| Author | Message | ||
     Rick_a |
It's been a tough week for the Buell and I. I was nearly hit 4, that's 4 times this week. From drivers barreling into my occupied lane to jerks trying to turn left through me. WTF is up with that?  My pipes can't get any louder and I do all I can to avoid these idiots. It's getting real tiresome. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Rick, I had it happen twice yesterday. Both folks blowing a stop sign. Morons..... 4 times in one week sucks. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
I should probably post this in the KV Breather section but figured it would be a single post and get best visibility here. Just up on ebay, a set of XB9x rocker covers! Complete with grommets and breather valves. Just the trick for really taking care of the problem once and for all. Not sure who has them for sale so no vested interest. Just doing a public service for yalll.... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2423357291&categor y=10064 Brad | ||
| Admin |
Admin FYI... The BadWeB Rider's Assistance Network (RAN), as created by Don Casto is a very useful listing of Buell enthusiast volunteers around the country and around the world who have offered their help should any of us suffer two wheeled trouble in or around their specific geographic locales. In order to even see the RAN listing topic/title on the main topic page, we must first log in to the board or have the cookie option selected within our user profile and also not select to have the cookie deleted upon logging out. Ironically, to log in we must either post or click on the "log out" link at the top of the page. Admin will soon add a specific "log in" link to the main menu for clarity's sake. | ||
| Tbolt834 |
Benm2, Congrats - definitely keeper size. My youngest was born 14 weeks preemie at 2 lbs 4 oz. And do they grow!!! Dave | ||
| Jim_witt |
Anyone had direct experience (note the direct experience) in blacking out their primary cover or other similar pieces by painting, power coating or whatever? Not sure what process will look the best and “last” the longest. -JW:>  | ||
| Seeeu911 |
Hello Jim, I powder coated my cut cam cover, swing arm and primary cover carbon black last year. All stock factory parts. I have had no heat related problems. No discolorations or fading. Zero problems. More than 1 year now and the coating looks like new. Very very resistant to everything. No chips or scratches, wipes showbike clean first time. Preparation is the key. Get the factory paint off, etc. There are pics I postd in archive I am sure but can email you if you need to see past and present. | ||
| Ray_maines |
Joplin: If in doubt, move it out.  When you get that old worn out D207 off of your bike, press your thumb into the bald center section and see how little tire there is between the road and air. I'm a cheap sob  and just hate to see a good tire get thrown out, but when I saw how thin the carcass of a modern radial tire is I changed my outlook all together. The last set got replaced even before the pavement touched the wear bars. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Jim, I too have a powder coated cut down cam cover and a powder coated primary. They are blue to match my blue streak paint but has been very durable none the less. Donn said it first. Prep is the key. Depending on your current cover (year) they have a silver powder coat on them that has to be removed. Usually by bead blasting. Then they can powder coat it any color you like. Make sure they plug bolt holes and such. And tape off all gasket surfaces (the coater has special high temp tape for that task). It's a drag to clean the stuff out afterward. I'll post pics if you want. Good luck! Brad | ||
| Jim_witt |
Donn/Brad, Yep, please send me some pic(s). I've used a powder coater locally for years now but never did any cases, fork tubes, motorcycle parts etc. Never did see a glossy smooth surface done (like an expensive paint job would accomplish) with powder coating. BTW, I'm not talking about my Buell, rather my Fatboy and powder coating the chrome parts and fork tubes that are already on it. -JW:> | ||
| Seeeu911 |
Hey Jim, consider Anodizing for the fork tubes. Al did his and they look great. I got a better than paint finish from the PC process. Prep is everything, it goes on and covers in a thick coat. Have used PC for years with incredibly durable and better than paint looks on variety of engines components on my cars. I'm sure it will look great on your hog too. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/cgibin/discus/board-profile.cgi?action=view_prof ile&profile=al_lighton-users http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/3842/9578.html#POST80230 | ||
