Suzuki 2 Strokes

Hi to all,
Had a great summer riding, now its rebuild time to save me from going mad this winter.
Main advice needed is for the frame..paint or powder coat? I've never had a frame powder coated, always had them shotblasted then sprayed.

Tim

Powder coat is 10 times more durable than any paint you can buy. Grit blasting also happens with powder coating. It's more expensive, but in my opinion it's worth the extra $$. If you are selling the bike then paint is the way to go. If it's a keeper - powder coat it!
I always use powder coat. 2 things you will need to mask off. The muffler hanger bushes and the steering stem I use all thread, large washers and nuts. The heat involved will not harm the muffler hanger bushes.

Chris I will have to disagree with you on this, modern powder coating is not that durable compared to the older types. Simply wiping it with a rag dipped in thinners will melt it and cause it to start coming off.
What I do for frames in black is add clearcoat to the last coat of black paint and that gives a deep lustre with a super shiny durable finish.
Just my observation or two cents worth.

On powder coat, if you do this, please protect every thread on the frame - there are quite a few once you go looking for therm (or it will be miserable cleaning all the threads out later

A sympathetic coater will do the frame with a piece of tape neatly covering the frame number, then whip off the tape, an add a thin layer, before baking. That way you can read the number and the whole frame is covered.

I think they are all vulnerable to solvents, but powder coating might be physically tougher? not sure. Happy with my coated frames over last 4 years, they still look brand new.

Mike

Hi Tim,

I have a similar opinion to Allan. Powder coating is a form of plastic, it does produce a great finish but is soft compared to 2-pack. The "care" recommendations from my powder coater states only clean with the equivalent of soapy water, you cannot T-Cut as it will dull the finish. It is a relatively thick finish so it can hide minor blemishes in the base metal. A good powder coater will mask off or plug all vulnerable areas so use a bike/restoration specialist rather than a company that is in general business.

Cheers Geoff

I wipe dirt and crud off my powder coated frame with regular rubbing alcohol. It's a great cleaner and it doesn't soften the coating or screw with the finish.

Clearly TWO lines of thought here. I'll just add an observation regarding durability (& this comes from an industrial situation using powder coat on a large aluminum box): The powder coat makes a great finish & is more rugged & duragle than paint, HOWEVER once the finish gets scratched thru to the base metal I've noticed it likes to hold water better than paint (maybe because it is thicker...I don't know). The water then weeps under the coat & loosens more & more resulting in large flakes peeling off. On our "box" mentioned above, I've seens pieces of powdercoat as big as tablet sheets peel off in a single piece. If it were me, I'd go with an epoxy type paint. Probably just as tough, & less likely to deteriorate than powdercoat.

Cheers for all the replies guys, sound advice.
Like I said, I've always used paint in the past, I don't ever plan on selling the bike so I'm only planning to do this once. I don't have spraying equipment so it will be a rattle can job if I paint it.
A couple of years ago I refurbished a set of alloy wheels for my sons car, had them shotblasted then did them in primer, sprayed them black gloss acrylic, then shelled out £30 for 2 cans of 2 pack laquer. They were as hard as glass after the laquer had hardened. That finish would be perfect for my frame & swingarm etc.
Got a few other jobs to do on the bike as well, one of the engine mounting lugs on the frame was botched up when I got the bike, the previous owner had trouble getting an engine bolt out & damaged the frame lug.

Looking forward to thrashing it a bit next summer, I love this bike.