How much should I pay for a decent paint job?

[smackdoogle]

So, I am not a painter nor do I ever plan to be. The prep is the killer and I don't have the steady hand, the patience or the skill for it. I'd much rather pay for someone to do the work.

I'm not looking for a museum quality job and I don't want to pay for one. I'm looking for something good-nice on my 85 VFKR. Stock RWB paint scheme. The damn decals look about $150. I have one guy in town who paints for the local Honda dealer. He quoted about $800-$1000. My fairings don't have any cracks, just one small hole to patch in the front lower fairing. I think that may be high.

Opinions? Should I suck it up and plan to pay that much? Here's what I'm working with.

[Veefer800Canuck]

I had all good used parts to put back on my wrecked 5th gen (no cracks) and the paintjob was $900 by a certified bodyman, working on the side on weekends and evenings at the shop he's employed at. His boss lets him do side projects for cash on his own time.

[jcarpfishman]

That sounds about right... when I bought my '86 VFR700, it also needed a paint job. I called a few local bike shops and was directed to a local paint shop that I was told had reasonable prices. I stopped in with some panels and showed some pictures of what I was looking to do. I was quoted at about $800 for the whole bike, so your estimates don't seem too far off.

Well, being the engineer that I am (read: proud that I can fix stuff on my own), I decided to save some money and paint the bike myself. I don't have an air compressor or gun, so I ended up buying all the paint from a car paint shop that was able to inject the paint into aerosol cans for me. The cost for all supplies through them was about $400, and that got me primer, adhesion promoter, 6 cans of actual paint (8.5 oz cans @ $33 / can!!), and one-part clear coat. All would have been well at this point as the painted surfaces looked awesome before the clear coat..... then **** hit the fan. The clear they sold me turned all white parts of the bike a yellowish tint and it had absolutely no fuel resistance. So, I ended up taping off what was ok and repainted the white, then covered everything with a high quality two-part clear in a can (all additional supplies cost another $175).

Now, I'm overall happy with the finish, but in the end I spent almost as much on my own paint job as a shop would have charged... and it probably took me 3 times as long.

So it comes down to you: your skills and your checkbook. If you want to save money and do it yourself with aerosol cans, you definitely can do both of those. If you don't want the hassle, headache, and time commitment, then speaking from experience.... $800 for a paint job doesn't really sound all that bad once you put it into perspective.

Here's what you can do with aerosol cans:

[Veefer800Canuck]

Sorry for your luck Fish. If that happens to a pro, he's fixing it on his dime. But thankfully, they already know what formulations go together, and use products from the same family that adhere well and work correctly together.

[jcarpfishman]

Yeah, it was a learning experience. The shop wouldn't refund any money because I'm not a professional, even thought the store manager was impressed with the paint job.

I now know for future reference, and maybe I can help prevent someone else from making the same mistake(s) that I made along the way. The three biggest lessons: 1.) SEM Clear Coat turns white parts yellow / a caramel tint when it builds up, 2.) Single part clear coat has ABSOLUTELY NO fuel resistance, and 3.) Test your clear coat on a scrap piece by letting it pool up and ensure that it is in fact CLEAR.

I went with SprayMax 2K clear the second time around... and I would recommend it to anyone doing any painting on their bikes. Gasoline wipes off like it was water.

[Guest]

Painters are getting more than 75 to almost 100 dollars an hour to ply their craft.

Reduce your costs by removing everything from the bike and removing any fasteners from the plastic. Clean it well with detergent, not car soap. Sanding is a b*tch, but that's where most of the labor is. Prep of a paint job is about 80-90% of the work and it can make-or-break a quality job.

I paid $800 for a one-shot poly enamel paint job on an old Goldwing almost 10 years ago (time flys). I went back for a repair to the saddlebag lid yesterday and it's going to cost me $600!!!

Keep your paint code on file somewhere and get the rest of the paint you paid for. Seal some up for future spot repairs.

[SEBSPEED]

I think the estimate is right on. $1000 is the high end, and should include some repair time if needed. Fiberglass is harder to work with, and there are more parts to the 1000R body set than you typical sportbike.

If they'll do it for $800, let them do it.

[Veefer800Canuck]

If your quote includes multiple colours, you are getting a deal. Every time they have to shoot a colour, mask and shoot another colour, it's very time consuming and of course, $$$$$

A single colour will of course be less expensive. But with a Vfkr, I'd want to replicate the stock paint job right down to the letter. It's a classic.

[smackdoogle]

Yeah, it'll be done stock so no changes will be made. The painter I talked to even said he'd spray my helmet to match the bike I politely said no thank you. Capt. America looks like a good movie but I don't need all that. Looks like I'll be saving penny's and putting the custom exhaust on the back burner. Oh how the money adds up. Thanks for the advice.

[Veefer800Canuck]

There were actually several slightly different executions of the RWB scheme on the Vfkr, depending on year and what market the bike was sold in. Someone here posted a pic with all of them for reference.

Hopefully one of our 1000 experts will chime in with a repost of the pic.

Might be interesting to go with something subtly different, yet OEM style in the RWB scheme???

[gll429]

I think the estimate is right on. $1000 is the high end, and should include some repair time if needed. Fiberglass is harder to work with, and there are more parts to the 1000R body set than you typical sportbike.

If they'll do it for $800, let them do it.

lololololololol

a $1000 at the high end?? that may get you a tank painted where i work. the average paint job for a HD ...1 color is $6000 some for as high as $15,000 the last bike we painted .. the paint ALONE cost $2800 WHOLESALE!!!!!

so $1000 .. do it if you like their work.

[Veefer800Canuck]

Well, airbrushing all those skullz 'n flamez 'n nekkid laydeez by hand takes a bunch of time, and metalflake paint ain't cheap either, so.......

[smackdoogle]

I think the estimate is right on. $1000 is the high end, and should include some repair time if needed. Fiberglass is harder to work with, and there are more parts to the 1000R body set than you typical sportbike.

If they'll do it for $800, let them do it.

lololololololol

a $1000 at the high end?? that may get you a tank painted where i work. the average paint job for a HD ...1 color is $6000 some for as high as $15,000 the last bike we painted .. the paint ALONE cost $2800 WHOLESALE!!!!!

so $1000 .. do it if you like their work.

Wow! So what your saying is to make a loud piggy purdy you gotta throw money at it?

I'm kidding and envious of people who have that type of money to spend..................................on paint for a toy.

Where do these people work? I need a disposable income like that.

[VFRDYLAN]

If your quote includes multiple colours, you are getting a deal. Every time they have to shoot a colour, mask and shoot another colour, it's very time consuming and of course, $$$$$

A single colour will of course be less expensive. But with a Vfkr, I'd want to replicate the stock paint job right down to the letter. It's a classic.

:+1:

I had my 85 VF1000R painted about a year ago for $900 and the painter said he would charge double if he ever saw another one. The issue is multiple colors and aligning all the parts so the lines flow. My painter had to build some stands that allowed him to align all the parts.

This is often not an issue with modern schemes.

I think that is a good price.

[vanion2]

My paint job cost me $1200 but I had to remove the fairings myself (no biggie for me). It was a custom job with 2 color and I got a bit of deal on the red because they had some extra from another job they did.

$800-$1000 is very reasonable if all you to do is drop off the bike.

[Polarbear]

Sounds like a fair price to me for nice work. Have you thought about teaming up with other people and have a "group paint job"? Just saying, the price msy go down if you're 3 or 5...

Good luck! And don't forget before and after close-up pics!!

C

[cruzinaz]

800 is cheap. As its been said if you like their work go for it.