Paint

[Brock864]

Is there anyone in the upstate SC area who has any experience with a good auto body painter? I'm looking for someone to fix some scratches on my 14 FJR and also paint match the top box that came off my 07.

I have a connection to a guy who is an auto body expert and former auto body paint rep but I'm not sure about his availability. I'm looking for options.

Thanks

[FJRoss]

garauld is the "go-to" guy for FJR painting. Too far?

memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=399

[extrememarine]

2nd that - even with shipping to / from - He's always had great feedback from those who have had work done by him.

garauld is the "go-to' guy for FJR painting. Too far?

memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=399

[garauld]

The red 2014 is tough to match and is a 4-coat process: primer, base silver, red mid and clear top. I have run out of red mid and do not plan to paint more of these. A local shop is the best option.

[wheatonFJR]

Is there anyone in the upstate SC area who has any experience with a good auto body painter? I'm looking for someone to fix some scratches on my 14 FJR and also paint match the top box that came off my 07.

I have a connection to a guy who is an auto body expert and former auto body paint rep but I'm not sure about his availability. I'm looking for options.

Thanks

Brock, you should send a PM to 1911 on this board. He lives in Laurens, SC and used somebody to paint a sidebag after a woopsie.

[Brock864]

Okay thanks. I did speak to my guy in Dacusville today though and he said he has time. Thanks again

[garauld]

I had my local auto paint store scan a 2014 red lid and found "Mazda Soul Red" is almost a spot-on match.

[wheatonFJR]

Okay thanks. I did speak to my guy in Dacusville today though and he said he has time. Thanks again

Dacusville is just a few miles out my back door...other side of the Saluda river.

[FJRoss]

I had my local auto paint store scan a 2014 red lid and found "Mazda Soul Red" is almost a spot-on match.

Interesting. Have you encountered "stand-back-and-squint" reasonable matches for other FJR paints from the automotive world? Might be useful for someone who wants to paint an accessory (like a trailer or topbox) or cover up the results of a drop or crash.

Lots of people would probably buy local paints at a decent price - especially when ColorRite charges so much and doesn't always provide a great match. I found a satisfactory rattle can match for my 2011 silver (for a trailer). Unfortunately, I didn't save the can so can't share the info.

[raYzerman]

There are those paint suppliers who will scan your panel (experience I have is don't rely on ONE scan), and make you up a quart or a rattle can...... then buy the good automotive clearcoat in a can and you will get nice results.....

[garauld]

I was at the local paint store to buy some equivalent Cobalt Blue. The Colorrite version is comprised of two cans: a dark blue undercoat and a lighter midcoat which of course, needs to be clear-coated. A qt of Colorrite color is now around $200. I bought another pt of Kia code 6K; Deep Ocean Blue for $62 which is a close match for Yammie Cobalt Blue per their scanner and other lids I have painted with it.

[FJRoss]

There are those paint suppliers who will scan your panel (experience I have is don't rely on ONE scan), and make you up a quart or a rattle can...... then buy the good automotive clearcoat in a can and you will get nice results.....

When I was looking for paint for the trailer, they couldn't get a good shot of the silver on the bike. I ended out spending some time going through the paint cards. Ended out OK but didn't reproduce the flake very well in a rattle can. However, it was fine for a trailer.

[Festus]

I left my ‘13 trunk at an automotive paint supplier to work up. Their scanner couldn’t get it and they said they’d work on it manually. I left it for 24 hours came back and their sample wasn’t even close. I took it to a body shop and the guy scanned it and said he couldn’t match it either. I gave up and bought the colorite. First can wasn’t close, next 2 cans were dead on.

It’s so hard to match colors when they are spraying with robots and using the absolute least amount of paint possible to cover. Unfortunately, that cant be duplicated by hand so we always put too much paint on which changes the color.

Damn robots.

[raYzerman]

