This thread is part of a series, you can find the list of all other threads related to my overall restoration here: ColtMax's 1997 Restoration thread
As life eroded this 28 year old bike, I felt the need to restore and re-finish some components. I always loved the brushed aluminum contrasting with chromed, gloss and mate black paint on my 1997. So my goal is to strip the parts from their factory coating, re-brush and and apply new coatings: Clear, Gloss Black, Mate Black. The fork tube on my Vmax have been stripped and polished by one of the previous owner, I would like to return them to their factory look which was gloss black.
Before:
Options:
I did a lot of reading about clear coats and paint, here are the principal options available and their main characteristics:
Acrylic Enamel paint:
Easy, cheap, but not very durable.
Epoxy paint
Hard surface, Resistant to Chemicals, but sensitive to UV and my turn yellow over time.
Urethane Paint
Not as hard as epoxy, cures faster than epoxy and Acrylic, will not turn yellow. More expensive than epoxy.
Clear Powder Coating (Selected)
Seems to be having all attributes of the perfect clear coating: Hard, Resistant to chemicals, very good adhesion on brushed or polished aluminum, no yellowing.
Plan:
For the Fork tubes I will have them sandblasted and recoated with gloss black powder coated.
The plan for the scoop involves a bit more work, I will have them sandblasted, then I will re-brush the top half. Powder coat will be done on the top half and the bottom half will be done with mate black powder coating.
I am also getting the lower steering bracket refreshed: Sandblast, Brushed and clear powder coating.
As life eroded this 28 year old bike, I felt the need to restore and re-finish some components. I always loved the brushed aluminum contrasting with chromed, gloss and mate black paint on my 1997. So my goal is to strip the parts from their factory coating, re-brush and and apply new coatings: Clear, Gloss Black, Mate Black. The fork tube on my Vmax have been stripped and polished by one of the previous owner, I would like to return them to their factory look which was gloss black.
Before:
Options:
I did a lot of reading about clear coats and paint, here are the principal options available and their main characteristics:
Acrylic Enamel paint:
Easy, cheap, but not very durable.
Epoxy paint
Hard surface, Resistant to Chemicals, but sensitive to UV and my turn yellow over time.
Urethane Paint
Not as hard as epoxy, cures faster than epoxy and Acrylic, will not turn yellow. More expensive than epoxy.
Clear Powder Coating (Selected)
Seems to be having all attributes of the perfect clear coating: Hard, Resistant to chemicals, very good adhesion on brushed or polished aluminum, no yellowing.
Plan:
For the Fork tubes I will have them sandblasted and recoated with gloss black powder coated.
The plan for the scoop involves a bit more work, I will have them sandblasted, then I will re-brush the top half. Powder coat will be done on the top half and the bottom half will be done with mate black powder coating.
I am also getting the lower steering bracket refreshed: Sandblast, Brushed and clear powder coating.
