repainting some black on my kz900

So i finally have my bike all up and running, i have some paint flaking on, my Rear Fender (grab bar), wondering what black to paint that? thinking a semi gloss, and also need to repaint my gauges also a black, and what kind of chrome paint do i need for doing spots on the bike, and the exhaust? how should i prep for everything, i know this is alot of questions, but any advice would help

I assume your going to be using rattle cans? Satin look very factory to me IMO. There arent any paints that will give you a true chrome reflective finish but some of the higher end paints are pretty good. As far as prep goes here is how i have painted chrome with very good long lasting effects.

1) start off by sanding the surface the surface with 60 grit sand paper.
2) Wipe down with a degreaser/cleaner.
3) mask if needed. handle with gloves as to not contaminate surface with oil from your hands
4) spray with a self etching primer
5) lightly sand with 320
6) spray topcoat (i prefer epoxy paints)
7) spray clear if not using epoxy
follow the manufacturers directions on the can for baking the paint once it is dry if necessary.

If you are painting the parts chrome a black base is needed for the best effect. Spraying in a warm environment (75degrees) is beneficial but not necessary.

On the exhaust follow the same steps but use high temp primer and high temp paint. If possible have the exhaust sandblasted as even a sanded chrome surface does not have very much "tooth" for the paint to stick too. Once I sanded a pitting chrome Kerker and bought some expensive header paint, degreased and everything. Within 5,000 miles it was peeling off the front of the header.

I have used the brand Tremclad rust paint (semi gloss), it was recomended by one of the motorcycle mechanic from around here to do frame touch up. It blends very well with original paint, at the begining you can see where you have sprayed it, it is a bit shinier but as time goes by you will not see the difference.

For the exhaust system chrome, if the rust isn't too bad, try riding the bike, then cleaning & polishing. My old stock exhaust headers were rusted pretty bad, but simply riding the bike at high speeds burned off most of it.

Other stuff. I painted the engine covers & wheels w DupliColor engine enamel without using a primer. The paint is still intact. I used brake caliper paint on the brake parts, also without primer - it has held up well, but there is peeling around the bleeder nipple, so it isn't brake fluid proof. All of the parts were baked in a low temp over to cure the paint. In most cases I simply cleaned the parts thoroughly, then painted them without wasting a lot of time or anything. A few thin coats is better than one or two thick coats.

Chrome steel parts tend to rust on the back side, so as a rust treatment & preventative measure, I paint the back of those parts with either bar-b-que grill paint, wheel paint, or an automotive undercoating. If the rust is bad, I spray them w a rust converter first, then the topcoat (after scrubbing off the loose rust & cleaning/drying the part). I used silver wheel paint on the under side of the tail light bracket - the area just behind the license plate - black probably wouldn't look right. 3M rubberized undercoating seemed like a good idea for the fenders.

bar-b-que grill paint on the muffler cover & engine enamel on the muffler tip.

engine enamel. lightly coat the raised areas w grease by patting w a finger, then spray the paint. easy.

same method as the engine cover. clean & polish the silver areas first. use masking tape on the perimeter in addition to the grease.

Fork lowers: painted w DupliColor silver wheel spray paint. I top coated them w clear, but it has yellowed.... next time I'm going to skip the clear. I coated the fork caps w clear only - I sprayed one too thick & it has yellowed, but the other one still looks good.

martin_csr wrote: engine enamel. lightly coat the raised areas w grease by patting w a finger, then spray the paint. easy.

I read this tip on here from you a while back and it is one of my favorite masking techniques. so simple.