Hey all, I am posting my girlfriends bike project, she isnt a member on the site, but she has a bad *** bike, thanks to a ton of work we put in this last summer.

Lets get started. This is her first bike, and she learned on a 1999 CBR900rr, a big bike for a little girl, but it worked for her, so we were in the market for anything between a 600-1000cc crotch rocket, for under $3000. We drove a good 2 hours to look at an older ninja 900, it was pink with a polished frame and racing carbs, but it turned out to be a piece of fat turd. SO we spent the next while on craigslist calling ad after ad down in the area so it wasnt a waste of time. One of the people who responded was selling a 1996 cbr900rr for $2900, and he was just down the street. We met up with him, the bike ran great, and she loved it. So we talked him down in price an appropriate amount and got the bike home.

This is bike the day we bought it.




She rode it like it was for a couple of weeks, but she wanted something prettier, haha. It was too tall for her, so we needed to lower it. It needed maintanance done, and the fork seals were leaking, so we talked about what she wanted to do with it, and the vision became clear. you will see ;P

So we started the tear down.



with all of the fairings, gas tank, and air box removed, we needed a way to get the bike up so we could remove the front forks and rear tire, so I took some 2x4's from work and made a makeshift bike stand, I was pretty impressed by myself.
(tires and forks removed)




We took the forks in to a shop to get the seals replaced, we didnt want to mess with that monster ourselves. While it was in the shop, we started on the fairings. We got a lot of sandpaper, primer, and all the white spray paint cans we could find, as well as some fiberglass for the cracks in the fairings. We sanded off all the paint, and smoothed out any chips and cracks. Applied the fiberglass (no pictures, sorry), and it was ready for primer.



I stole a bunch of industrial sized bags from work and we made a makeshift paint booth. We got all the pieces primered with two or three coats, not sure how many. (keep in mind this is all from spray cans, per my request)






Then we started painting, with a couple bottles of wine and a s***ton of spray paint, we went to work. And for all of you who are going to hate on the fact we used spray paint, its not what you paint with, its how you paint it. With the right "technique" you get a really good finish, even with spray paint.

Here is my lady, Cheyenne painting


and the wine



Paint fumes and alcohol really open you up for some serious dizzy spells, so dont mix the two hahahaha.


During the painting process, we got the forks back, and we had a chance to pull the exhaust and put the lowering link on her bike, lowering it 1.75 inches. We also replaced the front and rear brakes, the chain and rear sprocket, and allllllll of her fluids. As well as new spark plugs and filters. So we put her bike back together except for the fairings. Here is her bike put back together, with all the fairings drying. I think we put 4 coats of paint? give or take...



As you can see by the paint dust in that last picture, the paint booth didnt really do anything hahaha



I convinced her to use spray paint because it would be cheaper than buying a paint gun and getting automotive paint blah blah blah, it didnt end up being cheaper, because of the quantity of paint cans we used.



Then we put her all back together again, and the bike looked like this. We also cut holes out from the side fairings and put some frame sliders on the bike, I dont think I mentioned that...



And then, because she is a princess and wants princess things, she ordered pink leather for her seats and pink hand grips.



And this is her on it this last week, after almost a year and moving halfway across the country, it still looks great (she does too, of course)

 

Project looks like it came out great....

 

there are plenty of examples out there of a great paint job done with rattle cans - and this is another one.

good job

 

Great job! I have a spray system - a bloody good one, but still use rattle cans for some larger jobs, and am usually very pleased with the outcome.

Both the bike and your partner look really cool!

Cheers, SB

 

Very nice... PO of mine tried a rattle can job and im stuck cleaning up the mess

Not a fan of the rattle can myself only because you have to watch what chemicals you use or ull strip the paint quick

 

Halzinky, you comment about chemicals is appropriate. one of the first times she filled up her tank after we finished it, she dripped a couple drops of gas on the tank and it smudged it up, but it buffed right out. she was not happy about it for a few days though.

Thanks for the kind words guys!

 

hahahaha Something i have to deal with every time I fill up to... I had Alpinestar stickers on the side of the tank... 1 drop of gas ate up the color and now there just white accent's

Keep us posted if you do anything else with the bike... Also may think about clearing it... Your in the states... should be able to get a can of clear from Sherwin Williams or PPG for a couple bucks... Ill try and get a link for ya

 

We actually started to use a clear coat, but it turned the white into a nasty off yellow sorta color, so we sanded it down and just stuck with the acrylic enamel white paint. She wants to powdercoat her rims pink, but we are still looking for someone who can do that for us down here, so updates will be given as they come.

 

Look what can be achieved when you work together.

You should be really proud....now go raise a couple of glasses of red (without the paint fumes!) and toast each other for a job incredibly well done!

A funky, individual looking bike!

Cheers,
Robster

 

be careful gassing up. gas will eat up most spay paint. looks good in white. painted both of mine myself.