So I was thinking that soon i will be doing a full overhaul of my motorcycle before i leave for TexasMac... On that list, but now won't be happening because of monetary restraints, was getting my road rash and cracks fixed and the bike repainted... Anyway my plans for the overhaul include cleaning air filter, balancing starter valves, disassembling swing arm, lube and reassemble swingarm components, re-spring rear shock, re-spring and change fork oil, changing front and rear bearings, brake pads where needed, new chain and sprockets, change oil and filter, ceramic coat headers and link pipe, cut out cat, and valve adjustments... Spark plugs, brake flush, and new tires went on last month. So my question is when i considered doing this overhaul i had thought of dismantling the whole bike and taking the frame, swing arm, forks, and little trim pieces (heel guards and other plates) to get powder-coated black.... On my yellow 2000 VFR i think it would look absolutely sick! Then down the road when it gets repainted it is keeping the yellow and adding the black CBR wings as accents to help tie in the frame more...
So question is i have 3 options:
1. Dismantel and powder-coat frame for good looks and ultimate durability.
2. Partially dismantel and paint frame with black hard enamel paint that is easy to touch up and cheap.
3. Leave the damned thing alone and stop trying to tinker with a bike that looks good already.
obviously option 3 is the cheapest of all of them haha. But i would like y'all's thoughts on this, do you think the frame would look good black? Would hard enamel (engine enamel or similar) stand up? Is powder-coating the only good way to go? Tell me your opinions and has anyone done this before? I searched but couldn't find anything besides the fact that the 09+ VFR's have black frames. If anyone has photo shop experience i can take some better photos so that maybe you can see if it will look better? Thanks for the input
Austin
PS do i have to have a PCIII/PCV for the bike to run with the cat removed? Or can i just do a O2 eliminator (resistor) on a stock tune until i get a PCIII/PCV down the road (a month or two)? Will an O2 eliminator with the stock file make me lose fuel mileage? Will it result in poor performance, idling, or cruising? thank you in advance :)
seems to be a problem with photobucket, or the account, or my browser, but none of the pics are showing for me. But there might be a picture of a black frame 5th gen in there.
that orange one is all custom, thats custom body work and inverted forks and a lot of other stuff. But i want to paint those heel guards too. Any other input on my million questions? haha
I have a friend that bought a Superhawk with a black frame. The previous owner painted it which looks decent from a distance, but once you start really looking at it, you can see all the little imperfections and scratches in it. When we rebuilt the forks, we powdercoated the fork lowers, upper triple tree, clip-ons, etc. That is much more durable.
I think the yellow VFR would look good with a black frame. My problem is if I did the frame, I would want everything else done too, like you said - swingarm, sub-frame, triples, forks, clip-ons, front and rear pegs and heal guards, clutch and brake lever, rotor centers, etc. Also, I would probably do some sort of matte black instead of gloss. So another big issue with powdercoating is you can not leave anything in the piece when doing it. That means new swingarm bearings, rebuilding the forks, etc. which is an added cost over going the cheap painting route.
Can you see how our Powder Coater schedule looks for the next month? I am riding my VFR today and then tearing it down next week for the frame, swingarm to go in...
Can you see how our Powder Coater schedule looks for the next month? I am riding my VFR today and then tearing it down next week for the frame, swingarm to go in...
I'm confused...to the OP, are you the same guy that didn't want to revalve your forks when doing new springs only because you wanted to save money?
I only mention it because unless you have a buddy or some other in-roads, I'm sure you are aware that powder coating ain't cheap...
yes i have a friend who owns a custom shop who can powder coat it for not much. About half the cost of a valving job haha.
And does anyone have an idea on the PCIII/PCV question? if i get my grinder out and cut out the cat do i need to delete the O2 sensors? and if i do can i do so without having a PCIII and still have a bike that runs well?
End of thread · 10 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 14 Apr 2013
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