[edmKC]

Has anyone here ever successfully painted a motorcycle trailer?

I may have an opportunity to buy a trailer at a good price, but I would have to change it's colour. I checked with a couple of autobody shops near here who both estimated $800-$1000, even with me disassembling the trailer and only brining in the shell pieces to be painted. Now, way back in the mists of time, I worked in body shops for a few years after getting a 10-month certificate at community college/trade school. After a few years I decided that as much as I liked the work, I didn't like the adverse health aspects of the field so I switched careers (went to University and took up chemistry, go figure...). So anyway, what I'm getting at is I believe even though it's been 25+ years since I did any body work I wouldn't have too much problem getting the trailer prepped for paint - including primer, using spray bombs. What I don't know is whether I could manage to shoot colour and clear coats using spray bombs? Getting it done professionally is going to make the purchase uneconomical for me. I'm not that awfully concerned about colour matching - it would be terific to have it match my '06 titanium, but I could easily live with black. My concern is really whether there are aerosol finishes available that will give a quality finish that won't need re-done in a year or two?

So, anyone here have any experience with doing anything like this? Care to offer an opinion? Encouragement? Discouragement?


Also, somewhat related - what will I need electrical-wise to hook up the lighting on this trailer? It's a bushtec (if that matters). Is this all I need?

Cheers,
Kerry

 

[knelson1969]

Are you talking about a trailer that you put your Wing in or one you tow with the Wing?

 

[drmcmtru]

I guess we all know any good paint isn't by any means cheap anymore. I am a boat owner as well,and can suggest using outboard motor paint from an OEM. I own a Mercury,and can attest to how well their spray bomb black holds up. Also,might be a close match to your Wing would be the Mariner Outboard paint,which is a grayish color. Hope this helps. Good luck with your project. Ken '94 SE Pearl White

 

[drmcmtru]

Had me for a second there too,he is towing the trailer with the Wing...lol.

 

[knelson1969]

Ok the trailer is smallish so to do it yourself and match the paint you can buy color matched factory paint preloaded in a spray can. Eastwood products also has spray cans with a paint hopper that you can load factory paint into. Either way if you prep the parts properly you can end up with a professional job with the durability of factory paint. One other idea it to wrap the trailer parts.

 

[budoka]

I did a home job on my first tent trailer for the 1200, but I also had a pal that did paint work on the side and I borrowed his Binks air-gun to do it. Turned out pretty well for a home garage gig and it matched the bike well. Only kept that trailer for a couple years so I have no idea how long it stood up.

 

[GWTrike]

I used automotive rattle cans to paint my HF 40x48 trailer.

 

[Nohandles]

It can be done but it won't ever look like a professionally sprayed job unless you have had a lot of time using spray cans. Will they match? probably not because of fade and dirt on the bike.

 

[edmKC]

Thank you all for the replies so far. I'm still pretty undecided at the moment. If it were only up to me, I'd wait until something that didn't need paint came along, but my wife wasn't entirely thrilled when I showed her the saddlebag liner bag that would be her sole luggage .

 

[budoka]

How'd you manage to get just one liner bag for her? Herself gets one saddlebag AND the trunk. I get one saddlebag period, including the space for my running shoes & I put my spare socks in them Rain liners and the light stuff like a spare fleece for each of us goes in the trunk-rack bag and that's all she wrote. It really makes me wonder how in the world we got all our clothing and camping gear (thermarests, tent, sleeping bags, camp axe) on the CB750 back in the day

 

[edmKC]

Well, I'm figuring one saddlebag each for clothes, trunk for extra gloves, cleaning stuff, shoes/sandles, first aid kit, netbook, her purse (heck, there's half the trunk LOL) etc and rain gear in the rack bag. We've never actually packed the wing for real to see what all we can manage, but it should be interesting. I'm guessing the downside of a trailer is the temptation to fill it, but another think I would like would be to be able to stop somewhere and just toss our gear into it.

 

[GWTrike]

It can be done but it won't ever look like a professionally sprayed job unless you have had a lot of time using spray cans. Will they match? probably not because of fade and dirt on the bike.

UR right; rattle cans will never have a pro look, but you can get a little closer match by mixing colors.

 

[blk93wing]

How well it turns out depends on a bunch of factors. Prep work is most important in the finished product. Then again if someone doesn't know which end of a paint brush to hold, the job may not turn out well. I know you said you had paint experience, sorry just trying to make a point. Then if you are trying to squirt paint in the garage and the wind kicks up blowing dirt into the fresh paint, that tends to mess up even the best laid paint job. Guess what I'm saying, if you think you can do it and have worked with the materials in the past, it shouldn't be a problem. Is Earl Shieb still in business? Paint any car, any color for $59.95, leave the windows open and the interior is free! leave your little brother in the and he'll get painted also.

 

[LarryinSeattle]

My bike is black. I had a gray trailer. I wanted it black. I went to Maaco and they gave me a $300 price if I took everything off the bike and got it ready for painting. I asked him if I wasn't in a hurry.... and they had a black car to be painted in the future.... could I save money if my trailer was painted immediately behind another black paint job? He said: $150.

Instead of painting the trailer, I sold it and bought a black one. Problem solved.

 

[edmKC]

Unfortunately it's looking like I'll probably have to wait a while. The trailer I was kind of excited about is a long way from here, and the only way I would have of getting it back would be to go with the bike and tow it home. Normally that wouldn't be a bad proposition, but the owner isn't sure all if the mounting hardware for the hitch is there or not and I'm not keen on the idea of going all the way there and coming back empty handed. I'm leaving next week on the bike and won't have time to do anything before then. Maybe if it's still there when I ride by that way the week after next I'll see if I can stop in and see it. We'll see. Anyway, thanks for all the good advice - it's always appreciated.

Kerry