame gets sandblasted they miss spots that have to be stripped anyway or the paint will bleed through......especially on light colors....

["BLAHH"300!!]

....to get it powder coated....i do plan on it though...but not untill my motor is reworked..whats the point in a clean pretty bike with no-power?...plus i didn't really meant to paint the whole frame..
i was just planning on doing the a-arms and the swing-arm...then kinda got carried away...but it looks' good..i havn't ridin' it since i painted it..except to load it onto the truck...i'm ridin' it today and tomarrow ..today's just ganna be a little cruise with some utility type quads...freinds havin' a birthday (excuse) for a party..but tomarrow will be the test....weeds, sticks', jumps, prolly a little mud n water, gravel....we'll see how she holds together..but like i said in an earlier post...the paints pretty close to stock so it shouldn't be "too" noticeable if/when it chip's...i'm ganna put that color through the test over the next few weeks..if it doesn't scratch or chip too bad...i'm ganna start lookin' for a silver mettalic type color.with the glitter in the paint...and redo it with that....if maier will hurry up and release this silver metalic plastic...i plan on having the frame powder coated a bright (not nornmal yellow) a bright neaon type yellow like on the "EX" sticker that came with my 300...hit the frame with that...a good blue for the hubs and other little easy to reach parts' a blue graphix kit...(prolly a troy lee..flamin' dragons) and order me another stock 300ex sticker from service honda and cutt off the 300 part again..leaving the "EX" on it like now....we'll see...i got plans for the little thing.i just hope their not too far fetched and too far away.....
later....

[Matt Fisher]

Another disadvantage to powdercoating is it hides cracks. Common in the road racing world to just paint parts, since regular parts inspections are the norm. Having an a-arm break at 150 mph can be very hazardous to your health.

The advantage to the powercoating is it's durability, something that's tested more so in the dirt than asphalt. Always a trade-off...