Goosed Again Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 My bike is a 2000 Red Frame Black Body Sport and I wouldn't mind seeing my forks (uppers) in black as well... plus the rear hangers. Has anyone here tried this or have some sort of experience in the field? Recommendation of paint brand would be nice as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuzziMoto Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 If you want the finish to last I would either powder coat them or use some sort of bed liner coating. If you use regular paint it will probably look bad from wear in a few years. Another option is anodizing them. But, in my experience, black anodizing tends to fade when exposed to the sun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goosed Again Posted February 18, 2015 Author Share Posted February 18, 2015 Yea, anodizing would be nice but the finish would mis match in nothing flat. I guess one other way to go would be a "wrap". Probably go on easier and not have to rip the front end as much. May not be super durable either, first time I hit a June Bug at 90 MPH, the wrap may be toast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scud Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Black is good. Hangers By rear hangers, I assume you mean the parts that go from tail frame to passenger peg and exhaust hangers? If so, I recently had mine powder-coated flat black and am pleased with the result. I had a bunch of parts done at the same time: posted in #126 of Brand New Scura. Also see warnings there regarding where to mask the brackets and passenger pegs. Forks Think cautiously about powder-coating the fork tubes; it will slightly increase their diameter, which could make it hard to fit back in the triple clamps. I thought about black fork bottoms too - but powder-coating them required too much disassembly of valves, adjusters, seals, etc. If, in future, I do get the urge to black out the fork bottoms, I would just use spray enamel on the complete parts, then some truck bed liner on the leading edges - or powder-coat them if/when they need to be totally rebuilt. Wraps are cheap and can be peeled off - and installed again. Seems like that would be worth an experiment... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scud Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 My bike is a 2000 Red Frame Black Body Sport So your bike is like this one in the gallery? So much potential for darkening... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docc Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Rosso Mandello forks are black and identical, no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Wraps are cheap and can be peeled off - and installed again. Seems like that would be worth an experiment... Wraps are fairly thick 0.003 or so and soft. That would increase the diameter of the fork 0.006". You would have to avoid wrapping where the triple clamps mate to the fork. I can imagine lots of badness trying to clamp over the vinyl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scud Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Wraps are cheap and can be peeled off - and installed again. Seems like that would be worth an experiment... Wraps are fairly thick 0.003 or so and soft. That would increase the diameter of the fork 0.006". You would have to avoid wrapping where the triple clamps mate to the fork. I can imagine lots of badness trying to clamp over the vinyl. I agree that a soft layer between the fork and triple clamp sounds like a bad idea - they might not even fit with the wrap on them. I assumed the wrap would be done with the forks still on the bike - and trimmed at the triple clamps. That would require wrapping four sections. You might have to remove the wrap from the sections between the triple clamps before removing the forks for service. Thinking more about the process... it seems like it would be difficult to join the edges of the plastic wrap, because you'd have to go all the way around the fork tube and try not to leave a gap or get a raised seam. Lines up the back look good on some kinds of legs, but maybe not on motorcycle fork legs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goosed Again Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 My bike is a 2000 Red Frame Black Body Sport So your bike is like this one in the gallery? So much potential for darkening... Yep, just like that but the previous owner stripped the pork chops so I'll need to repaint them as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Jaap Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 There are plenty of V11 models with black forks. Why not try to swap or look for a used pair? I've seen them on eBay a few times for little money. Imo everything that enlarges the diameter of your forks is a bad idea. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scud Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 My bike is a 2000 Red Frame Black Body Sport So your bike is like this one in the gallery? So much potential for darkening... Yep, just like that but the previous owner stripped the pork chops so I'll need to repaint them as well. Sounds like you might be embarking on a project... Maybe you should start a project thread about your bike (and post some pics). Is it new to you? FWIW - I got a lot of great advice when I did a project thread for my bike. I ended up doing a lot of important things that I would not have thought to do on my own. Staying in the dialogue on the forum also pushed me to get everything done faster than I probably would have otherwise. Now I am "chuffed to bits" (to borrow a British expression) with my bike, I know my way around it, and I have a good sense of things to watch out for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moto fugazzi Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 The only issue I see is that the paint may scrape off while sliding it through the clamps. It happened to an axle bolt I painted in my V7 Classic last summer. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goosed Again Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 I'm still in SoCal for another week, been here 2 months. I'll take a look at everything when I get home and then plan how best to attack these little personality changes. I've had the bike for a couple of years now but due to a flakey previous owner that got me the wrong "lost title" paperwork, wouldn't come through with the correct transfer documents, and persistence by myself at the Oregon DMV showing emails and text messages, it's FINALLY in my name. Now I don't feel so bad about dumping some quality time and money into project x. Thing to do: Repaint / decal the tank Repaint pork chops Repaint the rear hangers Might try to use my fiberglass skills of yesteryear (used to make surfboards in my youth) and work on a new seat cowl Wrap or replace the forks Install a rear hugger Change the taillight for a strip with blinkers or find one I can inset in the tail piece Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docc Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I've been surprised at the use of spray-on rubberized "Plasti-dip" for leading edge trim in cars. With careful prep and multiple light applications, it appears to hold up surprisingly well. I've not seen this on forks (or, say, the alternator cover), and it would be a little fiddly to mask everything off for good coverage, but if you don't like it, it just peels off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Phil Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Just get them anodised, cheap, robust available in a million colors and wont increase the fork Dia. Just need to strip them down to do it. Put in the effort and do it right. Ciao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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