Whats up guys! Painting my bike and wanted to do everything in matt black! was wondering if I could paint the whole fork black even the chrome parts? I'm not sure if I can paint over that. I want it to look very well and no scratches but I'm not wanting to spend a lot of money and time tearing the bike apart off the frame to do an actual paint job. Wants the best for rattle can or any other suggestions?

 

You can't paint the fork tubes. They need to be smooth in order to seal and function properly. Paint would either get wiped off by the seals, cause sealing issues and leak, or even get flakes of paint inside your forks and cause issue with the valves inside.

 

Even if I power coat them?

 

It's powder coat, and no, you can't do that either.

But some mfgr's offer a titanium nitride or DLC coating for the tubes, but AFAIK, you're limited to black, copper, and gold (there may be more nowadays, been a while since I looked). The aluminum lowers (on a conventional fork) can be anodized pretty much any color you like.

 

I powdercoated the fork lowers on mine but it would require fully dismantling the forks since they need to go in an oven

Rattlecan is fine in general (though it pains me to say it) but it's really tough to get something that looks good. This is one of those times where being lazy actually means more work. If it's just the fork tubes, I would remove the front wheel and drop the tubes. It shouldn't take more than 15-20 minutes if you're experienced. It's quicker than masking, and you'll get a much better result. Once they're on the bench, the job is simple:

Wipe down parts with mild solvent
Sand or scuff the panel with P600 and/or grey scotchbrite
Blow the dust off and wipe again
Tack cloth the panel (use the low oil stuff) this is optional but helps control dust
Clean your work area or go outside if it's warmer than 15 deg C
First coat of paint
15-20 minutes wait per coat. Resist the urge to spray it heavy, or it'll sag on ya
Second coat of paint
Let it hang to dry for a couple days so the paint hardens before trying to bolt it back together

 

...should add that you'd obviously want to mask off the fork seals and upper tubes. As others mentioned, you can't paint moving parts so you'll have to leave the uppers as-is

Hope that helps

 

Possible to get the fork tubes re-chromed with black chrome at huge expense.

Cheaper way, black rubber fork gaiters. Paint around where the upper fork tubes connect in the triple clamp.