| Leftcoastal |
JIM- I've been powdercoating my various bike parts for many years, with no long term problems. As per previous posts prep is the key, with bead blasting as an optimum way to ready the part. If your PCer gets the stuff where it should not be, "paint & epoxy remover" type of stripper will remove it. Just be VERY careful as a tiny drop of the stuff in the wrong place will fully ruin your new spiffy powder coat job. Note that some cast aluminum parts often do not take a powder coat well due to "out gassing" during the heat treat step, resulting in little bubbles in the finish. The silly "eyelid" headlight mount on H-D XL & other 39mm forks is an example of parts where this is likely to occur. I've had excellent results PCing cam covers, primary covers, rocker box pieces,fork legs, frames, wheels, etc. Those silly "eyelid" headlight mounts kicked my butt all 3 times I tried it. Good luck! AL | ||
| Jim_witt |
Thanks for the input, it's appriciated. I know the PC'er I've used for many years only sand blast the parts. I've seen motorcycle frames there but nothing like I'm interested in doing. -JW:>( | ||
| Josh_ |
I just got a bunch of parts powdercoated to match the white frame on the S1. Perfect match, nice and glossy. I'm waiting for a new camera to get pics taken, but in the mean time Performance Powdercoating - Jason Bates got me set up right. The WestTek frame brace was $25 for the coating, other parts varied. | ||
| Jprovo |
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| Jst |
Jim, I had my camcover and primary done in January. They did a translucent blue over "chrome". The coater said he had to run them in the oven 5 times before they stopped outgassing. Let me know if you want pics as well. Although the camera I used doesn't do the PC justice. JT | ||
| S1joel |
I just had a bunch of small parts and swingarm powder coated. Great deal at $140. The finish is great, and is very durable. Watch out for any pieces that have welds on them. If the rod used was porous, the weld seam may out-gas and cause bubbles. I had this problem on the swingarm. I took it to a paint shop and they touch up the problem area. The pictures are in the picture area. I plan to powder coat everything else when I pull the engine. Joel | ||
| Vr1203 |
Watch out for powder coating anything that will get hot. The PC will take the heat but won't let it out either.If you want max heat removal from engine parts do not use PC. | ||
| Ray_maines |
So OK, what do you (I, we, all of us.....) use to make the engine black? | ||
| Jim_witt |
Thanks for the input, Over the years (through work) I've had several million dollars worth of large and small "things" powder coated but never motorcycle parts. Just wanted some input from those of you that have. I'll have to do some homework on local PC'ers in my area as well as the guy I've used in the past. I’m pretty picky about quality. Joel, Not sure I understand the porous weld comment in your message? Welds should never be porous anywhere! If I understand your definition of porous, we call it porosity. A weld should never have porosity in it (some call it honeycombing ... extremely small little pin pricks holes ... of course they can be large holes too). If we are talking about the same thing (porosity) then someone is bull shitting you about some welding rods being porous. That is totally false! Porosity is "usually" caused by an excessively long or short arc length while welding. Or to high a welding current, moist or insufficient shielding gas, travel speed to fast, base metal not cleaned properly and wet unclean welding rods . It's a fundamental sign of poor weld quality. An extreme example of porosity:  Oh, BTW, porosity can't always been seen on the surface either, that's one reason they x-ray welds. You can't weld OVER porosity either. Well you can but you'll only trap the pockets underneath. It must be ground out and re-welded. \-JW:> | ||
| Steveford |
