Topic: Sunrise Flake Metallic - Don't we ask this question once a month?

[Geeto67]

Hey guys,

Looking at one of my old cb750 tanks (1973 750K), it appears that the Previous owner sprayed brown paint over the original sunrise flake metallic. They did it for a good reason since the paint is ruined underneath.

Anybody have any success at spraying this color?

If so how did you do it?

Where did you get the paint and what code?

pics?

Is the color the same for 1973 K and 1975 supersport?

Any good motorcycle sprayers in the downstate NY area that will lay the paint on for less than a Grand?

[SteveD CB500F]

You need to talk to Don Dirtbiker - see the FAQs

[Geeto67]

yeah I was kinda hoping not to talk to don dirtbiker...and also get some pics out of the deal...

Anybody?

[DONDIRTBIKER]

woaha  - im offended by that remark, can you tell me why.

hope it wansnt anything i did

[Bill Vaughan]

Geeto,

If you're looking for a good tank painter, I'd highly recommend Brad Gingerich (BK Custom Coatings) in Brantford, Ontario.  Earlier this year he painted the bike you see pictured aside my reply.  It's the original Honda color (Candy Orange) as matched from a small section of the original tank.  It is an EXACT match.  He also painted on the black accents in the original pattern.  This guy is very talented and a pleasure to conduct business with.

Price for two side panels and the tank came to $600 Canadian, which was about $425 or so American.  Shipping (to/from New Jersey) wasn't that bad and took only a few days.

I've seen other posts here that equally praised his work.  Check out the link below:

http://www.reproductiondecals.com/default_frameset.html?moreinfo_bk_custom.html~main

Best of luck.
 

[Geeto67]

woaha  - im offended by that remark, can you tell me why.

hope it wansnt anything i did

Not at all Don, Sorry to offend.

I am a newbie sprayer and I wanted to try spraying my first heavy metalflake so I wanted to hear from people who had actually sprayed this color and see some examples. I guess I was being a little pissy because on this site when you ask a question about paint they just say to call you and then I get no other responses.

I also wanted to know some local guys so I could pick their brain. I imagine eventually I will probably have to get the paint from ya, it's just I wanted to hear what others had done, but from the looks of it hardly anybody on this site paints their own bike.

[dusterdude]

geeto,if you have a side panel or other piece of the bike that has good color on it,take it to a good paint store and have them computer color match it.in new yawk city it shouldnt be too hard to find painters to hang with.im gonna paint mine if i ever get around to it

[Geeto67]

geeto,if you have a side panel or other piece of the bike that has good color on it,take it to a good paint store and have them computer color match it.in new yawk city it shouldnt be too hard to find painters to hang with.im gonna paint mine if i ever get around to it

To have my last two bikes professionally painted cost me over $1000 a bike. Granted they are top notch show bike paint jobs done by shops that normally paint show cars, but one of those bikes wasn't even worth $1000 before I had it painted. People here are really protective of their trade and even my friends who paint cars are unwilling to give up the trade secrets. They woudl rather I just pay them to do it and that is where I get hit with the $1000 tab. I don't know any motorcycle painters and the few that I have heard of only spray harleys. As far as computer color matching one of my friends with a body shop told me that the reflectiveness in heavy flake throws off the color matching and you can end up with a color that is slightly lighter. I don't know if that is true or not but I dont really have a color sample to test that out anyway. The closest I have is a small sliver that was under some paint and primer on both the right side cover and the tank.

I know Don can hook me up with the color, what I was more interested in is the different stages of the paint and the technique. some people in the past have mentioned this paint might be a candy (I think they may be confused with candy orange). Really I just wanted to see who (besides Don) was knowledgable with how to apply the paint.

[dgmiller]

I just refinished four CB550 tanks in candy jade green and was able to get an almost perfect match with House of Kolor paints.  Did the painting myself with a HVLP gun and the results were very good.  I prepped the tanks by sanding to bare metal, laying down 3 coats of primer with wet sanding in between.  Then applied 3 base coats (gray metallic) with a light wet sanding between coats and then applied the candy top coat (lime green).  Waited for that to dry, applied acrylic laquer for the black "gore", added the graphics and clearcoated.  A lot of work but it was lots of fun and if you take you time, it is not hard.  HOK paint ain't cheap but the results are worth it!

[dgmiller]

... forgot to add, both the tank and side covers on the bike in my avatar were painted by me with HOK paint.

