Watch Alex devalue the gixxer thread.....

[RONDAL]

Re: Watch Alex devalue the gixxer thread.....

looks hot. i love bikes, cant wait to get my hands on one again...along with repurchasing my coffin.

i have never been a fan of race stickers on bike tho to be honest, i guess it goes the same way as vinyl on cars....just aint right unless someone is paying you to have them on there but to each their own.

very nice project, bet you cant wait til the gravel gets cleaned up and you can do some shredding

[Aleks]

Re: Watch Alex devalue the gixxer thread.....

Yep, I've had mixed reviews on the decal pack so far......Fortunately Suzuki did sell a Telefonica bike in 02 (it was a 600 only though), as well as an Alstare (Corona) edition in 03, so I'm not wandering far off the OEM path with this scheme. Plus, I'm after unique, and bright, hopefully this will achieve both!

[RONDAL]

Re: Watch Alex devalue the gixxer thread.....

i just remember seeing that one parked on memorial just west of the 10th st bridge all the time during the summer, it has the full race paint scheme but it just looks so tacky. it would be like putting full rally decals all over your subaru STi and driving it around. i've seen people with that and while it looks cool for a few seconds you kinda start to scratch your head afterwards

[RONDAL]

Re: Watch Alex devalue the gixxer thread.....

oh btw how do you find the blue LCD? blue light scatters really easily so i didn't know if you had a chance to test it out on the road, it will prolly be a little harder to read compared with the red which gives a much sharper display. be interested to see how you found it on the road...i know the blue looks cooler, but functionality wise i didn't know how big of an impact it would have.

Hence why in the mk4's all the important things are in red and those you dont really need to worry about are in blue.

[Aleks]

Re: Watch Alex devalue the gixxer thread.....

Funny you mention the one on memorial....It was unfortunately stolen in September, all caught on tape, but long gone....Also, I've stated my point about the decals, so I'm done discussing that!!

As for the blue, I've noticed its more pleasant to look at. afterall, I am accustomed to my Mk4, which almost everything is in blue...Sure the important stuff is in red, but same with the tach. Who cares about speed, its all about the engine! I have ridden a fair amount at night with it thus far, I'm much much happier with it!

[Aleks]

Re: Watch Alex devalue the gixxer thread.....

Whew, slowest transformation ever.......Thanks to mother nature and my job finally coming to an agreement, I got a little bit done today. I took off a bunch of decals, in prep for some sanding and a couple repairs on my left side lower fairing.....Also picked up the kitty hair and light filler for some scratches.....Here are some pics....

Lesson learned: decal removal wheel + drill on high speed = bad for plastic bodywork.....No pics to evidence this, just remember that.
It wasn't necessary to use the drill/wheel except on the GSXR logo cause it was a chrome decal, and they don't like peeling at all.....For the coloured decals danielle's new hairdryer worked wonders! I left the suzuki on there for now because one of my drill batteries **** the bed, and I didn't want it to look too empty (Its 10 minutes to take those letters off...) . I also realized that suzuki black is actually black with blue metal flake in it, looks nice....

[Aleks]

Re: Watch Alex devalue the gixxer thread.....

And just like that all my images are gonzo.....I hope my PAID webspace brings it back NOW......I'm moving on to flickr now....

Aside from that, I'm on vacation now, and working on the bike in bits and pieces.....Here are a few!

First off, completed removal of decals on side fairings. Oddly enough, they are almost identical in colour to what I am painting them...never realized that before....Also, there are photos showing the damage to the left fairing that needs to be repaired....right this minute I am fibreglassing that big ass crack with kitty hair! Also, there is an image of my right fairing where my midpipe passes through, literally.....Modification coming up there aswell.....










Next up, proper flushmount signals, get rid of these ugly things.....I'm thinking watsen flushmounts....ebay here I come!



I also started sanding....



Get a die grinder for proper surface prep for structural type fillers like kitty hair, gives it more to grab onto! Also, being the backside of the panel, I can use alot of surface area to ensure strength, and less surface area on the frontside so it doesn't get that "fixed" look when its completed!

I'll add more pics from today as I get them....

[Aleks]

Re: Watch Alex devalue the gixxer thread.....

Ok....so I see my old photos still aren't up....shitty....Anyhow, got a bunch of work done today! I want it done by the end of the week, I see no problem with that as of yet.....Was hoping to get farther today, but as you sand you find little imperfections and you fix them....all of them....

Small amounts of fiberglass work add alot of structure to small cracks. I also filled the holes from the old signal lights, as the new ones I have coming fit right into the factory hole!







Then after you've sanded it all down you use plastic filler to fill any pinholes, sanding marks, etc. You use quite rough sandpaper with fiberglass, 80-120 grit, so the filler fills those in well, as you sand the filler with 180 to start, and then 320 to feather the edges, and then 400 by hand and finish with 600 (I do this as a personal thing, not needed but I like to be sure its not going to show through, especially when shooting metallics..)... I forgot to take after pics on the panel when its all sanded and finished, I'll try to on wednesday or so....here was the before pic with the filler on it...



I sanded the tank and filled a couple very small dents I didn't even know where there. I used the pinstrip wheel again on the decals, and even though they were under the clear, the wheel and the drill took them right off no problems.....Saved alot of hassle....Of importance though, when doing the tank, there will be edges where the decals were, and where the colour line is, so you want to sand and feather them all down to ensure its smooth and you don't see the outline when you repaint!! Sorry for the poor photos, you can't see the different layers of paint after sanding in them...






