Best way to spray paint a motorbike frame - powder coat it in Kent

Windridge Coatings will show how much better powder coating is compared to plastic coating, spray painting and stove enamelling.

• The bike frame will be painted quicker.
• It will have a smoother, thicker fusion bonded coating.
• It will be more resistant to cracking and chipping.
• There is no curing time waiting for the paint to go hard.

If you have it processed at Windridge Coatings, there will be no short cuts. It will be blasted back to new metal, checked for cracks, corrosion inhibited and painted with the most advanced coatings available.

Blasted profile with masking:

Painted with masking still in place:

Only perfectionists strip a motorbike to get the frame painted - now let perfectionists powder coat it.

How to prepare your bike frame for powder coating

• Present your bike frame totally stripped of all brackets and fittings.
• Remove bearings.
• Remove grease and road dirt the best you can.

Threads

Windridge Coatings grit blasts with aluminium oxide which will crunch under load, we do not use steel grit which will embed and lead to striping a thread. You have two choices:

• Leave in the nuts and bolts, these will then get painted. The paint around the edges of the threads will be broken when they are removed, leaving a serrated edge but the threads will have been protected and this area is usually covered.
• Leave the threads alone, and we will mask them with conical silicon bungs.

We will protect as many threads as possible. It is advisable to run a tap or dye down the threads.

How do we remove the paint from a motorbike frame

Most modern frames are now powder coated sometimes referred to as plastic coating is difficult to remove by grit blasting. To reduce processing time and excessive wear to the frame, the paint is stripped first.

MILD STEEL CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE FRAME

Mild steel frames are placed in a pyrolysis oven. This thermostatically controlled oven heats the frame until the paint and oil turn to ash, enabling it to be easily blasted off. The heat eliminates the risk of oil leaching through the new paint coating, and will also semi anneal the frame. We have seen many frames that have suffered stress cracks through work hardening. This will help to relax it and will prolong the frames life.

ALUMINIUM SPORTS BIKE MOTORCYCLE FRAME

The paint is removed by solvent stripping, to reduce excessive wear to the aluminium when blasting off the previous powder coating.

Painting a motorbike frame

Windridge Coatings carries out the following:

• Blasted to an even grey colour, to remove the residue paint and rust.
• Checked for bad welds and cracks.
• Repaired if appropriate.
• Threads protected.
• Chemically pre-treated to stop rusting and sealed with an acrylic resin. (Immersed in wet paint.)
• To apply a powder primer. One coat of paint is never sufficient for external use because the polyester powder is slightly porous and will allow moisture through to the steel allowing it to rust. Also, areas can be sprayed with too thin a coat, or small reactions can take place-leaving pinholes.

Fusion Bonded Tri-Resin™ Powder Coat System

Windridge Coatings Applies the Tri-Resin System on Motorbike frames. This includes a chemical corrosion inhibitor and two coats of powder to produce a better seal against the infiltration of moisture, which can eventually cause corrosion. A thicker fusion bonded coat of paint is more aesthetically pleasing with excellent chipping resistance. This includes the application of a top grade architectural polyester powder, that should retain its' shine and colour for fifteen years.

Turnaround

Most jobs are turned around within two to three weeks.

Colours

Gloss black is the most common colour for frames but we can apply a satin black finish. We carry many of the colours in the Colour charts page. 

How to spray paint your motorcycle

There are times when spraying a motorbike has to be done with wet paint usually because the colour is not available in powder, or a custom paint job is required. Customers who require airbrushed tanks supply us the petrol tank to blast corrosion inhibit, powder prime and sometimes paint in a similar colour top coat so they can wet paint over the top. This gives the user the best of both systems, the protection and robustness of powder, with the right colour or decoration of airbrushing. It also saves the wet paint applicator a lot of preparation time.

The cost - How much to powder coat a motorbike frame?

The price to powder coat a standard steel frame black is £165 +VAT. To help you estimate prices for your components here are a few examples:

• Swingarm: £35 +VAT.
• Main stand: £15 +VAT.
• Side stand: £12 +VAT.

Other colours are available, approximately 100 to choose from, please allow an extra £30 for other flat colours.

Powder coating Trike and customized Choppers

With our large oven, we can powder coat Trike frames, customised choppers and long chopper forks. We have painted motorbike frames for over twenty years, for both trade and the enthusiasts, most are from recommendations.