What's a fair price to re-clear coat a bike?

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I like the factory color of my bike, but the paint is getting pretty beat up (there are spots on frontal areas that have pencil tip sized chips), and the clear coat in general is getting thin in places from constant polishing. I am wanting to have all of the painted pieces on the bike sanded down to remove the clear, any damaged spots on the black repaired, then several coats of clear coat re-applied for durability. Any idea what would be a fair price for having this done?
 
Originally Posted By: Ken2
Are you going to disassemble the parts to be painted, then reassemble when done?


I will have my mechanic do that for me...
 
Originally Posted By: strat81
Price will vary wildly based on geography and paint type used.


Ballpark figure?
 
FWIW, I know guys with the same bike who have had all of the paint work re-done (color and clear coat) and most are paying between $1500 and $2000...I wouldn't think it should run more than $1000 to have what I want done, then again, I don't know for sure...that's why I'm asking...
 
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: Ken2
Are you going to disassemble the parts to be painted, then reassemble when done?


I will have my mechanic do that for me...



If your not going to take apart the bike yourself, prices are vary too much to even ballpark.

i've known people who had their sport bikes repainted for $1200ish. Removed all fairings, tank, tail section and fenders and took it to the painters. Came out decent, one or two steps below OEM.
 
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: strat81
Price will vary wildly based on geography and paint type used.


Ballpark figure?


$500 to $2,000, depending on the quality of the shop, quality of the materials (paint), number of pieces painted, condition of those pieces, etc.

You mentioned "damaged spots". Will the repair require welding, fiberglass, or body filler? Is the surface flat or is it a complex curve?

Metallic paints are generally more expensive and require a bit more labor to blend.


IOW, you need to bring the bike or the parts to a few shops and get an estimate. Paint & body work can be very labor intensive, and the materials are expensive, assuming we're not talking about a $200 Maaco enamel hack job.
 
Originally Posted By: strat81
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: strat81
Price will vary wildly based on geography and paint type used.


Ballpark figure?


$500 to $2,000, depending on the quality of the shop, quality of the materials (paint), number of pieces painted, condition of those pieces, etc.

You mentioned "damaged spots". Will the repair require welding, fiberglass, or body filler? Is the surface flat or is it a complex curve?

Metallic paints are generally more expensive and require a bit more labor to blend.


IOW, you need to bring the bike or the parts to a few shops and get an estimate. Paint & body work can be very labor intensive, and the materials are expensive, assuming we're not talking about a $200 Maaco enamel hack job.


There are no damaged parts on my bike...the damage I was referring to is where sand or small rocks have hit the front facing portions of the gas tank and chipped off both the clear coat and the color down to metal...those spots are small, roughly the size of the tip of an ink pen...the rest of all of the parts would only need to be sanded (or whatever they do to remove/rough up the surface) and re-clear coated...
 
to repair chips sand and reclear will be only a minimal difference than repainting parts. either way for a top notch job you'll be looking at 1250-2000.
 
Originally Posted By: crgstvrs
to repair chips sand and reclear will be only a minimal difference than repainting parts. either way for a top notch job you'll be looking at 1250-2000.


That's strange, considering it would take A LOT less work to have done what I want done...
 
Not really, the disassemble, prep, and sanding are where all the work is. Shooting something small like disassembled motorcycle parts will go really quick, so there won't be too much difference between doing a couple of coats of clear and doing a couple of coats of base followed by clear.
 
Originally Posted By: Smcatub
Not really, the disassemble, prep, and sanding are where all the work is. Shooting something small like disassembled motorcycle parts will go really quick, so there won't be too much difference between doing a couple of coats of clear and doing a couple of coats of base followed by clear.


Disassembly won't be done by the painter, and I would think not having to shoot the color takes a lot of the work out of it...
 
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: Smcatub
Not really, the disassemble, prep, and sanding are where all the work is. Shooting something small like disassembled motorcycle parts will go really quick, so there won't be too much difference between doing a couple of coats of clear and doing a couple of coats of base followed by clear.


Disassembly won't be done by the painter, and I would think not having to shoot the color takes a lot of the work out of it...


Year/make/model of the bike?
Pictures of the paint?

