What's the best way to repair small paint chips?

I've tried buying those little bottles of car paint at the hardware stores and it's been a real bugger trying to come up with something that comes close to matching the factory paint. Plus, even if the colour is right on the money, the texture isn't perfect.

Are there auto paint shops that could do touch-ups on these small chips and bring a guy's bike back to near perfect condition? The paint on my bike is still quite good overall but these chips in the paint are a bit of an eye sore.

There's a place in town that can supposedly make you a can of paint to match what's on your vehicle but I'm not sure how good it is and then there's the matter that the texture isn't right.

Any suggestions guys?

 

There are several threads that discuss this at length. The way I see it, theres 2 ways to go. Try fixing yourself and when you screw it up, take it in. Or just dont mess with it, just take it in. I tried repairing a scratch on my bag lid and by the time I was done........it was much much bigger and looked BAD. Oh well, I got some good experience in what and what not to do. I'll be taking mine in to have the whole lid painted. Also, it depends alot on where the chips are, if they arent real noticeable, you might be able to repair yourself with a toothpick. The touchup paint I got from Checker was weird stuff. I tried thinning with paint thinner then tried water, nothing worked so beware, very fast drying. Good luck.

 

The dealer sells touch-up paint in small containers that will match your color perfectly. It comes in a two bottle set with a bottle of clear coat. There were several threads here about a year ago on how to do a touch-up job on small chips and make them unnoticeable, a search should dig them up.

 

Forget those small bottles. They are overpriced and dry up quickly. The brush is also too thick for fine detail work. For any of my vehicles that need small touch ups, I go to the local auto paint supply house and get a half a pint of cheap single stage paint mixed up. They can scan the paint if you don't have the codes. It usually sets me back less that 15 bucks. It will be thinner than the stuff in the little bottles allowing you to spread it better instead of blobbing it on. I use the back side of a paper match for my brush.

 

Most auto paint shops are going to want to paint the entire panel. It will (or should) match perfectly. I've never dealt with a paint shop that would do touch up work. If there's a shop you trust, take your bike to them and talk to them about it. Remember, your desire to save money is in direct conflict with their need to make money.

We have a guy that works the local area doing chip repair. He comes to you in a van, and will do a pretty good job of matching, and the chip looks better when he's done. Better, but not perfect, and he requires a paint code. I had him come out last summer and repair a paint chip in my golf cart, and he wouldn't even come out unless I provided him a paint code. I can see where he repaired the chip, but you wouldn't see it at a glance.

Do an internet search for auto chip repair. There might be something similar in your area.