Finally painted my forks!

[Yone]

Here's my favorite combination of poisons. I used the same combination to paint the alloy wheels of my truck about 8 years ago, and it's still holding up!

Since my stand didn't allow me to take off the front wheel, I simply masked off all the surrounding stuff with bags and painter's tape.

After about only 2 hours, I had a finished product! I'm very satisfied with it...there's just a few remaining areas to touch up with flat black model paint, and of course the inside of the forks are still silver, but there's a nice gradient to it and it's hardly noticable.

 

[dart1963]

nice, might have to take the time to do this to my raven. What did you use to clean the area first? Just soap/water, or anything special to get the oil/grime off.

 

[Yone]

nice, might have to take the time to do this to my raven. What did you use to clean the area first? Just soap/water, or anything special to get the oil/grime off.

No, they were pretty clean to begin with, as I only have about 400 miles on it But I just ran some light sandpaper over it (which didn't really seem to do anything) and then just wiped the dust off with a rag.

 

[btastarsky]

That looks pretty sick. The fact that you did that yourself is also quite awesome. Congrats and thank you for another idea for individualizing the bike. I wonder if I can make my forks the same color as my fairings? Or would that not look as nice as the black? Any thoughts?

 

[dart1963]

That looks pretty sick. The fact that you did that yourself is also quite awesome. Congrats and thank you for another idea for individualizing the bike. I wonder if I can make my forks the same color as my fairings? Or would that not look as nice as the black? Any thoughts?

Wouldn't look bad if you could exactly color match, which is gonna be hard with off the shelf canned paint (even with Yamaha paint, there are the batch to batch differences). With black, it's a little easier since it's a contrast to the blue.

 

[cbzdel]

This is next on my list, then I will decide on the handlebar, if its gonna be worth my effort or just buy a new one..

But I am gonna put on the rear stand and then lift the front of the bike with a automotive hoist and completely remove the front wheel..

Thanks for the write up!

 

[Yone]

This is next on my list, then I will decide on the handlebar, if its gonna be worth my effort or just buy a new one..

But I am gonna put on the rear stand and then lift the front of the bike with a automotive hoist and completely remove the front wheel..

Thanks for the write up!

I hadn't even thought about painting the handlebar... Guess that's next.

 

[porky45]

super bad ass man! :thumbup:

 

[njdan]

Looks nice, I may have to do this to my Raven.

 

[cbzdel]

I hadn't even thought about painting the handlebar... Guess that's next.

I have not looked in detail at the 2010 models but they may have a black bar and it may just be cheaper and worth my time to just get one if they come black.. Because I am not the best painter in the world, actually closer to the worst :surrender:

 

[Yone]

I have not looked in detail at the 2010 models but they may have a black bar and it may just be cheaper and worth my time to just get one if they come black.. Because I am not the best painter in the world, actually closer to the worst :surrender:

I don't think I'm gonna bother with the handlebar...it'd be a total pain to remove everything. But then again, maybe in the winter if I get bored and won't be riding it anyway I could take my time.

 

[xplodnstar]

Looks sweet.

 

[Yone]

Looks sweet.

THANKS! It should've come black to begin with, but oh well.

 

[Stricken]

I was inspired by this post and painted my raven's forks. I must say that it looks totally more badass now. They really should have come painted black from the factory!

 

[oyamyers]

You could have just bought the way cool yellow on and got the black forks with it.:rockon::rockon::rockon:

Nice job on the mod!!!

 

[CGENGO]

Pics of the raven with black forks!!

 

[gearhead]

quit teasing, where's the pics???

 

[dart1963]

Look at the first post, it's a very good write-up with primer/paint used and pics. They are now black and it does look better then the silver.

 

[CGENGO]

Raven pics, we need raven pics. Although, I must say that your "new" look made me BLUE with envy for just a few seconds! Very nice work. It looks finished.

 

[MiltonDorkenhoff]

You could have just bought the way cool yellow on and got the black forks with it.:rockon::rockon::rockon:

That's what I was thinking