Motorcycle painting auto body

Dresden said:
With all due respect - this is where your review gets a bit unbelievable. Painting is not an easy process.. especially with all the prep work that needs to go into it. I sincerely doubt a place that can do work for 10% of the cost, is going to do it at the same quality as the other.
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When I picked up my 2014 Yamaha SuperTenere with ES (electronically adjustable shocks) it was only available in ugly matt gray, it looked like bare primer. What was maddening was that Yamaha offered the same bike without ES in a gorgeous deep blue as well as matt gray, but the top model was this ugly color. I asked my bike dealer what it would cost to get the tank and panels painted and he said the auto body next door would do it for around $1000 to $1200, but I'd have to deal with them directly. So I figured that's way too much money. Then I saw Orygun's post and knew that shop was 5 minutes from my house, so I rode there and asked Joe and he quoted me $300 for the tank and the 2 panels. At the time, I wasn't sure I wanted the front fender painted, as Yamaha has had that bike in white in other markets with and without the front fender painted.

My riding season ended this past weekend, so I parked the bike on Sunday, removed everything, including the fender, dropped them off on Monday and picked them up on Wednesday. Joe didn't charge me extra for the fender, which was very nice of him. I wasn't fussy about the color, I just told him white with clear coat.

Btw, I was looking at buying a slightly used BMW F650GS twin that the original owner managed to put 150 km on it and dropped it a bunch of times before she decided riding wasn't for her. The body panels needed to be painted and BMW Toronto quoted me "about $1000" to paint 2 body panels, I told them I could buy brand new replacement panels for less. I didn't buy the bike.

Just goes to show you that if you shop around, you might get lucky. I'm very pleased with the service and the quality of the paint job and at a very reasonable and affordable price.

And no, I'm not a shill for the autobody, I just like to hang out on here and read threads and not much for posting, but I felt I needed to thank Orygun for the referral and to confirm what he's saying about this place. Just bookmark this thread in case you need your bike painted in the future or have a riding buddy who will.
 
I've seen this happen more than a few times in different industries. The manager of the shop can do whatever work he wants on the side for cash, the owner doesn't mind if he uses shop supplies to do the work, the "real" jobs absorb the cost. Not saying this is the case, don't know the guy or the business, just suggesting one scenario where there is a logical reason for the pricing. Take advantage of it while it lasts!
 
Agreed skapan... and this is exactly the sort of thing that is driving me out of the painting biz .... this and the time required to do a good job, time taken away from my family....... there's a very good chance I've painted my last bike .... we'll see how I feel about it in 4 or 5 months ...
Cheers , Les
 
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30 yrs ago when I got out of autobody $100 to paint a full bike was a good deal. $300 is still a very good deal. If I had a small run on a fender and paid $100, I got what I paid for.
I have access to a booth, own my guns and have the experience to do this, and I could not paint a bike for $100.
 
I bought some single stage paint online from paintforcars.com. A gallon of green, white and black as well as the reducer and hardener.

I bought guns from harbour freight and I use a 5 gallon 3 hp compressor (which is barely big enough).

I painted the bodywork on saw horses in my front yard on a nice calm day.

It's not OEM quality, I'm aware of that, but for a race bike it looks great and didn't cost too much. Spending $500+ to get a really nice paint job on a track/race bike seems kinda silly to me.


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Price drives everything unfortunately. Not until something bad happens ( they guy gets fired in the middle of the job, or loses one of your parts, or gets told off by the boss) will people realize that price isn't everything. The general public has very high expectations yet is not prepared to pay a fair price, or at least places almost no value on a person's time and effort.
 
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Hey Guys, this thread was brought up in a recent conversation with a good friend , and former client of mine............ just re-read the whole thing.......... After a serious shoulder injury in the off season , and not being able to paint or ride anyway, I've made the decision that I'm officially out of the paint business.... still have my spray booth, and all equipment , and will probably help a friend or two out with a touch up now and then, but I'm going to spend some time with family and ride my own bike for a change...... no more sweating in a hot shop at 2am to compete with Walmart pricing .......... it's been fun, and I met a lot of great people , but time to call it quits ...... I will still do plastic welding on occasion , but that's about it..... I hope everyone on the forum has a safe and awesome riding season , and thanks for trusting me with your bodywork in the past ..... Cheers , Les
 
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Hey Les,
I've never had you do paint work for me, but you have taken the time to answer questions for me and so I have also referred other riders here to you. They have always said that you were really easy to deal with and did good quality work. I hope that you have a great life enjoying your bikes and family! All the best to you!
 
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Thanks so much SK !
 
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