Ron's 1991 600 Katana (Part 3)

Next day, I started prepping the uppers and front fender. Since the right
side upper had some rash and a couple cracks, I started with that one.
I started by using a DA sander (air tools are a wonderful thing!) with 120
paper and sanded the cracked and scuffed areas down to the plastic.
Where the cracks were, I went a bit deeper so I had room to build up the
repair.

Using a 3M product that is a two part epoxy specifically for plastic parts,
I filled in the crack areas making sure that the patch was higher than the
surrounding areas. This would give me the repair material to sand down
and feather out to blend in and make the repair seamless. In both areas,
I also applied epoxy to the inside of the fairing to ensure that the cracks
would not try to spread.
Once the epoxy cured, I again used the DA sander to sand the epoxy
down to a level that I could work by hand. I did the hand work with a
rubber sanding block and 220 grit wet/dry paper. Once I had the area
worked to my satisfaction, I washed the panel and let it dry. Once dry,
I used a plastic spreader and PPG spot glazing putty and spread a layer
over the patch areas and where all the scuff marks were. This is to fill in
all the deeper scratches. Once again, I lay the spot putty on to where it
is higher than the rest of the surface. I did this to both fairings since both
had scratches and scuffs in the "bubble" area.
While the putty set up, I worked on the front fender prepping it for paint.
All I did to the fender was wet sand with 320 grit and set it aside. When I
went back to the fairings, I wet sanded using the 320 and rubber sanding
block and plenty of water. The glazing putty is pretty easy to sand down
and all you are trying to do here is sand most of it off leaving the low
areas like scratches filled in. Once that was done, I wet sanded the entire
panels with 320, primed, and sanded again. I made sure that I sprayed
the primer pretty thick in the areas where the repairs were done to ensure
that it would fill in all small imperfections and leave a nice smooth
surface.

Once the fairings and fender were ready, I went through the same steps as with the lowers. Spray the epoxy primer, base coat, then clear coat. I put a total of 5 coats of clear on everything.

While I waited for the fairings and fender to set up, I started on the tank. Using a sharp razor blade, I cut under the clear to remove the tank decals. After removing the glue residue, I block sanded with 320 and feathered the edges out to where you could not feel any ridge where the decals were. I then sanded the rest of the tank. While sanding, I left the fuel cap on, but
duct taped the petcock fuel outlets. I also went over the tail pieces real quick to ensure that they were ready for paint.
Once the fairings and front fender were cured fairly well, I moved them to my back porch and I moved the tank and tail
pieces into the garage.
I took the fuel cap and retaining ring off the tank and taped up the
filler hole so no fumes could escape. I also taped up the petcock
and taped the fuel gauge wires to the bottom of the tank to get
them out of the way. I use ž" 3M tape to tape the line between
the checkered lowers for the tail pieces, and masked off with
painters paper making sure that I wrapped the paper around to
the back side completely to prevent any overspray from getting
on the painted checker section. When this stuff was done, I
tacked everything, and followed the same spraying methods as
before. The only deviation I took was in applying the Suzuki "S"
logos on the tank prior to spraying the clear.
To say I was happy with the end result is a severe understatement!
I did get a little bit of dust in the clear, and a freaking mosquito
crash landed in wet clear on the front fender, but here is where
we get into how to take care of those little problems!

The absolute best time to resolve imperfections in paint work is the day after it is sprayed! Either for the purpose of removing dust nibs, runs, orange peel, or just to get a glass smooth finish, color sanding is the answer! Using a shitload of water and 1800 grit wet/dry paper, sand the surface. Be EXTREMELY careful around edges as this is where paint will always be thinner than the rest of the surface! If you sand through the clear, it's game over and the panel will have to be redone! What you are looking for in this process is to smooth out any "orange peel" or just to level out a run or dust spot. Once you are satisfied with the way the surface looks, dry the clear completely. DON'T PANIC! The clear will be dull as hell but this is where the magic of a truly great paint job comes into play! There are a variety of rubbing compounds on the market. Some people swear by McGuires products and they do work great. Personally, I use 3M compounds with excellent results. The best thing to do is to go in two stages with compounds with the final stage being a polishing compound. You can follow it up with a swirl remover if need be, but I have never had to. The key is to continually use a clean cloth. If you are not familiar with using a buffer, don't try it. Buffers can be tricky and burn the paint if you are not careful and besides, bikes parts are small enough to do by hand. Just remember to have very soft cloths for the final stage. Cloth baby diapers work best for this and also work great for waxing later on!

Once all color sanding and compounding is completed, if you are going to apply decals now is the time! Only thing I can say is that you better be sure of where you are putting them. New graphics will stick to a freshly painted surface like nothing you have ever seen and are damn near impossible to remove! At the very least, the graphics will end up in the garbage can and the credit card busted out to order more! The key to nice graphics is to take your time and use a soft cloth while applying to smooth things out while you put them on. Don't try to take the backing off the decal and just slap them on the surface and then expect to work out the wrinkles and bubbles. Go slow and lay one end down, ensuring that it is properly aligned, and slowly smooth it out as you lay the decal down. Done right, the graphics will look like they were meant to be there. It may help to have a hair dryer to assist in curved surfaces!

Once I completed all the body panels, I knew I had one more thing that needed attention! I have put over 22K miles on this bike in less than 2 years, and the paint on the forks has been blasted to hell and back. I just had to decide what I was going to do with them. My first thought was to paint them the same shade of silver as the checkers, but would that solve the problem? Probably not, so I pulled the forks and proceeded to polish them to a mirror shine! A new set of oil seals, dust seals and 10 weight fork oil and the front end no longer bounces around at all. The front now stays planted firmly in the corners, but you definitely feel the bumps in the road more.

Anyway, this is the story of how I completed my bike along with some helpful hints on getting a really nice refinish on your ride! You can be as creative and original as you want. A bike can be like a canvas, it just takes time and imagination to bring it to fruition!