How to restore the paint on your motorcycle frame ?

Many motorcycle owners want to customize or refurbish their beloved machines. Can you redo your motorcycle paint when you are not a professional painter and you are not equipped with painting equipment ? Painting the frame of a motorcycle is a little less easy than painting the fairings, however the defects are more tolerated there. Here we explain how to prepare the frame of the motorcycle before painting, which paint to choose and some tips for the technical side of spray or spray painting.

Clearly, the work will not be possible without a complete disassembly. Matt or glossy color, as well as primers or varnishes, must cover all tubular surfaces. You must be able to access all areas with your pistol or aerosol.

After this disassembly, and before hanging the different parts on iron wires at a sufficient height to facilitate the work and rotate the parts effortlessly, the parts must have been meticulously prepared: particular care must be taken to the preparation of the support, with the steps that we detail below.

How to apply paint to the frame of your motorcycle ?

The perfect preparation consists of:

Meticulous sanding of the old paint, to create a good adhesion, with 500 grit sandpaper (wet or dry). No, there is no point in trying to strip the old one (bottom) if it is not rusty or if it does not peel off.
If the bottom is too bad to keep, then we must sandblast down to the metal, with a fine grain. In this case, it will be necessary to re-prime with an anti-corrosion primer.
After sanding, cleaning with a degreaser, dusting and drying in order to guarantee a healthy support, which will not create defects.

The application of paint, whether 1C or 2C, is special because painting a fairing requires great flexibility of the wrist. If you have a spray gun, take care to adjust the spray jet "at the peak" so as not to put 2/3 of the paint off, especially if you have bought a very beautiful and very expensive frame paint!

If you have chosen to repaint the frame of your motorcycle, a paint with a multi-layer effect, it is really advisable to do all the steps "in sequence" one from the other, it is i.e. "wet on wet" in order to create a perfect cohesion between the layers, and also to save time and work incidentally !

Preparing a motorcycle frame properly

A metal surface needs a special primer, not only to ensure the adhesion of the paint to the support (there are adhesion primers for aluminium, primers for carbon, primers for steel... Be careful to choose the right product, otherwise, detachment is guaranteed in the more or less short term !)
This primer also has another function : to stop and prevent the development of rust.
No primer is needed on old coats of paint.

Our advice for choosing motorcycle frame paint

The solutions are multiple, however let's say that in the event of a simple and classic paint, such as a glossy black color for example, we recommend the choice of a two-component lacquer.
Commonly called "direct gloss paint” or “2C” these paints are finishes that allow high levels of gloss and resistance to be achieved, and represent a saving in working time. Whether polyester, polyurethane or epoxy, they also offer excellent thickness and good flexibility, which makes it possible to withstand the impacts to which motorcycle frames are subjected.

How to find the reference and color code of your motorcycle paint ?
Which motorcycle paint to paint your motorcycle ?
Which motorcycle paint to repaint the fairings of your motorcycle ?
How much motorcycle paint to paint your motorcycle ?

How to paint your motorcycle ?