Painted gauge cluster area, rear fender, and rear plastics

[bluecycle7]

Painted gauge cluster area, rear fender, rear plastics, rotors, & calipers

I've been wanting to paint the plastics around the gauges to match the bike for a long time. Have had the bike four years and finally decided to paint it. I also painted the side plastic around the seat(all blue, before it was blue on top and black on the bottom) and painted the rear fender. I also plan on painting the footpegs and the side of the radiator covers.
To buy enough of the exact Yamaha color coded paint would have been 60 plus bucks, so instead I went to autozone with the side plastics to find the closest paint color possible. I found a Honda paint called Electron Blue Pearl, that is a close as you can get. it's about 7.50 a can and I bought four plus clear.
I had to go to four different auto stores in two towns to get all the paint the same day. From what I looked up, this color paint was used on Honda models around 98-02 which is why the stores only had one or two cans at the most. One store didn't even have any.

 

[bluecycle7]

Also painted inner rotors and calipers with Rust-Oleum "deep royal blue" enamel paint. Plan on painting foot pegs and radiator cover using the dupli-color electron blue pearl paint.
I also attached a pic of before I painted anything

 

[7UPyours]

thanks for sharing, looks like you did an awesome job but personally for me it's way too much blue ( I have a blue bike) oh and don't forget to get blue tires

 

[ozgurakman]

how did you painted front discs without painting stainless rings on caliper?
Did you masked them? If so, with what?

I'm planning to paint all discs with heat res. matte black.

 

[bluecycle7]

[MENTION=24491]ozgurakman[/MENTION],
>-I hand painted all the calipers and rotors. For the calipers I unbolted them from the forks and swingarm and used fishing line through where the bolt goes to hold them up. Tied the front calipers to the turn signals and the rear caliper to the passenger pegs to suspend them in the air.

>-The rotors I free hand painted without masking anything. I've had lots of experience painting and doing trim work so I have a steady hand. I did have a bucket with soapy water and rags in case. I used a small paint brush, maybe 3/8'' wide that was thick, not the flat or angled kind, but that's all preference anyway. Whatever you use to mask of the rotors you need to make sure any residue(like tape) is cleaned off the rotors when painting is complete

>-1)Wash the entire wheel, spokes, rotors, calipers to get grease and dirt off even if your painting one section.
2.) If your painting calipers, the only way to paint all sides is to unbolt them(you don't need to take them completely off) and tie them up so they're suspended and not hanging from the brake hoses
3) mask off rotors and/or brake pads
4) remember each rotor has an outside and inside face to it. At first I only painted the outside and then realized you could see some of the paint drips on the inside face and went back to paint the inner face as well. I didn't think it would be noticeable but it is and it really looks good and professional if you do, so take that into consideration.

FYI-this can be time consuming and takes patience. I spent about 1/2 an hour per rotor face(that's 6 total) and a little more on the calipers, and did two coats of color. That's 9hrs worth of painting plus the time needed to wait to let each coat dry and put the calipers back on. I knew it would take a while, but I had a three day weekend and it was raining so it didn't matter anyway.

>-Also use the center stand, it makes it easier than having the bike leaned and trying to paint.

>-If you take the calipers off, you may need to push the brake cylinders back in to allow enough room to get the brake pads back on as they will close a little when you take them off. When reassembling, squeeze your brake levers to make sure the pressure is built back up if needed

 

[IAMJUSTIFYD]

I love the way the tires look! That must have taken forever :thumbup:

 

[SANGER_A2]

Re: Painted gauge cluster area, rear fender, rear plastics, rotors, & calipers

Wow! Looks amazing. Great job. I always get a terrible result using rattlecan paint. I like the way you've extended my sat nav mount idea. Is that a custom built holder? Can we see more pics of it?

 

[Tailgate]

Now, that what I call "blue!" Nice job. I'm surprised you don't have a matching blue helmet.

 

[bluecycle7]

Re: Painted gauge cluster area, rear fender, rear plastics, rotors, & calipers

@IAMJUSTIFIED, thanks I really like how it turned out and it gives the bike a newer and updated look and feel



@SANGER A2, for spray cans check out getting a pistol grip type attachment for the can. It's only a few bucks but it allows you to use any traditional spray can(not the ones with the fancy spray buttons) and use it like a paint spray gun. It gives a lot more control and smoothness(if that's a word).
Also I try to paint outside when the sun is out because the paint dries a lot faster to keep the paint from running if I overspray. The fender and side plastics were done under a carport and had a few minor run areas, whereas the gauge area plastic was done on a sunny day and turned out flawless.

 

[bluecycle7]

Re: Painted gauge cluster area, rear fender, rear plastics, rotors, & calipers

@SANGER A2, also about that gps mount, yes it's a custom mount. I've seen where people use tubular pipe and hammer the ends but I wasn't sure on how to mount the gps to the pipe. I ended up going to lowes/home depot(can't remember) and looked for a piece of flat metal that was strong enough to not flex under any road conditions, but not too rigid that I couldn't bend it with a vice.
Then I found some pvc "T" couplings and cut a slot on the bottom to fit onto the metal bracket. Then I did some more cutting so I could fit the gps to fit ''inside'' the T coupling and used Velcro to further secure it. This way I can leave the coupling brackets on the bike and take just the gps off, no other brackets or hardware to worry about. I'll try to take some up close pictures soon to better describe what I mean

 

[bluecycle7]

[MENTION=1189]Tailgate[/MENTION], I used to have a blue and silver helmet that I like and got with the bike when I bought it, but then bought my current Scorpion helmet with a second built in tinted visor. This way I don't have to put sunglasses on or carry around a clear and tinted helmet visor. Only came in black or silver

 

[Taz3]

Looks great, I love it!