Just another step in the road....the whole bike is stripped now, and the panels are all sanded....I suck at remembering to take photos....I will later though



Onse of the coolest parts, I made my exhaust cutout today aswell, it looks swell and fits even better!! It looks very unfinished in this photo....But I haven't cleaned up the edge yet...






I also took time to straighten out the exhaust pipe, I'll order a new sleeve for it soon, 16" this time and cut down the internals....

[Aleks]

Re: Watch Alex devalue the gixxer thread.....

Here we go again....another day, another bunch of work. I got the sanding finished, and aswell the primer. I shot the solo cowl in colour to see how well it covered, the paint is great!

The bike when it was pulled out of the garage this AM





The parts in between bouts of wet sanding (no edges done in these pics, they were done before priming though.... Wet sanding is the way to go for anyone trying to sand automotive stuff....keeps the paper clean, and also really bites harder! Smoother finish, less sanding marks aswell. You can see some of the work done to the left fairing













After all the sanding the priming starts. This is just standard grey epoxy primer single coat stuff. Unfortunately I had to paint them all one by one due to hanging space, but it worked out ok because it sets up fast.

first the tail section



Then the tank



The right fairing



The exhaust cutout again....the fairing is hanging loose so it doesn't look like it lines up aswell, but it does when its snug



The nose piece....This part sucked, had to do inside and out much better than the sides because you can see it all....and the paint gun spins this when you're spraying and you can't hang on!



And lastly the left fairing




Here is a small swatch of colour I sprayed when I painted the solo cowl...tomorrow the rest is done...can't see it too well because it didn't focus but you get the point...

[Canadian Turbo]

Re: Watch Alex devalue the gixxer thread.....

Coming along well!!!

[R_Ethug]

Re: Watch Alex devalue the gixxer thread.....

nice man!

[Stonewall]

Re: Watch Alex devalue the gixxer thread.....

Nice tool box! I am interested in what you are using for a paint gun and your compressor setup. Are you using an air dryer? Are you setting up a plastic paint room or are you just hanging and spraying the parts? How are you dealing with dust? I have been thinking of setting up a paint area when I do my garage so I just want an opinion from someone who actually knows what they are doing.

[Kor]

Re: Watch Alex devalue the gixxer thread.....

I love this thread and wish I had better skills at fixing things up.

[Aleks]

Re: Watch Alex devalue the gixxer thread.....

Alright y'all.....Here it is....FINAL update....Bike is done, and this post will cover colour basecoat, decals, clear and final reveal.....You know what that means, haters, get your hate engines started.......heehee



So first off, after the primer, I shot colour coats. The colour was Black Magic Pearl, a VW colour used on anniversary GTI's. Its a black with gold and silver flake in it that shows well in the sun. Why black? I dunno, it was different than blue, less boring than grey, and I wasn't going with pink!

Basecoats are always dull in finish, as the photos show....I used alot of colour, way more than I needed....I shot a whole pint of base (thats 2 pints reduced!!). The colour laid down nice, the paint is good stuff as far as I'm concerned, and I used to shoot R-M which is top of the line!

Here is the base coat, and the panels hung on the bike in just base....You can see here how that exhaust cutout fits nice!!! This actually looks cool










Next step was decals.....This too about 4 hours to complete!!!! They were a ***** to say the least, and getting things lined up, deciding where to put things, I didn't get a road map with these decals so I used photos of the 2002 MotoGP bike as a reference!!

My sister helped a bit, she used to decal buses so I figured she'd know what she was doing!







Slowly coming together!! I was doing it alone at this point



The tank part looks crooked, but thats the tank angles playing with your eyes....It was lined up with a string line to ensure the same angle as the side panel






Now, onto clear coat.....I did this immediately after graphics, on thursday night. I had to in order to ride it to Three Hills on saturday (clear coat needs 16 hours of setup time at 21 degrees......Plus I have flex agent in it so be safe!).

First up is a shot of the solo cowl cleared in the sunset so you can see how glassy it is...Pretty sweet eh? The clear was AMAZING to shoot....





ANd here is the colour, sortof up close.





AAAANNNNNDDDDD.......the final reveal!!! This is BEFORE I polished it when I got home, so its a little dull in this photo from overspray......I think it looks killer! And aswell, EVERY place I've gone I've gotten compliments......I had people yelling "nice bike" from their car as they drove by my house when I was working on it! I'm happy.....Let me know what you think!



Thanks for following this buildup all!

[Aleks]

Re: Watch Alex devalue the gixxer thread.....

And to answer questions now....

I have about 60-70 hours into this project, and a running cost of about $550.....not too shabby.....

Brent, I am used a gravity feed HVLP gun, 45 psi, and adjust the spray as needed. Compressor is a little 5 gallon setup, runs the whole time I'm spraying....As for booth, I used the garage, lots and lots of water on the floor, and nothing else......Tack clothing the parts before spray is vital to less dut (if you see it sometime I'll show you a part that didn't get it!). I hung what needed to be hung, and used sawhorses for the rest. I also had a dupont tyvec paintsuit and a respirator....


Not too bad for a garage setup........And I would use that paint again any day!