[dusterdude]

geeto,there are a butt load of books and magazines on painting,i know hot rod and car craft do a panit and body thing at least every other month,there are also some good videos available to learn from too.

[Geeto67]

geeto,there are a butt load of books and magazines on painting,i know hot rod and car craft do a panit and body thing at least every other month,there are also some good videos available to learn from too.

Yeah I have a lot of that stuff, but shooting heavy flake is different from most of what they have covered.

Dgmiller,

Thanks for the input. It's nice to see a beautiful paint job not done by a pro shop.

Did you use a flake that had to be mixed into the paint or was it a pre mix?

How heavy is the flake under the candy jade green?

What type of nozzle did you have to use to spray the metallic?

how many coats of the candy color did it take to get the shade right?

[dusterdude]

i will say for big flake you need a bigger air cap on the gun thats for sure and maybe a bigger needle and air valve too.

[DONDIRTBIKER]

hey geeto67 , no offense  taken , just giving you a hard time., i think you will get probably 10 different answers on how people apply heavy metalflake, i for one can give you my 2 cents. i first start of with a good glass beadblasted part, any good auto body shop can do this for you for around 60 to 100 bucks for it all. (leave the part looking new)then i clean this real good and mask of areas i dont want painted. then i apply the 2 part  epoxy primer (3 coats) this goes on kinda thick, i use a cheap gun to apply this. i then let dry overnight (at least 24 hours at 70 degrees or above) then lightly sand to remove all imperfections and tidbits. then i apply my silver base coat with the larger metalflake in with this, i(i add poweder metaflake) then spray 3 coats of this. i use a sata rp, 1.3 nozzle and i can spray this if i back out the needle a bit and agitate the cup (shake it around) while im spraying. after i have a nice smooth final coat i will let dry for 20 to 40 minutes and start the kandy(you cant sand metalflake without applying a intercoat clear(repeat- never sand metalflake) i dont feel you need to do this step anyways. (honda didnt) i will apply the candy coats using a 75% overlap method.  never start or stop spraying while on  the object. ( this will ensure no clouding or lines are visible)  if possible use an original part for reference to match the color that whay you will know when to stop applying coats. i apply real light coats and slowly bring the color on( the biggest mistake people make with my kits is getting overzealous with the candy coat).
thats because once you start applying the candy it becomes a thing of beauty and will hypnotize you    but seriously this is where it starts to really shine and look amazing. just  take your time and apply very light coats till you reach you desired color tone. be sure to allow enough dry time in between coats (depends on temp) the apply the final clear coats, 3 is fine but some like to go nuts and really get a deep shine( original is about 3 coats) let dry for 24 hours and  wet sand with 1000 grit then 1200 grit wet dry sandpaper. then apply one or 2 good final heavy coats. let dry 24 again and wet sand a polish or just ride it.walla- dont wax and i would be carefull not to spill anything on this (gas) for a least a month just to be safe. your new paint job will never fade like the early hondas did  and should last a lifetime. 114 bucks well spent and you did it yourself.
now some my not agree with my technics and to each his own but i have  done many bike ,harleys,scooter you name and no complaints yet. this method works for me but not everyone.

[dgmiller]

Geeto67:  Thanks for the kind wurdz.  I'm about to shoot four other side covers the same color provided the weather warms up a little down here in Tejas. 

The metallic basecoat was premixed and had very small metallic particles (not really flakes).  HOK calls it "Shimirin'" basecoat Galaxy Gray BC-03 and the fire it produces in the sun is awesome.  The nozzle is the standard issue with my HVLP set to deliver a medium paint flow with a wide fan at 50 psi.  It took five coats to get the shade right and I had no problem with striping that seems to be common with candies.  I have the factory flake sunrise orange tank and side panels that originally came on the bike and there are definately large flakes present in that base coat so I would think that mix would have to include the addition of larger flakes than the "stock" mix.  As I recall from the paint chips, HOK had a close match to flake sunrise orange.

Hope this helps.

Danny

[dusterdude]

don,your method sounds good to me

[mylittleho]

www.paintucation.com

[kmenzel]

Did anyone ever post some pictures of this color after they had it repainted.  I am seriously thinking about switching form the boss marroon over to the sunrise flake metallic when i get the bike rully restored. If anyone had some high quality digital pics it would be greatly appreciated.