ramcharger
Dismember
Not looking for anything fancy, just a single color, no metalflake. Tank, two sidecovers and tailpiece. Back in the day, a good paintjob would be about 3 hundo. Am I still in the ballpark?
What Should a Motorcycle Paint Job Cost?
- Thread starter ramcharger
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xlexl
Well-Known Member
Depends on whether you do the prep work yourself or not...thats the expensive part. At 300 i'd hope you wern't looking at any body damage, a simple scotch brite prep no primer just spray 2 stage with no cutting and buffing.
xlexl
Well-Known Member
Just re-read, its a cruiser, 300 with a decent paint and clear used. if its in good shape might even talk em into cutting and buffing for 300.
Rob
Well-Known Member
One of the problems is getting the color, if the shop has their own system where they can mix up as much, or in your case as little as needed that helps a lot. I have to buy by the quart which is way more than I would need, clear is fine since it's generic. If you pull the parts and do the prep as xlexl said there's not much to it, in fact why don't you spray it yourself?
daredevil
Well-Known Member
300 is what i was gonna say. I bought a whole tin set for my wideglide with fresh paint for 550.
ramcharger
Dismember
No real body damage but a minor dent in the tank. I'll fix and prep it myself. Thanks for the input!
I did my old dragbike myself. It turned out OK, but had lots of orange peel. I'm really not set up for a pro paint job. Too dang dusty out here plus the temp has been varying by 40+ degrees from day to night. Thanks for the input Rob and it's good to hear from ya!
Thanks DD! it's good to know that prices haven't gone hog wild.
I would think that $300 would be a "buddy" price. If you took the pieces to a shop, they'd probably charge you twice that. The way they look at it, if you have the disposable income to be custom painting a motorcycle, they are going to charge you whatever they think they can get away with. If it's an HD. Get your wallet out. My buddy dented the tank on his Harley and wanted to get it fixed and repainted. It was cheaper to buy a new tank, and that was $800!!!!! It still has the dent in it...
ramcharger
Dismember
Thanks again everyone for all of your input. Yesterday I was in a part of town between jobs that has a bunch of body shops. I hit up four shops in about 45 minutes and the estimates ran from a low of $650 from a guy that really didn't even want to do it with a completion date of "Maybe April", to a high of $1100!!! AAAAcccck!
Here's the deal, the low bid guy would take forever and gives no guaruntees on the work. I would need to bring the items in ready to paint.
The high estimate guy is a biker himself, offers a lifetime warranty, uses only "House of Kolor" paints, prefers to do the strip and dent repair himself to avoid any issues with incompatible primers or epoxies, price includes 5 coats of clear, cut and buff, gaurantees no orange peel, finished job comes with mixing chart with paint codes and a bottle of touch up, has been in business in the same location for over 35 years and the price includes bodywork. He also gave me a bunch of coffee and homemade fudge that his wife made (with nuts dammit) and a tour of the shop showing me some of the custom bike stuff he's doing now plus the work he does for local Porsche dealers.
Hmmm......
Here's the deal, the low bid guy would take forever and gives no guaruntees on the work. I would need to bring the items in ready to paint.
The high estimate guy is a biker himself, offers a lifetime warranty, uses only "House of Kolor" paints, prefers to do the strip and dent repair himself to avoid any issues with incompatible primers or epoxies, price includes 5 coats of clear, cut and buff, gaurantees no orange peel, finished job comes with mixing chart with paint codes and a bottle of touch up, has been in business in the same location for over 35 years and the price includes bodywork. He also gave me a bunch of coffee and homemade fudge that his wife made (with nuts dammit) and a tour of the shop showing me some of the custom bike stuff he's doing now plus the work he does for local Porsche dealers.
Hmmm......
I miss painting ramcharger If I was closer I would demand a cherry duster and teach you how to prep and we would do it ourself, two stage with 4 coats of clear.
Creed, Mike and I painted his truck back in September and I sure did enjoy myself.
It would be a fun project for sure 8) I can buy paint by the ounce here.
Creed, Mike and I painted his truck back in September and I sure did enjoy myself.
It would be a fun project for sure 8) I can buy paint by the ounce here.
ramcharger
Dismember
Shoot Mike, I wish you were closer bro! 
I wish you were closer too Joe. This was a one-off custom color for Jere Booher of HellBent Custom Cycles ... bobber frame, handlebars, headlight bucket, seat/brackets, hardware and a bunch of other parts (not all are pictured below). It's Tangelo Mist, a candy translucent, shot over Ink Black.
http://photobucket.com/images/tangelo%20mist%20over%20ink%20black/
Charged him about $300 for all of it, and I did all the prep and a little bodywork. (And he's not a FABO member so he doesn't get discounts heh hehhhh)
http://photobucket.com/images/tangelo%20mist%20over%20ink%20black/
Charged him about $300 for all of it, and I did all the prep and a little bodywork. (And he's not a FABO member so he doesn't get discounts heh hehhhh)
Wow that is a beautiful job Leanna! If I were you Joe, I would ship what you can to Leanna, to get done. Then once done go and pick it up so nothing gets damaged after the powdercoat?? I would go powdercoating route. I had an estimate done for my 83 kz 750, frame only in black was less than $200.
ramcharger
Dismember
Very nice Leanna! The frame and parts on this bike are really in good condition and really only needs a wipedown and some scratches touched up. It's the tank, sidecovers and tailpeice that really need work. I actually almost thought of sending you the tank to powercoat, lol! Side covers and tailpiece are plastic though, so that wouldn't work.