As others have already pointed out, most of the labor is not in the dis-assembly, but in the prep work for the parts prior to painting. Cleaning, repair, sanding, etc. In my experience it is rare to find a shop that re-applies only the clear coat, especially if the base coat needs repair as well. For nearly the same price it makes sense to re-paint and re-clear rather than have defects from the repaired base coat show through.
 
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: Smcatub
Not really, the disassemble, prep, and sanding are where all the work is. Shooting something small like disassembled motorcycle parts will go really quick, so there won't be too much difference between doing a couple of coats of clear and doing a couple of coats of base followed by clear.


Disassembly won't be done by the painter, and I would think not having to shoot the color takes a lot of the work out of it...

Just remember, if you are calling the shots don't expect the painter to guarantee the work. From your description I wouldn't touch it.

Smoky
 
Originally Posted By: heynow
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: Smcatub
Not really, the disassemble, prep, and sanding are where all the work is. Shooting something small like disassembled motorcycle parts will go really quick, so there won't be too much difference between doing a couple of coats of clear and doing a couple of coats of base followed by clear.


Disassembly won't be done by the painter, and I would think not having to shoot the color takes a lot of the work out of it...


Year/make/model of the bike?
Pictures of the paint?

As others have already pointed out, most of the labor is not in the dis-assembly, but in the prep work for the parts prior to painting. Cleaning, repair, sanding, etc. In my experience it is rare to find a shop that re-applies only the clear coat, especially if the base coat needs repair as well. For nearly the same price it makes sense to re-paint and re-clear rather than have defects from the repaired base coat show through.


2007 Suzuki M109R...sorry, no pics...
 
Originally Posted By: Smoky14
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: Smcatub
Not really, the disassemble, prep, and sanding are where all the work is. Shooting something small like disassembled motorcycle parts will go really quick, so there won't be too much difference between doing a couple of coats of clear and doing a couple of coats of base followed by clear.


Disassembly won't be done by the painter, and I would think not having to shoot the color takes a lot of the work out of it...

Just remember, if you are calling the shots don't expect the painter to guarantee the work. From your description I wouldn't touch it.

Smoky


Any reputable painter would not agree to do the job if he can't guarantee his work...
 
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Originally Posted By: heynow
In my experience it is rare to find a shop that re-applies only the clear coat, especially if the base coat needs repair as well.

That is my experience as well.

Once all the prep work is done, it's worth paying the extra money for a quart of color to be applied in addition to the clear. New basecoat greatly reduces the chance of the parts looking "repaired".

But there are plenty of hacks out there that will do whatever you tell them to do. A good shop will try to educate the customer and if the customer insists on having questionable work performed, the good shop will turn them down, as the shop's reputation is on the line.


ETA - Looking at pics of the bike, I see lots and lots of curves. Curved surfaces can pose a challenge as when sanding the surface, you run a greater risk of sanding through to the bare metal. A shop can go slow to reduce that chance, but then you pay more for labor. Or, they'll sand it down quickly, then prime and seal as necessary before laying down color and clear. TANSTAAFL.

Sharp looking bike, btw. It's nice to see something different than the typical Harley.
 
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Originally Posted By: strat81
Originally Posted By: heynow
In my experience it is rare to find a shop that re-applies only the clear coat, especially if the base coat needs repair as well.

That is my experience as well.

Once all the prep work is done, it's worth paying the extra money for a quart of color to be applied in addition to the clear. New basecoat greatly reduces the chance of the parts looking "repaired".

But there are plenty of hacks out there that will do whatever you tell them to do. A good shop will try to educate the customer and if the customer insists on having questionable work performed, the good shop will turn them down, as the shop's reputation is on the line.


ETA - Looking at pics of the bike, I see lots and lots of curves. Curved surfaces can pose a challenge as when sanding the surface, you run a greater risk of sanding through to the bare metal. A shop can go slow to reduce that chance, but then you pay more for labor. Or, they'll sand it down quickly, then prime and seal as necessary before laying down color and clear. TANSTAAFL.

Sharp looking bike, btw. It's nice to see something different than the typical Harley.


I don't want to have the bike done this way as a cost saving measure, I'm doing it because I like the factory color, which is difficult, if not impossible to match. The color is called nebulas black (I think)...it has blue metallic in it. There is a company called Color Rite that makes this color (specifically this factory color), but I have had many say it doesn't match, and I know of no one whose had success trying to mix their own paint and get it to match...thanks by the way, I do get a lot of compliments on this bike...
 
Last edited:
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