Motorcycle Repaint – “How hard can it be?”

Many people who own older bikes may have thought to themselves – why not have a go at repainting the bike at home.

Well I’ll admit, I’m one of those people. And I have taken matters into my own hand, with those around me being extremely divided about the topic. I am going to repaint my bike, and because I’m inherently a bargain hunter, I will attempt to do so on a small budget (yet aiming for the best possible finish!). So following my usual approach for everything, it will take a lot of work, a lot of time, and perhaps a bit of luck.

Repaint Strategy – in order to minimise risk I am going to paint replacement bodywork for my bike. Luckily, because my Honda CB500 is a very common motorcycle, used bodywork is readily available on Ebay and not very expensive. Below find a step by step guide I’ve set for myself:

Step 1. Purchase replacement bodywork;

- Tank

- Side panels (2x)

- Tail piece

- Mudguard (front)

- Tank shrouds (optional – as I haven’t been able to find any yet!)

Step 2. Repair and Prepare; all body panels will be sanded down thoroughly, any rust removed, dents and scratches repaired as far as possible. Once this is done (I’ve set myself a timeframe of 3-4 weeks to do this, since I’ll only get time in the weekends, and I’m quite lazy really), I will prime all bodywork with a rattle can of grey primer (Halfords – 400ml for £5.99 I think). Two to three layers should do.

Step 3. Design; Now my husband keeps insisting I’m doing all this the wrong way around, but after prep work, or during, whenever I get spare time with a graphics software, I’ll have to come up with a design for the paint work. Keeping in mind I’m a total novice to custom automotive painting, I’ll have to keep it fairly simple, or practice like mad in order to find out where my limitations are.

Step 4. Equipment; Depending on what design I’m going with, I’ll have to get painting equipment. At the moment I’m inclined towards using an HVLP spray system for the bulk of the work, and airbrush the detailing. So I will need to buy the HVLP system, a compressor and perhaps another airbrush (the one I have is very basic).

Step 5. Materials; obviously only if I’m totally sure about the colour scheme, I will need to purchase some paint. Considering I don’t have a professional spray booth, or even a garage to my disposal, I would like to use water-based paint, minimising any health risks I’m exposing myself to.

Step 6. Execution; actually paint the bodywork. I’ll have to do this outdoors in the garden, so will need to pick a few weekends with good weather forecasts… All bodywork will need to stay outside for drying even!

Step 7. Installation; the big swap over from old body to new… Like changing the bike’s clothes! Before I do this I’ll need to make sure the tank I’m currently using doesn’t have a whole lot of fuel in it, because I doubt my landlord would appreciate petrol spills on the driveway.

Step 8. Finishing touches; maybe the custom fever has gripped me so much by then, that I’ll want to do a whole new host of things to the bike, like paint the rims or something crazy like that, change the seat cover maybe? I don’t know… I’ll see once it happens.

Throughout this entire process, obviously I’ll keep posting updates and pictures of how I’m getting along. If you’ve got a project of your own which you’d like to share, please do let me know. The more the merrier!