Guys,
I want to clean the 92 up a bit and am looking at painting the inlay sections of the brake rotors. As can be seen in the pics they are filthy and in need of some attention. I realise they will still get dirty but at least they can be a feature of the bike. For those that are more experienced at painting than I, what preparation do I do and which paint would I get the best look from ? 'Im going to do them in gold and put a silver rim sticker on the black rim. Do I paint by hand with brush or do I mask up and spray it ?

I'm going to do the rear one first as the wheel is off the bike cause I just did rear wheel bearings and seals. Thanks.

 

Hey:

Spray them. You will need to remove the rotors from the wheel, Get the following : water and detergent, wire or metal coat hangers, coarse sanding blocks or sand blasting means, painters masking tape, 1-2 rattle cans VHT or Rustoleum etching primer, 2-3 cans gold or whatever colour you choose (Matching the wheel colour maybe) of VHT or sim type of rattle can brake caliper paint, and 1-2 rattle cans of clear coat VHT high heat engine enamel. : Wash & clean, then blast or sand the rotors till clean & bare. Then wash again , Then tape off the holed area to the 360 degree slot that goes compltely around the rotor, then etch prime, let hang till completly dry, hit with paint let dry doing many very light coats, then lastly after dry, hit with the clear, same procedure lots of light coats, do not handle till dry, let them hang overnite (24hrs plus) before you touch them and you should be happy with the results. Just take your time and use patience when painting by never over spraying, or be into too much of a hurry and handling too soon. Good Luck, Hope this helps.

Dub

 

I think you will have to go with a high temp paint. Anything else will get cooked off.

If it were me, I would clean up what you got with some CLR or other rust remover.

 

+1 clr

 

I did mine last yea and putted them on a fla surface instead of hanging them, it helped not to get aany running on thm, result was great!

 

Thanks guys. I will concentrate on a good preparation and see what colour I can get. I know I'll need VHT paint I'll prob take them off and do it as I'm not needing the bike to ride atm as I have the others. I can take my time with it and get a good job.

 

Painting the inserts is fine BUT - be careful of getting layers of paint under where the bolts go - I have had a bike where the front rotors were vibrating badly when I bought it - cause - out of line rotor due to paint unevenly applied under the securing bolts.
It doesn't take much to throw them off kilter.

Good luck with it Geoff.

 

How bout getting them powdercoated? Or better, ceracoated. Ceramic coating is like glass, it will not rub off, endures a straight hammer blow, nothing will stick to it so it will be easy to clean. Although not that many places do it, I'm fortunate enough to have one place in hand, where my friend hauls stuff every now and then so he will get the little jobs done very cheap for me. And it's better to cover the contact surfaces altogether. And don't let ANY brake fluid onto the surface before you bake the vht-paint onto them. I once sanded my bikes rims to bare metal, applied spray-filler, water sanded them, applied basecoat, water sanded them, applied four layers of silver and four layers of clear coat, dropped ONE drop of brake fluid onto the fresh paint, it went over the center, down a spoke and about 1/5 along the rim corking the paint all the way. Was slightly bummed when I discovered that the next morning...

 

Thanks for the tip pete. I think Im going to go with hand painting like Classic suggested to avoid these types of issues. I've removed the rear disk and have started to clean it. I will complete that tomorrow and get the etching primer on. There's not a lot in the rear disk so I'll have a crack at it first and see how I go. I'm going to do the 89 as well if it turns out ok. I'm not after absolute showroom finish. Just good enough to see that its been done and done well enough to know it just wasnt a spur of the moment idea.

I think I will spray the etching primer on with the bolts in the holes to stop it getting under the bolts. I will then hand paint the VHT paint on to avoid the issue you speak of Pete. Thanks guys.

I also got new levers today plus new windscreen rubber inserts for the windscreen bolts. The originals had perished a bit.