It's ironic that I am currently working on a members top triple tree. I received this message from him:
"Here is the story. I had my old upper triple tree powder coated and the guy did a great job. Unfortunately when putting it on the bike it cracked so I had to do the long search of finding another one for the CB350F. I finally found one but my powder coater is no longer in business. So I took it to a place in LA and spent $120 dollars to have them powder coat it. Mind you the part was already completely stripped to bare metal. Well they did a shotty job. Overspray and caking was very visible. So I spent about 4 hours removing the powder coat from where the forks go in. I can't believe how horrible of a job these guys did. I'd post pictures but it breaks my heart to even look at the damn thing.
So I am looking for someone who is confident in stripping and powder coating the upper triple tree top for the cb350F. I guess just give me a price im already well into 5k and 5 years on this restore and the bike has never been put into gear."
I tell him I get $45 to do a tree so he packs it up and sends it to me. I take it out of the box and immediately notice the chipping around the fork tube holes and handle bar mounts. I suspect the issue and throw it into the stripper tank. When it comes out 10 minutes later my suspicions are confirmed, there is no blast profile on this piece at all. The metal where it was chipping is actually shiny. Different coaters will argue the value of blasting or just using a chemical etch prep.I say the only way to have the longest lasting durable finish is to blast the part, chemical prep after would be even better for added corrosion protection if it gets scratched through to bare metal. If the job is done correctly the chances of scratching through is slim at best. I also notice the coating was extremely thick which is not necessary and can be detrimental. I wish I had taken a pic before I stripped it, maybe the member has a pic he will post.
Here you can see shiny areas of the tree and really no blast profile to speak of on the rest, mistake number 1:
I also notice no one took the time to clean up the casting lines on the front, mistake number 2:
I asked the customer if he had a problem with me sanding it out, just would make a much cleaner looking finished part. He leaves it in my hands. So I spend literally about 5 minutes filing off the casting line. Charge for this=$0.00:
I have masked the fork and stem hole for blasting, then will remask for coating and plug the handle bar clamp, fork/stem pinch bolt and gauge mount holes and then coat it. I'll post a finished pic when done. I tell my potential customer when they are price shopping that I am not the cheapest coater around but there's a damn good reason for that. I don't cut corner so I don't cut pricing. You get what you pay for. I look at every part as though it is going on a show piece. I don't do any "production" coating because it is not profitable without cutting corners and it takes up too much of the time that can spent on doing quality custom work on small job lots. That's why I tell every one who wants bike parts done to find qualified custom coater and spend the money to do it right the first time, you won't regret that theory. This story is evidence, $120 to coat a tree, really? and all they did was hang it and bang it with a load of other black stuff.
