I'm looking to do some paint work. Is Harley "Vivid Black" the best quality or are all blacks the same? Any better gloss or primers? Thanks!

 

As a novice painter, I can tell you that HD paint is some of the best you will encounter on a production based vehicle.

All HD paint is made by a outside source. I forget who supplies HD with paint, but it may be PPG. It is a metalic black. All blacks are not the same.

There are other sources for VIVID Black 'like' paint. How well it matches is up to you. I've heard good and bad depending on the source.

 

I used black lacquer and clear coated with clear lacquer on my quarter faring. Very Vivid black.

 

I agree with Squishy on the PPG thing. I know some painters and they've told me PPG makes Harley's paint but if you speak to a Harley parts guy they'll argue all day long that Harley makes their paint themselves. Regardless who actually makes the paint you can find PPG paint codes for Harley colors fairly simple just by googling Harley PPG paint codes for the year/model.

 

Thanks guys. Yeah I know it's all in the prep too, realistically black is black and I'm sure it comes down to the clear cost that really makes it pop.

Essentially I was looking at longevity. Don't want my black fading in 2 years or chipping.

 

If you want to use a great quality clear and don't have access to a compress/gun, look into Spraymax 2k clear.

It's an actual auto quality clear coat with the hardner build it. It will look as good as anything on the showroom floor, but it depends on who's doing the work.

It's expensive ($25) for what it is as it really only about 6 oz of clear as the hardner is the other part of the can. It will take a minimum of 3 cans for the bike depending on how it lays down and your skill.

This is one of those cans where it doesn't spray at any angle like your Rustoleum stuff. It will spit all over the place if you aren't careful.

If you have the spray equipment, you can get a quart of clear/hardner for about 35 bucks and do several bikes.

 

Just to say, all blacks aren't the same. If your painting the entire bike, then it doesn't matter. But if your matching a factory vivid black, then get a shop to mix you up some PPG usimg the right code.

 

Sorry I should have specified- I'm painting an entire bike, not trying to match.

 

We've sprayed with several different things over the years and a lot of times it is get what you pay for. We've had good luck from the lesonal brand of paint if you have anywhere local that supplies it. I work for keystone/lkq and that's what we carry along side sikkens. Mid level paint in cost but does the job and paint mixes available for most applications. If doing a whole bike I wouldn't just go back with generic harley vivid black, find another one to be subtle different. It'd keep attention longer. When I repaint my new bike (I always do) I'm thinking of going with the black on new Mercedes supposedly one of the deepest black tones. But then again this is all relegated to my opinion.

 

We've sprayed with a variety of products throughout the years, and you usually get what you paid for. If you have a local supplier, we've had good experience using the Lesonal brand of paint. That's what we carry with sikkens at keystone/lkq, where I work. Mid-priced paint that does the job and comes in a variety of paint mixtures for most applications.