Thanks LD. More updates will follow soon. Wife's away this weekend so I will be spending most of that time working on the bike. Unless something comes up. Tomorrow night we are going to try and finish up the wiring. All that's left are the wires from the handle bars - dummy light, switches, along with the speedo, and that will be done. Today I received new "black pearl" braided clutch and front brake cables from Magnum Shielding and I'll try to get those installed tomorrow as well. I got 2" under stock lengths and I hope they're long enough. I measured before ordering, but who the hell knows...won't find out for sure until I go to install them.

Aside from that, the rest of the weekend I will spend prepping and painting the tins. Yes, I've decided I'm gonna do it myself. Ya, ya...I can hear the groans across the ether, "No man, don't do it! You'll never get in American Iron that way." Sorry, it's my best and really my only option at this point. My budget is blown and I simply can't afford a professional paint job. So I'm gonna give it a go. The thing about paint is, if I f*ck it up I can always redo it or have a pro do it over later. It'll be a simple black/orange pattern, very similar to the stock look, with a twist. I won't finish it this weekend because I intend to take it slow and methodical, but I'll get most of the prep done and since I'm doing it right here at my place I'll be able to work on it every night until I finish. I will post progress reports as often as possible to let you know how it's going.

Wish me luck.

 

Haha...thanks SportE.

 

You know, when in college and on a tight *** budget, I painted my truck. I spent all my spare time doing body work and when the time came to paint I was broke.

I hit the paint shed with my last $60 and negotiated a gallon of each: primer, dark grey metalic and some reducer.

Had a friend with a compressor and my dad had had an air gun....the primer went down good. After about four coats of grey the truck looked great.

Rolled it out of the garage a few days later and saw a few blemishes but it looked good. Never retouched it.

Bottom line do it and post pics...if it looks bad do it again. If by your fifth redo you are not happy, go pro...but I bet the 1st or 2nd time will be just fine.

 

Ya mad. Thank you. That's exactly the plan.

 

Yeah, paint is easy if the foundation is good...whatever the primer looks like is what the paint will look like. You will do fine.

 

'preciate it rick. Thanks.

 

Biggest issue noobies have is wrist control. Keep it loose. Most beginners lock the wrist and as they move their arms to paint and lay a coat light-heavy-light. Keep your wrist fluid and the nose of the gun at an equal distance to your tins at all times. Also your subject is small. Start and stop each stroke off of the tin to avoid any build-up areas that could lead to runs.

 

Oh and cover EVERYTHING in the room you paint in with plastic. The overspray will find its way to anything left even partially exposed.

 

Good Advice.

 

Ummm wow...
This thread made me register. (was always happy lurking prior)

Amazing stuff.
Thought if my boss knew that I just spent an entire day reading this thread I'd be in trouble.

Kudos!