New Owner / Repainted my Rockster
Moderator: Moderators
New Owner / Repainted my Rockster
Hi everyone! This is my first post and my first BMW motorcycle. I've been lurking and reading these forums for a while now and I've gained quite a bit of knowledge to make an educated purchase decision. After much research, I purchased my Rockster at the end of the summer and started slowly working on it. The bike only had 12,000 miles and was in really good shape mechanically, but in poor shape cosmetically. The tires were 6 years old, plastics and seats were quite faded and the paint on the valve covers were blistering and flaking off. The exhaust headers were quite ugly and there were three dents in the tank. The paint on the swing arm was so faded it was no longer black. The bike spent a lot of time outside as the prior owner didn't have a garage.
When I first rode the bike, I really like the feel of it. The lack of fork dive on hard braking was new for me having ridden only Japanese bikes. The iABS brakes were really grabby at low speeds, and that took some getting used to. This is my first BMW and I am loving every minute of it. After riding it a bit I decided to start working on the necessary bits first. First things first, I had the 12k service done and discovered that BMW means "bring my wallet". I'll be doing most of my maintenance on my own. From that point forward, I changed the brake pads & bought new Michelin Pilot Road 4's. It now rides like a dream! I took the advice on these forums and cut the ties for the wires on the forks. I also covered some of the exposed wires using high temperature wire looms.
While I had the wheels off, I started working on the cosmetic stuff. I painted the swing arm and engine parts using Duplicolor engine paint. The exhaust headers received a nice black ceramic coating at a local place. I took the tank and panels off and had the dents fixed and the tank and panels, and headlight case repainted. I was inspired by the R nine T for the paint scheme on my Rockster. Anyway, here it is... I'll post some before pics as well. The only thing I'm sad about is that I finished all of this just as riding season is ending here in Texas.
When I first rode the bike, I really like the feel of it. The lack of fork dive on hard braking was new for me having ridden only Japanese bikes. The iABS brakes were really grabby at low speeds, and that took some getting used to. This is my first BMW and I am loving every minute of it. After riding it a bit I decided to start working on the necessary bits first. First things first, I had the 12k service done and discovered that BMW means "bring my wallet". I'll be doing most of my maintenance on my own. From that point forward, I changed the brake pads & bought new Michelin Pilot Road 4's. It now rides like a dream! I took the advice on these forums and cut the ties for the wires on the forks. I also covered some of the exposed wires using high temperature wire looms.
While I had the wheels off, I started working on the cosmetic stuff. I painted the swing arm and engine parts using Duplicolor engine paint. The exhaust headers received a nice black ceramic coating at a local place. I took the tank and panels off and had the dents fixed and the tank and panels, and headlight case repainted. I was inspired by the R nine T for the paint scheme on my Rockster. Anyway, here it is... I'll post some before pics as well. The only thing I'm sad about is that I finished all of this just as riding season is ending here in Texas.
Last edited by BikerPhil on Sat Dec 17, 2016 2:58 am, edited 5 times in total.
Re: Repainted the Rockster
post approved - I added your other text from the other post, I'm sorry about the trouble - just found out what was going on.. feel free to edit your post and change it how you want! You wont require other approvals after the first one or two - its a spam countermeasure.
Member #1
Re: New Owner / Repainted my Rockster
Here are some of the "before" pics...
Re: New Owner / Repainted my Rockster
I for one greatly appreciate your efforts to repaint the "RadSter R1150S".
New paint looks good.
Duplicolor also for the valve covers?
Who did the tank dents repair? I'm overdue for a dent fix, although it's sentimental: dent was caused by knee of Triumph rider who hit me years ago.
New paint looks good.
Duplicolor also for the valve covers?
Who did the tank dents repair? I'm overdue for a dent fix, although it's sentimental: dent was caused by knee of Triumph rider who hit me years ago.
Rockster#2, K1300S, S1000R (for sale)
Re: New Owner / Repainted my Rockster
new paint is MILES better. the old was 1980's chinese atv ugly. bike looks like it was beaten on a bit for those 12000 miles.
doesnt look like it any more. lookin good, well done!
doesnt look like it any more. lookin good, well done!
2002 R1150R. Helmets save more lives than loud pipes.
Re: New Owner / Repainted my Rockster
I like that look way better, even better than a rockster in bone stock paint. I am probably going to repaint my black tiger stripe someday (I think the mat black is a weak finish and futt bugly as well). Unfortunately, having copper colored rims makes the color change a little more expensive and complicated (need to strip and powder coat them), but after seeing yours I am mighty tempted. Maybe next year. A very nice job and an inspiration!
Last edited by eburr on Thu Dec 22, 2016 5:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: New Owner / Repainted my Rockster
sweatmark wrote:I for one greatly appreciate your efforts to repaint the "RadSter R1150S".
New paint looks good.
Duplicolor also for the valve covers?
Who did the tank dents repair? I'm overdue for a dent fix, although it's sentimental: dent was caused by knee of Triumph rider who hit me years ago.
According to the prior owner, the original owner thought the hideous "Radster" paint job was better than the orange stripes. Apparently, from what the prior owner told me, the original owner had a performance exhaust business and he used this bike as a demo bike. He had it painted this way because he thought it looked cool... and perhaps it would have back in 1984, but by 2004, not so much. I do like that he put a nice exhaust system on it and eliminated the cat. He also had the wheels painted black so that was a nice touch as well.
Yes, I also used duplicolor high temp paint for the valve covers.
Lastly, Dymond Customs in Arlington, TX patched up the dents and repainted the tank, cooler covers, side panels and headlight cover. All in all, I can't complain.
Re: New Owner / Repainted my Rockster
One thing I'm grateful for is that the original owner did repaint the wheels from the get go as this eliminated the cost of having to do that myself. When I first purchased it, I knew I was going to repaint it, but I didn't know how. I will admit that the thought of putting the bike back into factory colors did cross my mind. I even thought about matte grey with black stripes, gun metal gray, and a few others. Eventually, I drew my inspiration from the R Nine T for the color scheme. The Rockster is such a cool looking bike and there are so many possibilities. I would love to see how you and others repaint to customize their Rocksters. I say go for it!eburr wrote:I like that look way better, even than rockster bone stock. I am probably going to repaint my black tiger stripe someday (I think thee mat black is weak and fugly), but having copper colored rims makes the color change a little more expensive and complicated (strip them and powder coating).
Re: New Owner / Repainted my Rockster
Thank you! It is so funny that you mentioned 1980's atv ugly... lol. That is actually what I thought when I saw it. I loved how the bike rode as long as I didn't look down at the tank. I am now happy to have a better looking bike now.peels wrote:new paint is MILES better. the old was 1980's chinese atv ugly. bike looks like it was beaten on a bit for those 12000 miles.
doesnt look like it any more. lookin good, well done!
Re: New Owner / Repainted my Rockster
Thanks Doug! I love this bike!Doug wrote:Holy cow, looks amazing! Great job.
Re: New Owner / Repainted my Rockster
Want to add to earlier post.... New color looks factory. like a special edition rockster or something.
really dig it.
really dig it.
2002 R1150R. Helmets save more lives than loud pipes.
-
- Lifer
- Posts: 144
- Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 4:51 pm
- Location: Michigan
Re: New Owner / Repainted my Rockster
You my friend, have done a beautiful job..Very nice..
Re: New Owner / Repainted my Rockster
Mean, sleek, beautiful. Love the blackout pipes.
Holland Ja, San Francisco
‘02 R1150R black
‘02 R1150R black