[net.cycle] Painting Windjammer fairing

gary@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Gary Buchholz) (08/18/86)

  Anyone out there successfully paint a Vetter Windjammer V fairing ?
Windjammers come in black, white and silver.  I'd like to color match
it to my bike (Honda Wineberry red).  How does one go about doing this ?

  Also, I will be soon ordering one of these things.  I've heard horror
stories from people who tried to mount and wire the fairing themselves.
Any advice ?

  Gary

animal@ihlpa.UUCP (D. Starr) (08/19/86)

> 
>   Anyone out there successfully paint a Vetter Windjammer V fairing ?
> Windjammers come in black, white and silver.  I'd like to color match
> it to my bike (Honda Wineberry red).  How does one go about doing this ?
> 
>   Also, I will be soon ordering one of these things.  I've heard horror
> stories from people who tried to mount and wire the fairing themselves.
> Any advice ?
> 
>   Gary

You used to be able to *order* the Windjammer color-matched to your bike;
this is probably much cheaper than having someone paint it for you.
If you can't get it painted by Vetter, hold off buying paint until you've
gotten the fairing (or at least the instruction book).  The booklet that
Vetter gives you with the fairing includes repainting instructions, 
including recommended types and brands of paint to use (the manual for 
my Tail Trunk specified DuPont "Weight Lifter" acrylic enamel, for instance).
Your Honda dealer should be able to sell you the paint, if it's the same
type (brand is less important; type -- lacquer or enamel -- is critical).
If not, any good automotive paint supplier should be able to duplicate it
if you bring in a sample (like a side cover or something).  I would 
recommend very strongly AGAINST trying to paint the fairing with spray
cans, even official Honda spray cans--you will end up with a soft finish
that will lack luster and be easily damaged by bugs and rocks.

As for mounting, I'd say the Windjammer's pretty easy.  The brackets 
have, in my experience, fit well, and the instructions are customized
for your bike and are hard to misunderstand.  The more popular your model
of bike is, the less likely you are to have problems.  If you have an older
Gold Wing, for instance, it should be a piece of cake.

Dan Starr

drforsey@watrose.UUCP (drforsey) (08/26/86)

Gary
   I wouldn't be too confident of getting a good colour match for your
Windjammer, unless Vetter does it for you.
My bike, an '83 750 Sabre, is also the candy wineberry red
colour of your bike. Last fall, it got knocked over in a parking lot
by a bus, doing damage to the tune of $1800, largely due to the
$1100 price of a new Hondaline Sport Fairing. (All prices are in
Canadian dollars.)  However, the fairing was no longer available in my
colour, so I had to search for someone to refinish the damaged one.
  I quizzed every major autobody place in town, including custom 
painting places, and also hit some Harley shops, but no-one would
do the work because they said it would be too hard to get an acceptable 
colour match. 
  The candy finish is the problem. It starts with a sparkly base coat
in some shade of silver or charcoal or gold. Then the red goes on. It is
a clear red, but the more you put on the darker it gets. Finally a clear
gloss coat goes on top.  So, what base colour? What shade of red? How many
coats? The paint suppliers couldn't get a good match even though they had
my sidecover for a sample.
   I tried to get Honda to supply me with factory original paint, or at
least the standard codes describing the formula/mix, but no go.
I tried to persuade them to paint it for me (I'd ship it etc) but the
painting gets done in Japan, where, by the way, pollution laws aren't as
strict so they use paint with higher lead content to get richer colour.
The Honda touch-up paint is all mixed sparkles and red and is only good
for just what it says: touch-ups.
   How does this end? Well, I finally found a guy who does Corvettes and
Harleys. He has lots of paint lying around, some of it very old when it was
available in quantity from the manufacturers. He spent quite a while 
experimenting and came up with a fairly good match. It took him three tries
to get it right on the bike, though.  Fortunately, angles, shadows, and
contours all conspire to hide the patch from casual inspection, but when
you get down and look, you can tell it has been painted. 

   After all this discouraging tale-telling, my advice is
1) Shop around a LOT for a painter with skill and experience who is willing
   to put a lot of work into getting a good match (and be prepared to PAY him
   for it (ouch)); or

2) Paint the whole bike along with the fairing. I know it sounds dumb,
   but this is what all the autobody shops recommended. At least everything
   will be the same colour.

3) Be sure Vetter doesn't offer the Windjammer in your colour. I'm sure
   I've seen some around in wineberry. The Interstates/Aspencades a few
   years ago were wineberry, and Vetter made colour matched Windjammers 
   for them, no?

Good luck
	Robyn