Everything I know about paint and powder

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Ok, so I want to get my frame painted, not powdercoated. They tell me polyurethane.

I have a friend who powdercoated his head burnt orange, and barrells black. I'm not going to powdercoat my head, but the barrells look real good. Is this a good idea? What will it look like in a year? What does it do for heat dissipation?

What kind of paint should be used for the tank?

My local Brit Bike guru says not to powder the frames as you're more likely to have problems getting good grounds for the electrics. I haven't gotten into mine enough to find out if you need a bunch of grounds but he's been into this since he was a kid as he dad ran a number of bike agencies where I live and with the typical electrical gremlins of the Prince of Darkness I believe him.

Polyurethene it very tough indeed & brilliant for frames. I don't think you can polish out scuffs though, although that wouldn't really matter.
2 pack is another good one.

I have the experience and equipment for painting, so that's where my preference is. I can touchup the frame with an airbrush if needed. I use black single stage urethane (2 part) for frame parts and high temp rattle can engine paint for the barrels.

The most durable paint for frames is DuPont Imron, used for heavy equipment. It's also very iso laden (toxic) so breathing apparatus is required when spraying. Never used it myself.

For the tank, all painters are using catalyzed urethane topcoats now, either base/clear or single stage urethane.

I have a friend who powdercoated his head burnt orange

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That musta hurt... :lol:

Blue noser said:

Ok,

I'm not going to powdercoat my head, but the barrells look real good. Is this a good idea? What will it look like in a year? What does it do for heat dissipation?
?

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In my experience it's an extremely bad idea on an aircooled engine. Powdercoated my barrels on a rebuild some years ago, overheated and seized on running in, expensive error.

The fella that did my frame powder coat wanted to do the barrels and the crank cases. He said the HD guys do it all the time. I didn't.

Dave
69S

The paint ( or whatever it was) that came off my barrels was unbelievably thick. Paint stripper wouldn't touch it, it had to be put in a chemical stripper for a week. So if it can lose enough heat with paint that thick on them, I can't see powder coating can be so bad.
I'm having mine powdercoated in a nice satin black which is a lot thinner than the paint that came off.

Haven't we seen that powdercoaters have a heat conductive version of powdercoat for this application ?

Which may be what you are getting.

P.S. Powdercoat melts if it gets too hot.
Anyone seen melted powdercoat on a cylinder anywhere ?