Tell me if this is a stupid painting idea...

Alright, I have couple questions here. First is, what is the best way to remove old pin striping? It looks horrible on my bike and needs to go.

Ok, another thing. I want to repaint the tank and tail. Eventually even the frame once I have the proper skills to rip it down that far. What I am wondering is if you can use spray paint, sprayed right out of the can. If I prime it (also with primer spray paint) and take my time, you can get it to look pretty decent right? I am by no means trying to make this a show bike. Probably gonna lean somewhat toward "cafe" style. Very minimalist, just the basics.
Also, can you get decent clearcoat in spray paint form?

Thanks for all reply, I appreciate it.

Yes if you take your time it will look OK. It will be easy to mess up with gas though.
Mark

Thanks Mark, appriciate the input. Painting is a bit down the road... but i need the pinstriping off soon. How about how to do that? Thanks again for responding

Not real sure about removing the pin striping, but if you use rattle can to paint warm up your paint cans by letting them soak in a pan of warm water for about 20-30 minutes before spraying. Makes the paint flow WAY better and helps avoid the crappy spray patterns you can easily get out of a rattle can.

The paint & pinstripes on my bike were in poor condition, so I sanded the tank & sanded off the pinstripes. The stock paint is tough as nails, so it didn't seem worth the trouble to chemically strip it. I painted it w DupliColor paint, but it isn't fuel resistant at all. ChuckHawks.com has a good, easy to read & follow how_to - Harley Paintin' for the Underfunded & Underskilled.

The green tank was done w the rattlecan paint.
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Excellent. Thanks for all the info and thats a cool tip to heat up the paint... never would have thought of that one. Much appriciated for all the posts

www.eastwood.com sells a pin striping tool that uses a fine abrasive wheel with a slow turning drill to buff off the stripes.

MFolks wrote:

www.eastwood.com sells a pin striping tool that uses a fine abrasive wheel with a slow turning drill to buff off the stripes.

thats my suggestion also.

Can paint yes ok....

Can clear coat HELL NO!!!!

if the pin stripes / decals are the stick on type, just warm them up with a hairdrier, they will come right off.