I can tell you tons of stories about paint match, all that follows is just scratching the surface. Colour is a combination of several component colours, of course RGB being the basis (red, green, blue). After many years in automotive, where my job was mostly supplier quality, one facet being part of a plant team that policed paint match weekly team meeting. Various suppliers of add-on parts had to match the painted body (done in plant), with the goal of everyone meeting the Master Sample. Everybody was given masters, 3x8 metal coupons all painted in a single batch all at once by a robot at the totally anal Styling Studio's facility at HQ. Styling folks were experts (sometimes arrogant thinking they were god) who could pick out the teeniest of deviations from master. I had to take a very lengthy exam (Hue Test) where you were given about 20 round buttons of say "white" and had to arrange them in order of progression... pure white to slightly off white. Repeat for several shades of pink, purple, blue, red, yellow, etc. etc. Takes a coupla hours in a specially lit room with special gray decor (neutral). I got 98%, which means you can see teeny differences in match that most can't. Styling wanted to hire me.. What an average customer perceives as good can be a bad match to us. Been away from it too long now, not an expert any more.
The paint suppliers would develop new colours with Styling's direction, the "recipe" formula for the paint was cast in stone once approved, recipes given to the major paint suppliers (PPG, Dupont, etc.). Presumably, all would match.. there are several variables at play. Each batch/supplier/run has to be checked and tweaked to get it right. Metallic is aluminum flakes of a certain hue/size/shape to reflect through the paint. Direction of spray determines how they "lay down"... look at it 180 degrees it has a different "flop" as the flakes don't lay flat, e.g. Proper tint required of course, some take tinted clearcoat, others clear clearcoat. Iridescent paints have multiple colours of aluminum flakes... all from the far east, which I equate to China's monopoly on rare earth minerals. As you walk around, these paints morph into a whole other colour, kinda cool actually, but simple (and expensive).
Scanners (the good ones) shoot a pure white light and take readings at 3 angles, 90, 45 and 25, and spit out the readings. Must be taken on as flat a surface as possible, hold the thing just right, should take 10 readings and average them. I chuckle walking into a paint store, one shot and they think they got it.... maybe, if you're really lucky, and it's not a hard paint formula. So when you look at paint, try it at those angles and you'll see how it "flops" to darker as your angle increases.
Of course, the OEM's want unique colours and they do market research to see what consumer trends are, etc. FJR colours are hard formulas, thus we struggle to match with somebody guessing with a scanner what the formula is. ColorRite may have access to the OEM formulae, that's why they might be closer than anybody else. IF you knew who the original paint supplier was... ain't likely to happen, too much supply chain going on. Worse that very little paint will be sold for FJR's, whereas automotive is huge.
So, when I bought some root beer FJR parts.. saddle bag lids are painted in India, side fairing elsewhere (can't remember now). Multiple suppliers, and they all match amazingly, and send these to the OEM assembly, and supply the service parts. I'd bet there is only one paint supplier in that "low volume" situation.
No wonder to me at all why the aftermarket guys, your local supplier, or even you mixing/tweaking can't get it good enough with what's available, based on one scan with a questionable scanner that may not have been calibrated last week. I am not an expert at mixing paint at all, admire guys like Garauld and Festus... you need experience to be good at it. I can only stand there and say... hmm, looks a little too red, hasn't enough blue, too dark on the flop..... Your top box can be a bad match to the bike, and most won't even notice. Stuff that is side to side, much different. If they got lots of curvy surfaces, you can get away with more.

[garauld]

I would've though Colorrite would have gotten the shades closer than they seem to do. In my experience their Cerulean, Galaxy and Stone Gray are off color a bit. Thanks for the write-up.

[bungie4]

I just left the rash. Gives me stories to tell. Plus, at resale time, I save the cost of repairing. Theirs a reverse psychology going on when you buy a bike thats been repainted. I'll walk away from a painted bike every time.

[Festus]

Good information Ray. Just to add to that, if I am remembering this right, when they tried to match the color on the 13, the guy came back and said "Wow, that's not good". He said his reading was 13. He told me the lower the number the more accurate the match would be. He said if it's between 0-3 then it would be almost perfect, 3-6 and some people's eyes would see it, other's wouldn't. Anything higher than 6 would be considered noticable and not close enough, and the '13 model was pulling a 13 on his meter, so he knew it wouldn't be close, which is why I left it for them to try and blend.

What I've found over the years is most of these automotive paint stores have one old timer in there who can hit most anything. However, they tend to be grumpy bastards and you can't always get to them. If you walk in on the right day and they feel like it, they'll do just about anything for you. If you walk in and ask for help, one of the other people who doesn't have that skill set will always be the first to greet you and ask if you need help. Then you get stuck with a flunkie trying to solve a puzzle he's not qualitied to solve.

Most of us don't go into the paint stores enough to get first tier service from the grumpy guy. They are busy helping their big accounts and don't give a shit about selling a quart of paint it's going to take them 2 hours to figure out.

[danh600]

I left my ‘13 trunk at an automotive paint supplier to work up. Their scanner couldn’t get it and they said they’d work on it manually. I left it for 24 hours came back and their sample wasn’t even close. I took it to a body shop and the guy scanned it and said he couldn’t match it either. I gave up and bought the colorite. First can wasn’t close, next 2 cans were dead on.

It’s so hard to match colors when they are spraying with robots and using the absolute least amount of paint possible to cover. Unfortunately, that cant be duplicated by hand so we always put too much paint on which changes the color.

Damn robots.

My Corbin smuggler is not an exact match.
Maybe that is why.

[danh600]

I just left the rash. Gives me stories to tell. Plus, at resale time, I save the cost of repairing. Theirs a reverse psychology going on when you buy a bike thats been repainted. I'll walk away from a painted bike every time.

Same here.
I have dropped it three times on the right side at 0mph.
Minor scars that tell a story.
First time I cussed for a few minutes.
Next two times picked it up with a smile and continued my ride.
I have had two old guys walk up. Look at the bike and say "now that is a real bike."
No plans to paint it they are minor and a good story.
My wife has the first one on a go pro video as black mail
I swear she adjusted the camera before checking on me

She remembers it different.