So I finally have an image in my head of what I want my 48 bike to look like. Can anybody give me some input on getting my tank painted? Is it expensive? Do I have to take the tank off myself?

 

It can be expensive. I just did and I'm not terribly thrilled with the results. I opted for the budget job and got what I payed for. Your tank is probably relatively new and strait, so it should just be sanded down and sprayable. I'd say you should go into it for less than $200 by a reputable shop. My tank is yellow now...I like the color but I'm not to thrilled with the way it looks on my bike...i'm thinking about doing a bare metal with clear coat type deal...I totally jacked the idea from another forum member but it looks killer and he said he only paid $45 bux for the clear job.

 

Go to a few shops and get some quotes. Removing the tank is fairly simple. I had my 48 tank and 2 side covers painted as seen in my sig. Gold metalflake scallops and gold metalflake "48" and cost was $400.

 

Since the bike is styled after the 40s I wanted to go with a WW2 look. I want to do the tank matte green(or black) with a custom flying tiger image on the tank. Before I do anything though I'm going to photoshop my bike on my computer with the paint job that I want. Just to make sure. I do want the image painted on though. I don't want any stickers.

 

wow that's not bad at all. I thought I was going to be in the 1k range. I heard from a few people it was very expensive

 

The custom tiger is gonna cost ya, but shouldn't be too crazy. I knew someone that had a $1500 custom paint job on a Heritage that was a lot more complex than that (full set of tins for that price).

 

It all depends. It's pretty much the same as auto painting. For instance my dad backed into my jeep the other week. I got two quotes.

One guy tried to take me for a ride and wanted 1800 dollars. The guy I went with unbent my fender for $210 bucks and I was impressed with it.

 

nicest example ive seen thus far... good luck!

 

I paid $100 for mine stripped and sprayed.

 

The dealer where I bought my bike adds $800.00 for custom paint done by Harley Davidson at the factory.