I'm repainting my 2000 F4 after a tip over that scratched it up a little. Basically it's the perfect excuse to repaint the whole bike and be able to justify it to the girlfriend. My buddy and I were working on it and talking about painting everything and he brought up the point that a couple people he knows have had trouble getting their paint to stick to the stock stuff. I was wondering whether or not anyone else has had this problem because I don't really want to get through the whole paint job only to have it lift after a season.
Another question I had was if anyone had any suggestions on paint types and primer types. Body work is more of a hobby for me so I don't know all the tricks of the trade and any insight on how to make it look good would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

I just did mine.

Lots of sanding with a DA down to bare plastic using 400 grit
Sandable primer
lightly sand by hand with the 400
then paint
tack cloth if necessary
if need be wet sand again with 400
clear
and wet sand and buff to a brilliant shine
let it cure
wait 30 days
polish and wax.

 

It's all in the prep of the plastic. Pretty much anything can be painted. 3m has specific paint prep products and you have to make sure everything is scuffed or it won't stick.

Adhesion promoter and flex agent are good additives when painting plastic as well!

 

thanks for the help with this article. im gettin ready to repaint mine early this season.

 

I painted my F3 last season with some parts aftermarket fiberglass and some OEM plastics. DO NOT ever buy fiberglass fairings, their ****. First off dont use a DA sander on anything, it causes the plastic to become brittle. Just make sure you sand the plastics all the way to the plastic with 400-500 grit. Then come back over it with 800-900 grit to give it a really smooth finish. Spray filler primer(gives it some sturdiness) then sand it with the 500 then finish with water and 1000 grit (wet sanding). Put a nice base coat down and wet sand it with 1000 grit also. Then your ready for clear coat, wet sand it with 1200 grit and your done. It took me about 7 days overall to do mine and that was with my buddy helping me. Just take your time and if you think your done sanding.... sand some more. Once you get the clear coat on you will see what we call orange peel (your fairings will be somewhat pitted, like an orange), you need to sand this out every step. Your arms are gonna be huge when you get done.

 

spark250, you dont want everything "scuffed". Just FYI

 

TAKE YOUR TIME. I cannot stress that enough. A half *** job will result in a half *** look. Make sure you thoroughly prep your fairings. SAND SAND SAND! I just got done with painting my fairings. I recently made a thread about it and you can search for it. Make sure you have a good area to paint in as well. Otherwise, you have dust coming onto your fairings. I clearcoated over dust and it's something I have to pay for. I freaking regret that chit. Should have taken my time and painted in a better place. Google and research everything you need to do before you do it.

 

Wow, i guess i over did mine.. I sanded down with 500 to the plastic, then wet sanded 800 then 1000 then primer, wetsand 1k then 3 coats, wet sand 1k 1 more coat wet sand 2k, clear wetsand 2k.