Hello, I've been putting together an 86 700F for a while now and have come to a point in the build that scares the hell out of me.
I need to wrap my head around the idea of repairing or respraying the two tone paint on my fuel tank then applying the trim stripe with the "Honda" wings. The biggest problem is the blue/white color transition on the tank as it sits now is off location in the front; the blue will be showing above and below the decal.
Below are three pics Captain80 send me for reference, then a series of pictures of my bike and the PO's carnage.
So, I'm thinking the "big" picture is Paint repair, apply decal and then clear coat.
Its all the "little" pictures that are unclear and frightening me. I have very little paint experience.
The fuel tank is not original paint; I think it was painted with the aftermarket front cowl and those graphics are replaced as well and their placement is probably less than stellar.
Any thoughts?
The stripe I have is from a CB Decals set and have a Left and Right side with the wings incorporated.
ok, i mask everything off scuff up the white, Do I prime the blue areas that will be painted as well as the petcock area?
After all that, after pealing the masking away, that ridge we just created between the blue and white paint does that have to be made smooth again? Then apply the decal then clear everything? Blue, decal, white?
Captain your "string theory" looks pretty bullet proof; I marked center of the string, taped it to the tank, put white electrical tape to the string marks and literally stepped back and took these pics.
Well... I'll know about a match fairly soon. Probably shoot the VFR fender on the VF1000R. If it's not a perfect match, it won't really matter. It's not sharing a panel seam with something else that is Shasta White.
In my case, do I need a primer over everything (areas to be painted white)or just the petcock area? Will this cover the blue areas that will need painted white? so not ready to pull the trigger yet...
When the decal gets applied and clear coated, will the entire tank be getting sprayed as well? So the whole tank gets scuffed up?
I'm not a pro painter, but a pretty damn decent self taught. I would prob scuff the whole tank and and sand-prime-sand/scuff just the area under the petcock. Mask and paint from the new line down and re-scuff the new paint and sand the masking line down. Lay down your graphics and 2K clear the whole tank.
Gotta have something that can survive a fuel spill on the gas tank and graphics. This a true 2 part clear that you "activate" by punching a button to let the 2 parts mix. You have about 24 hours to use it after activating, but I have used a leftover can a few days later on small brackets.
Crap! This shit's starting to get real. Will I have to drain the tank to get into that petcock cavity? Plug the top hole and take the escutcheon ring off petcock? Valve stays in place?
Crap! This shit's starting to get real. Will I have to drain the tank to get into that petcock cavity? Plug the top hole and take the escutcheon ring off petcock? Valve stays in place?
Valve could stay in place masked. Is this a new valve (and/or oring gasket)? If I was spending that much time, money and stress I would be DAMN sure that the petcock wasn't gonna leak and destroy some of my work, money, stress.
Duplicolor has a good automotive primer in a can that I've used.
Probably 1500 to 2000. There might be a 3M pad made for that as well. You want to knock the shine off, remove small imperfections and give the clear something to "grab" to. It's so fine the graphics will adhere no problem.
You might need to repeat the primer-sand process a couple times in that petcock area and fair out your sanding to get the transition as smooth as possible. Everything "shows".
No need to worry about pin-striping type masking tape for visible mask lines, the line will be hidden by the graphics.
I would find a suitable piece of old body work and go thru all the steps and practice your technique. Duplicolor now sells a 1K clear (1 part) that isn't as expensive but should "act" like spraying a 2K. But I would def use 2K on the actual tank and graphics.
End of thread · 30 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 23 Jan 2026