I've searched throughout but i want a dedicated thread!

I dropped my bike riding the other day. Side fairings got scratched to hell and the front headlight fairing has a crack. I'm plannin on stitch welding the cracks, plastic epoxy, sand paint...

NOW... those of you who have rattle canned their way to ghetto fabulousness i have a few questions:

-how did it turn out?
-i'm worried about the clear coat part, its hard to lay a nice wet coat with a little rattle can, what did you guys do for that? (wet sand like mad afterwards?)
-has anyone used flex additive with a rattle can somehow? Is flexing, chipping a problem? How's the long term result? (i'm planning on using adhesive promoter of course)

I've rattle canned a lot of little body parts for my cars ie lips, sideskirts, etc but i'm a bit worried about this... Any results and suggestion would help. if its TOO horrible i might have to buy a spray gun but then that would mean my compressor is not up to par, so that route is expensive.

 

I'll ride with scratches and gashesbefore I ride Rattlecan.

Which when I bouight my F3 the bike was rattlecanned. It is freaking ugly...


And here is what it looks like now after some sanding...


Even if you want rattle can as a temp fix. When you do decide to paint it the sanding process will become a great big PITA that is not worth doing.

I say ride the scratches and repairs until you get a spray gun or can pay someone to do it for you. That's just my opinion of course.

 

I'd have to agree with Smittie on this.

I worked in a bike shop, not a big name dealership, but a small shop that we did mostly tune-ups, repairs, replacement,
troubleshooting and repairs, custom seats, and yes...lots of custom painting.

The hardest part and most costly and labor instensive of doing a custom paint job is the sanding of the bike.


I would not suggest letting the shop or custom painter the OP chooses to do the paint AND sanding.

I'd do the sanding myself.

Take the plastic off the bike, easy work, but at a shop will cost you at least 1-2 hours "labor".

Take the plastic bodywork and have the painter guy just paint the parts whatever and however you want.
One color, two tone, flames and glitter...whatever you finally decide.

This will be less costly, and even though you have sanded the bike pre-shop, the painter might have to do some touch up sanding
prior and or during the painting and of course during the clear coat process.

In short, do the labor intensive stuff yourself...and let a pro do the paint.

 

I agree with smittie n bmg.

 

i rattle canned my bike.
nothing like a pro ofcourse, but i got it kind of shiny and doesnt chip.

 

my rattle can. just take your time and it will look good. Not bad for my $50 invested

 

I never rattle canned mine. I crashed it, fixed what needed to be fixed to ride and just rode the scratches. Got fairings for christmas but am still riding withthe dented tank.

crashingsucks, that looks really good for being rattle canned, job well done.

 

I rattle canned mine, tell me what you think of my work. <a href="http://s290.photobucket.com/albums/ll264/mraustinstandley/?action=view&current=041708_10492.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll264/mraustinstandley/041708_10492.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s290.photobucket.com/albums/ll264/mraustinstandley/?action=view&current=041708_10501.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll264/mraustinstandley/041708_10501.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

Still new to photo bucket

 

I did my old gix rattle can, way way way too much sanding, i will never do it again. However it did turn out decent.