Modern Buddy

Hey all,
some of you may remember me from a few months back trying to apply custom vinyl stripes. I got some really good advice from this forum, as I've now come to expect. However, since I was trying to apply a three layer, 3" stripe over a curved surface, I realized it was never going to look as good as I wanted. Especially since I really wanted to carry the stripe down to the fender and over the tail. So I decided to try my hand at painting it on.
It was harder and took longer than I thought. I should also learn to expect that. I just used spray paint - a metallic aluminum for the main stripe and a florescent green for the accent. My old stripe was dark gray and red and I wanted more pop. I took off the fender and front panel and just taped off the rest with newspaper. Once the stripes were on I covered both with a clear enamel with about a 1/2" overlap to keep them protected. I was able to use this forum yet again to help me figure out how to get rid of the paint over-spray. A little Goo Gone, paper towels and elbow grease and it came right off.
This was my first attempt and it's not perfect. I taped off the silver stripe on the fender before it was fully dried and the newspaper stuck to it. I tried to smooth it out and respray it, but it still has some unwanted texture underneath it. Same thing on the little area underneath the gauges. That said, I am happy with it overall.
I am satisfied... for now

nice love the color combo

Looks awesome! Going all the way from front to back looks killer.
Yeah, that bump in the middle of the front panel can be a pain when putting on stripes. I went just to outside of that with my stripes.

That looks pretty awesome.

Any tips on the application? I'm about to put the black & white checkered stripes on my black roughhouse. I very excited to do this but wonder about technique due to all the contours. BTW, your stripes look awesome!

Nice! That's a color scheme I haven't seen before, good one.

I also like your vanity plate.

Nice! Love the color and that it goes all the way from front to back – a challenging thing to pull off.

that is freaking sharp!

Nice job!

--Keys

That looks great! I like it better than my black and orange combo.

very well done! I love it when folks really go all out instead of taking the easy route. Very awesome

O, how nice! I dig the silver sparkle. Good work!

nagamus wrote:Any tips on the application? I'm about to put the black & white checkered stripes on my black roughhouse. I very excited to do this but wonder about technique due to all the contours. BTW, your stripes look awesome!

Gracias! I love being able to do things like this. I would never think of painting a car Scooters are just way better... and this is coming from someone that raced cars for about 12 years!

Anyway, tips.
1. Buy really good spray paint. The silver was Rust-oleum's new universal advanced formula and it worked great. A breeze to apply. The only florescent green I could find was still Rust-oleum, but it was pretty crappy. I taped everything off (3M blue painter's tape) and used tons of newspaper to protect the bike, but the dust got everywhere. At first I freaked out thinking that I had painted the bike, but the dust wiped off with a dry paper towel.
2. Cover the seat! I thought I did a good enough job, but now it's just a little bit sparkly
3. The Goo-Gone really does work well to remove over-spray.
4. Wait - overnight if possible - before taping over painted sections to ensure they are really dry. I got caught out with this one.
5. I covered everything with a clear enamel with about a 1/2" overlap. My hope is that it will protect the paint and keep it looking like new. It also made the flat green paint shiny. Neat. Time will tell if it works.

Other than that, spend time getting the tape down (firmly) exactly where you want it. And lots of thin coats = much better than a couple of heavy ones.

Post pics when you are done!

VERY pretty!

that looks very impressive, love the colors.