I am looking to upgrade paint on my Sportster. It's my first bike and I have it jacked up and have taken the wheels off to do the rims etc. I was wondering if someone could tell what parts on the bike cannot be painted due to heat tolerance or if were painted would need heat rated paint? Obviously the exhaust and the engine block cannot but I was wondering on the gear box covers, plastic, etc....

 

You said it's your first bike and it's jacked up with the wheels off.
Sportsters have a very narrow frame and tip over very easily with the wheels off, they are top heavy.
Sorry for the "off topic" but I don't want you to have an accident.

 

Totally appreciated. Yeah I have jacked up and 6 ratchet straps holding it from above truss's Already got big love for this bike!! Thanks for the concern.

 

Do you have any insight on the thread by chance?

 

Except for the plastics and body, don't use paint, powder coat. It is your investment, don't cut corners and go cheap. See link for explanation.

https://www.google.com/search?q=powd...utf-8&oe=utf-8

 

Many manufacturing interprises have gone to the age old "Stoving Paint". It is applied like regular paint and thick like powered coat, but does not require the steep EPA safety requirements, therefore the manufacturer can perform the coating procedure in house and reduce costs.
Stoving paint is cured at 200F , similar. to engine paint & exhaust component paint.
Stoving paint is tough like powder coat.
Unable to detect the difference between stoving paint and powder coat.
Prefer using Duplicolor or VHT engine paint, either curved at 200F for one hour. Duplicolor does not have to cured. Painted by entire Jeep tub . Grill, fenders , basically everything, valve covers with Duplicolor engine paint , uncured.
the used 2003-2007 rear fender for my 09C was painted with Duplicolor engine paint primer, top coat, gloss. modern formulated Engine paint is quite tough and in my opinion tougher than the old two part polyurethane paint or single stage poly urethane.
The popular H-D vivid gloss black color has a special letter code.

The older fender replaced the original with large hole opening to relocate the ECM to the battery compartment with a small lithium iron battery replacement

 

other bike paint threads here have recomended and used appliance paint to coat certain parts. VHT or any heat rated paint needs to be cured as the previous poster mentioned. Basically you can use any paint you want, but the final result will depend on how well you prepare surfaces, and the type of paint you use. Sometimes it may not matter that much. If you are going with a flat or satin they generally look decent regardless as they are not shiny or reflective. If you are going with a gloss, prep, and prep again. Older sportsters had their side covers coated in clear from the factory. typically after a few years this coating would start to crack, peel, and generally look like ***. I stripped mine off and buffed out the aluminum. So if the factory painted the side covers, you could as well. just be careful not to mix types of paint. always try a test panel to see if the paints you are using are going to react with each other. If you have no idea what type of paint you are painting over, try an "inconspicious area" to see how it reacts. good luck!

 

Rustoleum makes a black colored steel "door"paint that air cures to quite hard and durable finish.
Prefer Duplicolor engine paint, heat curing is option.
Easy to obtain a uniform gloss finish top coat and the Duplicolor engine part clear coat adds extra protection to Sun fade , oil and gasoline.

 

On the Sporty below the tins are painted, the wheels are powder coated, excepts for the white checkers which are painted and clear coated, the various engine parts are painted with high heat self etching primer, then high heat paint, the front pulley is painted, the rear pulley is powder coated, the front forks are painted, & the exhaust is painted with BBQ paint.

Other than the BBQ paint on the exhaust which lost a little of the black in the first 100 miles, it has all held up well for over 4 years and 10's of thousands of miles.

Oh, and the sissy bar is powder coated. I had it on a different bike, and it was painted, but because I am constantly bungie cording stuff to it, the paint did not hold up well...so that is why I powdered it this time, and it is holding up great.


I don't know what plastic you are wanting to change the color of...but you can't powder coat plastic, so it would need paint.