Help decide please

I found the easiest way for me to decide on new paint or not was to set the bike on fire:S ... problem solved.. new paint it is... but if that hadn't happened I would have kept original.. not so much resale value but curb appeal is greater and that means more $$ from the right person.. besides the bike looks great

Some really great advice has been given, which surprises me since it seems like 95% of the guys here want to paint yearly and it "is" yearly once you destroy the bike with a repaint. It looks nice the way it is. Go into the gallery and look at repaints then decide what looks better.

I have to agree with one point: If I were to buy a bike (or a car for that matter) I would prefer original paint for one reason only namely I would be able to see exactly what I was buying rather than purchasing a polished turd. That being said, unless it was absolutely pristine and mint, once I bought it I wouldn´t hesitate two seconds repainting it to my liking - it´s not the Holy Grail or the Sixtinth Chapel, it´s a friggin´ motorcycle, meant to be ridden.

Ooops, typo fix...

Post edited by: OnkelB, at: 2007/10/18 17:19

Then there's the ole cost-benefit analysis. I'd bet that with a new paint job it would work this way. The new paint would narrow the market for buyers, for reasons others have said here. Some of the remaining buyers would be willing to pay more. Most wouldn't pay more or much more.

The cost of striping and painting will almost certianly not come back to you unless you hold out for one of the few who are willing to pay more to have perfect paint.

A classic rule of flipping; control costs. Don't paint it unless you can't find a buyer and the ones who walk away mention the paint.

What a toss up when you've got a 10 footer.

My ride's more like a 15-20 footer, the paint is sun faded, there's a dent about the size of a hardball in the lhs of the tank, and a fork rub on the rhs. There are even minor signs of rust on the frame here and there, not to mention the flat black accents on the aluminum have chipped and faded almost completely away.

What sold on it? Original paint. It's an honest bike with an honest 65000 Km on the dial.

My 2 cents.

I say keep the original scheme, do the bodywork and paint it. Nothing better than an old bike in mint condition.

I repainted mine and am very happy with the results. I used the roller method with brightside paint. Of course, the bike really needed a decent paint job as the two side covers didn't match and the tank needed help too.

But, if I was just going to sell the bike in the spring, I wouldn't paint it. Mainly because it was a lot of time/work to get it right and I wouldn't want to do that for someone else's future bike.

Before:



After:

(This is a little washed out. The blue is darker in real life.)
Post edited by: Little B, at: 2007/10/22 08:52

Post edited by: Little B, at: 2007/10/22 08:57

If you do repaint, however great it looks, here's a quick age progression picture of what to expect in a year or two.