The Bultaco's he mentioned weren't powder coated when new...unless I missed something which is possible of course:)

 

No nothing missed. The original frame paint was quite soft and easily chipped/damaged. I suspect just spray painted with little preparation and possible no primer coat.

 

The power washer we used was not a very powerful one so easily removed the original paint. Even after all these years I can still see the look on my mates face as he realised what the power washer had done. Probably not helped as another mate was also watching who had a brand new chrome frame Beamish Suzuki. I was never jealous of the Suzuki but was jealous of the chrome frame.  It was quite rare back at that time to have a power washer.

 

Just to confirm my point, I was not impressed with the frame paint on my new 198 Bultaco when new so would certainly want something better today. 

 

This bring back memories for me thinking about that bike and time. I bought the bike new with me paying half and my Dad the other half. £715.00 total from John Kershaw motorcycles when he was in Wickford, Essex before he moved to Devon. I was just 15 years old at the time.

 

Also makes me think, Three friends, two with Brand new Bultaco's and the other with a brand new Beamish Suzuki all in the same school and school year and riding Trials (Great Dunmow) . Reflection of the time.  My club (Braintree and District  MCC) is currently struggling to attract any youth riders. We have decided to try and change this and have just taken delivery of 3 brand new OSET electric trials bikes ( Currently parked in my study at home) these will be available at our events for youth riders to come along and give our sport a try (under supervision). So if you know of any potential young riders in the Essex and Suffolk area keen to try our sport please point them in our direction. Contact details on the Braintree MCC web site. This is a new effort on our behalf and we will be publicising this more once we get all the paper work sorted

(Sorry for the thread drift but it is in an effort to help our sport)

Edited November 23, 20169 yr by twinnshock

Powder coating has got a lot better the last few years.

Gone are the days of a frame you could tell was powder coating because it was so thick and it filled the joins in frames etc.

Now days its a lot thinner and looks a lot like paint.

 

I don't have the problem of what to go for, mines chrome being a Beamish lol.

just glad it doesn't need redoing, as that isn't cheap.

When I ressurected my Greeves after being in boxes for 35 years I painted it myself with Landrover Marine Blue, left over from doing some bits on my old series 3 Landy.It has worn suprisingly well for a quick spray and is easy to touch in with an artists paint brush.Re pressure washers,I am lucky to have on my work van a Sealey cordless pressure washer. Runs for 40 minutes on its own battery or can be plugged into a vehicle cigarette lighter socket.It has a tank which holds 15 litres of water. It only works at 8.5 bar (125 psi) but its not so aggresive to paintwork and wheel bearings. More convenient than getting the mains machine out with hoses and mains leads. I havnt used it at a trials venue though as I dont want to upset any land owners..

Soften the old paint with paint stripper and scrape as much of it off as you can, this greatly reduces sand blasting time. I sand blast with dry building sand (the stuff used for infilling block paving). Its cheaper and softer than blasting grit, removes rust and paint OK without taking off too much metal. As soon as blasting is coat with aerosol etch primer (One £7 tin easily does a whole frame). Leave to cure thoroughly for several days. Then (spraygun) 2 coats of 2 pack primer filler (Upol) lightly sanding in between if necessary. Then (spraygun) basecoat followed by either ready mixed or two pack clear lacquer.

The above paint system is tough, long lasting and easily touched in.

Keep the coats thin where bolts go in and thicker where your legs rub.