Apologies if this has been answered. I have searched but couldn't come up with an answer.

Anyways -- I want to paint the tins on my sportster this winter. My tank has a Harley Davidson decal on both sides and a small red pinstrips between the grey and blue. I can run my finger over it and feel the ridge, so I assume the thing to do is remove them before attempting paint? Do I need to take the tank to bare metal? I removed the plastic badge from the front fender. Can I hit the fenders with sandpaper then paint over them, or can I go right over the factory clear coat? Also, if I do need to remove the pinstripe and decals, what is the best way to remove them assuming I don't need to take the tank to bare metal?

Thanks so much.
By the way. Here is a picture of my tank. You can kind of see that red pin stripe.

 

To get a decent final paint job the stripe and decals will indeed have to be rubbed down, to give a flat smooth surface to start the new paint job. If the paint is sound and undamaged I don't see any benefit from going back to bare metal. Are you planning to paint it yourself? If not, talk to your chosen paint shop before doing anything, as they may prefer to do the prep themselves. What are you planning to do?

 

It appears as the factory clear coat is applied over the decal and pin stripe, so I wasn't sure how to remove them without messing it up. The paint is in great shape, so I am wondering if I can remove the strips and decal and maintain a smooth surface.


A friend of mine does some painting on the side out of his garage. So he is going to help me paint it. I really want to go with a deep green and silver metal flake.

 

You will need to flat the entire tank, so don't concentrate on just the stripes and decals. Have a word with your friend first, sounds as if he will be able to give you some advice. I suspect he will want to remove the entire clear coat.

 

Great. Thanks for the advice. It'll be a few months before the weather turns nasty, so I have plenty of time to do some more homework.

 

You don't need to strip the paint. But you will need to sand down the pinstriped area further than just sanding the clear coat flat in order to get rid of the ridge. Then tell your friend to use a sealer before paint.

 

You need to sand off all the clearcoat from the entire tank and sand smooth the pinstripe and decal, it's not necessary to go to bare metal. A block and afew pieces of 800 grit.