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Hey, this is for anybody ambitious enough to try spray painting.
First I prepped the surface of my tank, and plastic side covers with alcohol, and then a scotch-brite pad.
I used Krylon Gloss Black. I was painting over the factory black on the tank. I could not tell if the side covers were painted, or if the color was molded in.
Anyway, orange peel is bad, and the gloss is terrible. I will post pics later today in this thread.
My brother has an air compressor, and a real spray gun. I just wanted to get 'er done quick and cheap.

wait for it to dry really good then sand her down and hit it er again.maybe spray some sealer on it first this time

okay here are pics of the finished job. I am using my cell phone camera, so the resolution disguises some of the paint dullness.

It does look better, if only because of the red pinstriping compared to the old factory blue pinstriping. I just got her done. Plummen, I have already pinstriped it, so it is too late to sand and seal at this point. I will live with this until I do it right with a compressor, automotive gun, primer/filler, D/A sander, etc.

sorry guys. still learning about posting pics. I guess I have to do one at a time?

That is a 10-10 paint job, from 10 feet away it looks like a perfect 10!

I try to avoid gloss finishes if I'm using a rattle can. Semi-gloss looks good even if the painter (me) isn't!

i would sand it down again and put a couple more coats on it. But paint in a nice warm enviroment, i find that helps prevent orange peel with spray paint. if the orange peel isnt too bad you could gently wet sand it with 2000 grit and then wax it, they call it cut buff, or color sanding. It works very well, but sence its spray paint you cant sand too much.

Sometimes ive even baked the paint by putting it in a hot car, or running the heat gun over it without getting it too hot to bubble.

Not too bad though!

gl

-Luke

Looks good from my house! Painter joke, just paint it white and sell it at night, kinda Humor.

You can try a fine scotch-brite and a two part rattle can clear. You should be able to clear over the striping also.

Mark

Key word mentioned... "I just wanted to get 'er done quick"

Don't care if using air compressor gun, Prevail unit, type of paint, type of clear etc... Prep, patience, curing time, wet sanding etc... is the key to success...

Try to rush it, "I just want to ride" ends up as in your images....

Putting a handle bar grip to it is truly someone in a rush... Oops, my bad!

Ah well, best thing about it is you learned form this and paint is easy to repair... When you get tired of it, strip her down and re-do when time is not an issue....

OMR

Anytime I paint anything, regardless of the method, I wetsand. That is the only real way of guaranteeing a smooth finish. You can get a showroom quality finish with a rattle can, actually smoother than showroom. Patience is the key. You need to wetsand between each step, and sometimes during each step. Meaning, the primer needs to be wetsanded, colour coats need to be wetsanded and clear needs to be wetsanded.

And as OMR said, patience is the key.

This is a tank I recently painted using Dupli-color primer, colour and clear.

Wow Guys, now I see it is not too late to salvage my paint job. I will let it cure out, and then do the wetsanding, and finalize with a clear. I was in a hurry to slap it all together, and go show off the bike. I will reread all of your posts, and follow your suggestions. I like the look of that Honda tank.
I have made great progress on my bike with the help of others on this forum. I don't know why I like my bike as much as I do- It's not a Harley, after all.
As an aside, I originally bought it in San Antonio, TX. It was sold at some point by a dealership in San Marcos, TX. When I got it, it had crash bars with driving lights, and a windshield on it. I somehow did not like the look of the driving lights.
I bought it for $800. It came with a leather jacket, 2 helmets, and an aluminum loading ramp.
I have injured myself on it twice. Once I was drinking:woohoo: , and was 2 blocks from the house. I had a Vetter fairing on it. I looked down to see if I had dropped my cigarette in my beer, which was in the fairing cubby hole, and when I looked up, I was heading for the curb. I laid it over on my right ankle, fracturing it. It still aches in the mornings.
Another time I hit some deep sand rounding a curve, and when I put my right leg down to keep the bike up, I twisted my knee badly. It took it a long time to heal up.