Hi everyone, New here, and new to owning a Bonneville in the last couple of weeks. Hoping to get an opinion on some of what I want to do with the bike. The main thing is that I am looking to do this as a paint colour, only slightly more black (this calls for white primer, I'm going to test it with black) and then matte instead of glossy. Firstly, thoughts on the paint colour? https://www.houseofkolor.com/kolors/detail/index.html?id=S2-PBC102&ref=kolors Secondly, should I paint the headlight housing? I got the Triumph Scrambler triangle headlight grill and the bezel came in matte black, so I could either do the housing in matte black too, or in this colour. If you want to check out my YouTube channel, I have a couple videos already of what I'm planning to do to the bike: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQge9gRwxElSMA5-Jp9MJmQ
Welcome to the forum I do like that deep brown colour, looks very like the brown & orange scheme they do on the new Kawasaki Z900 which I think is stunning. Wouldn't be so keen on any matt bits but thats just me.
Thanks, much appreciated. I’m really looking forward to getting a few more things done. I have a few more videos to post so will keep putting those up as the project goes along.
Hi iMac and welcome to the forum I like the colour shown and it would stand out but not a fan of matt/denim colours.
Thanks LittleAde, yeah, I am not really concerned about resale at this point. I don't intend to do anything other than bolt ons and paint, and could always paint it back should I want to. I'm doing all the painting myself, using HOK paints, so should be easy to do if someone wanted it a different colour. Can't wait until it's not -25°C here
Hey there. I'll be sure to follow the YouTube channel. Black is always a good choice, but personally I like to contrast the black with a different colour to highlight areas of the bike etc.
Welcome to the madhouse, you should ‘contrast’ your chosen colour with another one or two colours as your bike is pitch black to start off with. You don’t need the choices to be ‘loud’ as subtle ones will work brilliantly if you so wish. Just don’t use ‘solid’ with the dark pearl your going with.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll definitely consider it, though part of that probably is restricted by my lack of painting skill at this point
As has been said, you will need to practice on those pushbike frames and probably something a bit larger to get the application right for the pearl paint. Pearlescent paint as is made with small ceramic particles rather than metallic but has a finer look to it. It is quite difficult to lay down correctly but with a bit of practice you should be fine if you mix and apply as directed by House of Kolor. You will need to finish with a 2 pack lacquer, That is a lacquer that is mixed in two parts as directed. Do NOT use a single pack paint even if it says it is petrol resistant - it is not. I don't know how well the pearl paint will look under a matt as I haven't tried that so I will be interested to see the result.
Thanks so much 1 this is great advice. I’ve actually bought all of my paint - it’s all House of Kolor - and of course 2k flat. Done a fair bit of research and have a pretty good setup. Will be painting a mountain bike frame this weekend to test. Have already done a few parts with the Jet Black, but the pearl will be new this weekend.
Greetings and welcome to the forum, iMac! I'm a bit late to your intro and thread but just finished watching your two videos and enjoyed them both. I laughed out loud about your wife not knowing you were bringing the bike home the day that you did. Hopefully she's happy with your choice--or at least happy for you! I am eager to follow your Bonnie's transformation both here and through your YouTube videos. On this forum lease post lots of photos and perhaps consider starting a new thread devoted to your project in the Builds and Projects Forum. I'll be particularly curious to see your paint. Two out of the ten bikes I've owned have had matte paint jobs but they were both basic black. My hubby's current touring bike is matte black. littleade's comments about matte paint definitely have merit but I've not had a problem by taking care with my paint and using cleaners, etc. designed for matte paint. I may have missed you describing this, but how do you plan to black out the engine and other parts, etc? I personally like to see some contrast with matte and gloss so if my bike is painted matte, I'd include at least a few gloss black parts for a bit of contrast even if it's matte black and gloss black. I have seen bikes that are pretty much completely black but look great because there are some contrasting finishes and/or textures. I've also seen all black bikes that look like someone just bought a can of matte black paint and "rattle-canned" it. But.....it's YOUR bike, iMac, and you know what you like. And it seems like you have a vision of what you'd like the finished product to be so GO FOR IT! And please share as you go.
Haha! Yes, there's a few more words to that video, in which she didn't know she was being filmed. After a few days, we got it worked out and she's happy I will definitely start another thread. In terms of blacking out the parts - I used some bolt on things from Triumph, and then have painted a couple of the parts. I was going to do gloss black - but decided that those parts will be great matte because they're next to the frame rails in gloss. Hoping to paint soon! Most of my paint has arrived except the matte clear, so other than that ready to try it out on the pedal bike frame for practice.