I owned a powder coating shop for a number of years and powder is an insulator so will retain heat. For parts that get hot (brake, engine, etc.), the product to use is Gun Kote which is manufactured by KG Industries, their web site being www.kgcoatings.com. It's pretty simple to use as it's degrease, blast with sand or aluminum oxide, hot iron phosphatize if you have access to it, spray the Gun Kote and then bake it in an oven for an hour at 300-350 degrees depending upon the substrate. The black Gun Kote dissipates heat faster than the other colors and Gun Koted parts cool faster than uncoated or powder coated parts. A word of caution: Gun Kote contains all sorts of toxic stuff (lead and MEK for starters) so wear gloves, long sleeves and a respirator. One reason why the Buells run so hot is because the cases are all powder coated. Engine design and plastic oil tank on the tube frame models don't help matters, either. My old web site is probably still up (www.parts-is-parts.com) which will provide more information on coatings if anyone is intersted. | ||
| Ray_maines |
JayDub sez: "Well you can but..." God bless ya bro. You're not supposed too, but.......... Shit is as shit does. Forest | ||
| Buellnuts |
Ya, what Jim said . also when you weld over porosity you produce Slag Inclusions. Can't see those little buggers unless there X-Ray'd also. In The Rain Forest, Bob | ||
| Buellnuts |
Huh, I just read some more of the above posts and really can't agree with watching the welds on PC'd parts. 24 years of fabricating in general and fabrication of Bike parts. This is the first Iv'e heard of it. I can't amagine powdercoating ruining the integrity of a weld no matter what the quality of the weld is. PC tempetures are just not that high. (maybe I'm high?) Anyway, I ain't afraid a no powder coating on any welded parts. 2cents from the Rain Forest, Bob | ||
| Ron |
Riders - - Beware ---- of the "URBAN DEER". I got an early start on deer seasons this year. This is the second deer I have bagged with my S-3T! The first time I was using those air whistles. This time I was using the X3P Hornet electronic deer alert. What I have been noticing over the years riding out here in Montana, northern Idaho etc is that deer who live in or on the outskirts of towns do not seem to be affected by any deer whistle or alert system. I was just coming into Orofino Idaho at about 2am Saturday am and a mule deer doe ran right into my left side. Busted my Zero gravity windscreen, turn signal, cracked fairing, cleaned off the fairing lower etc. The mirror and oil cooler as myself were undamaged. God looks out for children and idiots! I'm 57 so guess I fall into the latter catagory. I also suppose that riding around in deer country at 2am aint too bright either. Anyway DO NOT trust any deer alert device anywhere but especially not in developed areas where deer hang out. We have a lot of those areas around here. Be CAREFULL. My next protective measure is better lighting and I am open to any suggestions here! Ron PS: anyone got a good deal on a left lower S-3T fairing and turn signal and maybe a fairing? Color is not important. | ||
| Blake |
Bob, Aren't they talking about the weld outgassing ruining the powder coat finish? Ron, Darn glad you are okay. Deer whistles/alerta are a scam, no matter where they are used. Lights? Try one of the high intensity bulbs that American Sport Bike sells. | ||
| Buellnuts |
oop's Bob | ||
| Sportyeric |
I had the covers painted on my bike in 1995. It peeled off the primary within a couple of years. (Undoubtedly due to poor prep by the painter.) I've powder coated the primary, rocker covers, and belt guard, but not the cam cover, which seems to be holding up OK. You can't tell from looking at them which are powdercoated and which are painted. There is always a possibility of pin-hole flaws in the powder, though. My fork lowers have lost their shine from dust abrasion. The powdercoated parts have about 40,000 miles or more in about five years. The diffence is that to re-do it, the old stuff has to be burnt off at higher heat than I want to subject my cam cover to. The paint can be sanded down and re-painted more easily. It depends if 40,000 miles later is a concern to you. | ||
| Jprovo |
Sportyeric, Isn't there a way to chemically strip the parts that won't hurt the base material? James | ||
| S1joel |
Jim_Witt, Don't know much about welding other than I can burn a hole in steel with my Lincoln Electric with out even trying. The problem occurred on the outer left side of a 2001 swingarm that I had powder coated gloss black. There seems to be a weld running down the middle of that side and the guy who did the coating said the weld must be porous because it out-gassed and speckled the powder coating only along that seam. He re-coated it three times with the same result. The other parts were perfect, and he did an excellent job masking. Has anyone else had this problem, or is it a bad weld on this particular swingarm. Joel |