4spd, maybe if I decided to knock the whole thing down I'd go that route. Honestly the frame is in too good a shape to bother right now.
alleyoopmgv
Well-Known Member
When I used to do motorcycles, for a tank and fenders, one color for anywhere between $600-$800 depending on what color and how nice you wanted them. I used to do a lot of Harley's.
Thanks 4spd and Joe! :-D Jere called me after Thanksgiving and said he's about got it all put back together but I'm still waiting on pictures.
I built a bike in 1998 (Shovelhead). I had the the frame painted, tanks stretched, all painted with House of Kolor, and had Scallops and it cost $1,200.
So $1,100 doesn't seem to be that far off. House of Kolor is not cheap!
Check out House of Kolor, Burple! Coolest color ever!
So $1,100 doesn't seem to be that far off. House of Kolor is not cheap!
Check out House of Kolor, Burple! Coolest color ever!
darepairman
Well-Known Member
I painted a custom chopper this summer with ppg, soild paint job nimbus grey, gas tank, oil tank and fenders. did all the body work used epoxy primer, a base coat and clear coat also wet sanded and buffed out. materials cost about 350.00 charged 700.00. Ed
challengergary
Well-Known Member
I've done a few motorcycle tanks & parts for a buddy out in TX with a large collection. I charged him $125 + materials for his tanks. If I was doing 2 at a time the same color I charged him $200. And that included prep plus wet sanding and buffing when done.
Used Dupont Nason products on most of them but had to do a couple using their ChromaBase. The ones using Nason had materials cost around $75 for two tanks and still had enough material for 2 more. The ChromaBase ones cost $100 in materials - it was a metallic green with some pearl in it. Matter of fact, I still have the leftover materials and he is planning on sending some more work down to me.
Used Dupont Nason products on most of them but had to do a couple using their ChromaBase. The ones using Nason had materials cost around $75 for two tanks and still had enough material for 2 more. The ChromaBase ones cost $100 in materials - it was a metallic green with some pearl in it. Matter of fact, I still have the leftover materials and he is planning on sending some more work down to me.
95teetee
Well-Known Member
I've painted, airbrushed, and cleared a tank for about $100.
but then I wasn't trying to get rich off of it
but then I wasn't trying to get rich off of it
4spd, maybe if I decided to knock the whole thing down I'd go that route. Honestly the frame is in too good a shape to bother right now.[/QUOTE]
Im with ya there Joe, if you dont need to strip it right down why bother. Quickies are always good eh??
A question here?? Is it possible to have something powdercoated and then have a painter match that color.....ex, powdercoat the tank, and then paint the side covers??
Im with ya there Joe, if you dont need to strip it right down why bother. Quickies are always good eh??
A question here?? Is it possible to have something powdercoated and then have a painter match that color.....ex, powdercoat the tank, and then paint the side covers??
ramcharger
Dismember
It's amazing the variance in price I'm seeing here. ShimSham, I wish you were closer to Denver. I'd be worried about the parts gettinng damaged in shipping.
4spd, that thought did cross my mind but with all the mixing and matching they'd have to do, I'd think it would get mighty expensive anyway. It might work if I were just going striaght black though... then again, the filler might not attract powder or hold up to the baking process.
If I go the 1100 buck route, I'd kill at the first scratch and the magnetic tank bag for long trips would be a no-go. Then again, I don't want a runny, orange peel paint job either and my time is limited in regards to doing bodywork too.
Decisions, decisions.....
4spd, that thought did cross my mind but with all the mixing and matching they'd have to do, I'd think it would get mighty expensive anyway. It might work if I were just going striaght black though... then again, the filler might not attract powder or hold up to the baking process.
If I go the 1100 buck route, I'd kill at the first scratch and the magnetic tank bag for long trips would be a no-go. Then again, I don't want a runny, orange peel paint job either and my time is limited in regards to doing bodywork too.
Decisions, decisions.....
My custom bike builder customer did encounter some difficulties trying to match the two-stage powder job linked above, and I ended up with some additional last-minute work because of it.
A few of my more popular powders are available in matching liquid paint directly from my supplier but Tangelo Mist isn't one of them.
You're right Joe: Powder coating will NOT adhere to Bondo-type body fillers, fiberglass, plastic, etc., so any repairs have to be accomplished with expertise and/or a high-temp metal filler instead.
A few of my more popular powders are available in matching liquid paint directly from my supplier but Tangelo Mist isn't one of them.
You're right Joe: Powder coating will NOT adhere to Bondo-type body fillers, fiberglass, plastic, etc., so any repairs have to be accomplished with expertise and/or a high-temp metal filler instead.
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