One of the most common questions motorcycle users seem to be always asking is how much does it cost to paint a motorcycle? The answers aren’t always simple for this, though. A few variables are involved, and other color maintenance costs related to the process can make a huge difference in the overall expense.
We’ll talk about differences in costs for a variety of methods. You’ll also get some primers on cost savings and better color retention. Whatever your reason for coloring your motorcycle is, you can get the best value out of it by knowing the proper techniques and methods.
How Much Does It Cost to Paint a Motorcycle?
Generally, people color their motorcycles for two main reasons: to make their bikes look new or to have a high resale value. Both reasons are logical. Paint discoloration can look ugly, and generally, the resale value won’t be high. In fact, it’d be hard to impress a potential customer with a bike that looks old and rusty.
You have three ways you can choose to color your motorcycle. Let’s talk about them below;
DIY
If you’re not too fussy about the quality of the painting, then doing it on your own can be one great way to save money. You can be done with the whole task while spending less than $100. In fact, coloring doesn’t take much time. It’s sanding that’s going to take almost all of your time in the process.
Because it’s important to smooth up your bike’s body and even the uneven places on it, without smoothing everything up, it’ll be easy to notice the rough patches on the body.
Sanding, sadly, isn’t that easy. You should have enough time on your hand to properly go through this task throughout the motorcycle’s body. Sanding the flat areas is the easy part. However, sanding in the corners will need some maneuvering, and that’s some hard work.
It can be a great idea if you can learn from an expert before attempting to paint your motorcycle on your own. You can learn from the internet too. Once you understand the basics and keep practicing more and more on your own, you’ll have a good hold in the process in a short time.
You can paint on your own or hire an expert to do it in your home. Choosing any of these two options can save you quite some money. But look for the quality of the painter before you decide to hire someone.
Don’t hire someone who hasn’t got the skills yet. If the paint is applied well, it’ll dry off and set on the surface quickly.
But choose this process if you don’t have any plan to sell the motorbike. Unless you’re highly skilled, it’s very unlikely that you’re about to do a paint job that’s going to have the same level of details as a professionally painted motorcycle has.
Basic Paint
As mentioned in the previous point, sanding is the most time-consuming part of painting a motorbike. You see, when you take your motorcycle to a paint shop, what do they do first? They remove the old, rusty color layers. But why is it important? Applying a new color on the old paint should be easier, right?
Well, applying paint on a rusty paint layer can never be a good idea. It’ll make things worse in the process. The new color layer will look uneven and hideously thick. And the rust growth from the deeper layers will affect the top layers easily, making the whole paint job a waste of both time and money.
Sanding helps in two things: first of all, it helps remove the rust growth from the body, and secondly, it helps smooth up the surface of the motorbike.
For all these reasons, it’s important to spend some more money on sanding. Generally, you can do a good quality paint job for under $1500. You can even lower it below $500, but that’s not going to be a good idea, probably.
Because the expenses on colors aren’t that high and applying them is a quick task. The main expenses are done on sanding. It takes a long time and, as a result, costs you a high charge. So how much sanding you want to do is going to be directly related to how much you’re willing to pay for it. Pay high, get better work.
But, there’s a catch. Since sanding is quite expensive, you can do it on your own. It’s not hard, you’ll only need a few hours and solid patience. You can make some major mistakes while coloring and make a mess, but mistakes in sanding are quite forgiving. But the hard part is sanding a bike is completely manual work.
Once you’re done sanding, you can then take the motorbike to the paint shop for painting. You’ll save quite a lot of money in the process.
Read More >> How Much Does It Cost To Paint A Truck
Custom Paint
Custom painting isn’t always going to be worth the high expenses. You’re about to spend anything between $1000 and $2000 for the task. Unless you want to sell your vehicle or want a very high-quality finish, you’re probably better off choosing a regular painting.
A Consideration for Painting
When you paint your motorcycle, make sure to do it in a dry, airy room. Don’t paint in damp areas, as it’ll only make the paint on the bike week and easily removable. After painting, let the colors dry off for a few days.
How long the drying takes depends on quite a few factors. How many layers of colors are applied and how much water is in the paint mix are the two major parts that determine how long the colors are going to take to dry off completely.
Wrapping up
Hopefully, you’re not confused anymore about the question, “how much does it cost to paint a motorcycle?” You got the basics on some of the cost factors, and now you should be ready to decide on your preferred method.
Now, you can save some money by doing some of the work on your own and hiring a professional to do the others.
Hello, I’m Michael Rosales an expert in cars. As a little boy, I have always loved cars. Over the years I became lucky to have the opportunity to work as a car dealer. It was at this stage I became vast in the knowledge of cars, things you need to know when buying cars and how to minimize cost while still getting your dream car.