K11 Owners Group

RAL88 · Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 10:15 am Post subject: Frame painting

What paint would any of you recommend for painting the frame. I was thinking Rustoleum or Krylon but then I saw engine enamel and was wondering if that might be better.

Thanks for any help.
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Rich

"If it ain't broke, take it apart and make it work better"
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'96' K1100LT-SE
'97' R850GS-R

SugarHillCTD · Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 11:30 am Post subject:

Larry (Irome48) would be one of the best to answer that.

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John & Cathy

'92 K100RS4V Pearl White SOLD
'04 K1200GT
IBA Several-SS1k, BBG, 50CC NYC to S.F.

Jack the Rat · Joined: 11 Sep 2008 Posts: 10 Location: North Georgia, USA

I just did this to my '93 K1100LT this past winter and I highly recommend powder coating the frame rather than paint. If you haven't gotten everything off the frame yet it all has to come off and take a lot of pictures to see whether the front brakes go over or under the stem, clutch cable goes to the left or right, etc. Powder coating is tough stuff and will outlast a regular paint for a long time and also comes in an amazing number of colors now. One thing to watch for is make sure your powder coater tapes off and does not paint over the VIN number sstamped on the frame. They painted over my VIN and it was unreadable and the local BMW shop couldn't verify it when I went there for some reason and I thought they were going to turn me into the law, or BMW, or somebody. Whichever way you choose, Good Luck with your project.
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Jackson
07 Goldwing
93K1100LT

Flying Duck · Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 2:05 pm Post subject:

You might also want to tape over the federally mandated sticker with a VIN on the left side too. At least in Washington they do check that when doing a VIN inspection. The one on my RS wasn't perfect but the gal let me slide since enough of it was left.
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93 LT (x2)
94 RS
86-97 K75F(K75/100/1100 Frankenbrick)
86 K75C w/paralever, hi perf cams,TURBO!
91 & 92 K75Ss
91 K1
86 custom K100
14 WR250R
IBA #17739 (SS1K, BBG, 50CC)
Buy parts HERE

old guy old bike · Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 10:00 pm Post subject:

I would stay away from the powder coat if it was me. I repair race chassis and other such items. There are two problems. One, the powder coat hides cracks and two, because it is so tough to get off you have a hard time doing a proper repair.

Usually the powder coater wants to sand blast your frame so that he has a good clean piece of metal to start with. All well and good for the powder but not so good for your chassis. The sand blasting sets up surface stresses that can cause your chassis to fail. Now if you use some type of soft media like nut shells or cob you don't have that issue.

Another issue I have seen with it on a motorcycle chassis is uneven and heavy coating, especially around holes and brackets. Then when you tighten down your fasteners the powder coat cracks and pushes out or breaks off.

just my 2 cents, ymmv
Jeff
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1993 K1100LT
2003 K1200GT Gone but not forgotten
2014 Victory Crossraods