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I've noticed that the paint on my forks, down at the bottom, has started to peel; probably as a result of chips perhaps?

Anyone else experienced a similar problem? I'd like to 'touch-up' the paint, is it possible to get something from 'BM or any other after market manufacturer?

Any help appreciated

M

Mike,
My Ed80 forks also had paint problems and I got them replaced under warranty by the dealer here in SF, though it did take some work on my part to get them to do it. At first they said it wasn't covered, but when I asked to get the warranty denial in writing they suddenly sprang to action. I have pics of what mine looked like. The paint bubbled on mine on the lower sections and cross piece. I can send you some pics if you want. Just PM me. Now I'm out of warranty and the paint on my cylinder heads is bubbling... I always wanted to paint them black anyway...
Toner

Seems to be a common problem with all painted forks.
Had mine replaced yesterday, under warranty (my warranty ends at the end of october).
Touch-up paint isn't available from BMW, although it is listed in the Real OEM-parts list.
I ordered a touch-up paintstick (orange 836, but even that doesn't seem to be available).
The problem is that BMW, due to environmental regulation, can't keep paint in stock.

Warranty has run out on my bike so it seems unlikely I'll be able to get anything done. Not sure what the alternative is to be honest.

I could probably find somewhere local that could respray I would think? I'm just wondering how much worse it will get. Doesn't look much at the moment and I use something called ACF-50 which is a good protector.

M

I had the same thing with mine, cylinder head covers bubbling. Got them replaced under warranty. Now the bike is off warranty and I kissed (scarped) the replacement cylinder heads on the track Oh well, makes it look meaner.

Bubbling fork legs.

Underneath is a pile of trouble.

Paint strip them.
Brass wire brush them till they shine.

Wax polish once a month.
Mine still look like this after 6 months.

Ian.

They look fantastic!! So just a brass wire brush then?? What about wire wool, would that do the same job??

I suppose you have to take off a few bits 'n pieces to ensure you get good access to the fork bottoms. Did you put some gaffa' tape about the bottom of the fork stantions to avoid damage?

Really like the idea of doing that, thanks for the tip!

M

I took the wheel out and the muguard off and the brakes.

I wasn't sure what effect the paintstripper would have on stuff.

I tried some Nitromors on a tiny piece of the anodised fork legs
and they weren't touched.

The paint on the fork ends peeled off in seconds. It really is rubbish stuff.

You can see a small rubbed area on the fork leg where I caught it with the brush. It was the circular type in a lagre power drill and I was clumsy.
I'm not sure If wire wool would get to the bottom of the "grain" on the legs.
Yes, I would recommend you use gaffer tape!


It did look a bit odd at first but the bike now has a bit of silver at the front.
Silver exhaust headers in the middle and the big silver silencer at the back so I think it looks "balanced".

People who haven't seen a Rockster before have never mentioned the forks so it can't look too out of place!

Ian.

Man, that looks really good! Excellent work-around to an irritating problem.
T.

This might be a stupid suggestion, but what about something like Hammerite?? That's quite hard wearing isn't and available in several finishes.

I'm wondering if it's worth stripping off the bad stuff, clean the legs with something alcohol based then paint with hammerite.

I know it's not exactly what it's meant for, but might help to protect them once cleaned-up. They do metal primers too...

What d'ya think?

M

Unklian; could you post a piccie (zoomed out) so I can see the whole bike. Get an idea of what it looks like with silver fork ends.

Cheers,
M

Hi Mike.

This is about the only one I have of the whole bike.

(Taken on a recent trip to Belgium)

I tend to take pics of things I'm doing to it.

Stuff like exhaust mods so I can fit the throwovers
and because my wife has cold hands, a heated grabrail!

The forks look really good!! What do you think about the hammerite option?? After stripping the crap off with copper brush... I'm thinking it might be a good way to protect longer term.

M

Boxerpunk wrote:Seems to be a common problem with all painted forks.
Had mine replaced yesterday, under warranty (my warranty ends at the end of october).
Touch-up paint isn't available from BMW, although it is listed in the Real OEM-parts list.
I ordered a touch-up paintstick (orange 836, but even that doesn't seem to be available).
The problem is that BMW, due to environmental regulation, can't keep paint in stock.

Boxerpunk, how did you manage to claim the warranty? I take it that your bike is older that one year. Or is there a warranty clause on paint that is valid over 1 year? What dealer did you go to?

\Mike_Lea// wrote:This might be a stupid suggestion, but what about something like Hammerite?? That's quite hard wearing isn't and available in several finishes.

I'm wondering if it's worth stripping off the bad stuff, clean the legs with something alcohol based then paint with hammerite.

I know it's not exactly what it's meant for, but might help to protect them once cleaned-up. They do metal primers too...

What d'ya think?

M

I'd say that's a top idea. I do intend to re-paint my fork legs at some point, they're peeling a bit now. Just depends on when I can be arsed and when I can find a week or so (so I can do it properly) when I'm not actually using the bike!

Riceburner, I know exactly what you mean... I've got exactly the same problem!

Need to set a week or so aside to ensure I've got plenty of time to get the job done right.

Can't make my mind up whether it would be better to paint on or opt for a spray can. I might opt for paint as it's easy to apply and I won't need to mask everything to avoid over spray.

M

\Mike_Lea// wrote:Riceburner, I know exactly what you mean... I've got exactly the same problem!

Need to set a week or so aside to ensure I've got plenty of time to get the job done right.

Can't make my mind up whether it would be better to paint on or opt for a spray can. I might opt for paint as it's easy to apply and I won't need to mask everything to avoid over spray.

M

I find spraying then rubbing down after each coat works well - but takes time. You can put about 5 coats on this way and get a really good finish.

Brushes tend to leave marks. (even in Hammerite!)

I suppose spraying would be better, I'm just wary of the hassle of having to cover everything else up due to over spray; I don't have much room in my shed

There's an undercoat hammerite provide which would probably be a good idea to use also. I would think a couple of layers of undercoat followed by a couple of layers of topcoat would do the job nicely. I'm thinking about silver or even black for that matter.

Have you seen the post on R1150R forum re: LED's... There's a guy on there who's installed blue LEDs instead of the default one's, looks pretty good to me.

http://r1150r.org/board/viewtopic.php?t ... hlight=led

I find it difficult to see my speedo, at a glance, particularly if the weather's not great and it's raining.

M

\Mike_Lea// wrote:I suppose spraying would be better, I'm just wary of the hassle of having to cover everything else up due to over spray; I don't have much room in my shed

There's an undercoat hammerite provide which would probably be a good idea to use also. I would think a couple of layers of undercoat followed by a couple of layers of topcoat would do the job nicely. I'm thinking about silver or even black for that matter.

Have you seen the post on R1150R forum re: LED's... There's a guy on there who's installed blue LEDs instead of the default one's, looks pretty good to me.

http://r1150r.org/board/viewtopic.php?t ... hlight=led

I find it difficult to see my speedo, at a glance, particularly if the weather's not great and it's raining.

M

#

Aye, undercoat would be a very good idea.

I always have problems reading the rev counter under dusk conditions - the sulphur lights we use in the UK as road lights create a wavelength that matches the colour of the numerals on the rev-counter and wipes them out completely.

As they're not too pricey, I'm gonna buy some of the bright LEDs. They do white and blue...

I've thought about mixing the too colours; blue for the Rev Counter, and white for the Speedo.

M