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Re: Painting suggestions, help and email address change

Steve:

Here's a suggestion for repainting the area.
Wurth (the manufacturer) makes a silver lacquer spray-paint which exactly matches the color and satin finish of the silver (engine, drive train and wheels) of the oil heads (I have 1999 R1100RS). You should be able to get this or order it through a local BMW motorcycle dealer. It's expensive - about $20 for a 400ml (14oz) spray, but well worth it. The color match and the texture blend seamlessly with the existing finish, and it is the easiest can spray paint I have ever used. Good coverage and very forgiving (re: little sagging, orange- peeling, etc.) of an amateur spray bomber. And it dries hard and is a relatively high temperature paint. I use it to repair those inevitable scratched valve covers, usually in-situ (with proper taping off of the bike - see below) and have had no high-temp lifting or blistering.
I assume your stains are on the rider's right side of the cases where they are a bit more exposed. Not seeing the condition of the case, it's hard to make a suggestion for prepping the surface. For a really small area - scratches, nicks and small blemishes you might get a passable effect just by cleaning with a mild solvent and using a small model-painting camel-hair brush. Spray some of the paint in a small jar or can - well away from the bike, and feather the paint on from the little pool of paint in the jar - stiir the paint constantly with the tip of the brush.
For a patch the size of your whole tranny housing, my guess is that careful scrubbing with ultra-fine steel wool and a little solvent will remove residue but not any stains. If you can get it, I do a final clean-up with rubber cement thinner (art or craft supply store - less tricky to use around painted and rubber parts than lacquer thinner). BTW rubber cement thinner is my solvent of choice for removing grease, oils and adhesives (atpe and lables) without worry of damaging palstics and rubber. Test first, though.
Remove anything that is easy to remove - like the airbox-throttle body tube, or anything that might block access to the area - even the rear wheel and in-board mudflap would be good to remove for better access.
Tape over EVERYTHING in the spray area that isn't silver (cable boots, fuel lines, brake lines, black plastic covers, and don't forget that little round chrome cover on the side of throttle body). The tape job doesn't have to be neat - just complete.
I then make a "window" or perimeter around the spray area of 2" masking or painter's tape. This provides the "anchor" for a whole- bike "shroud." Cover the ENTIRE bike outside the window around the spray area - BOTH sides of the bike, handlebars. wheels and tires, windscreen - even the underside of the engine. You would not believe how pervasive the over-spray can be (of course remove cars etc. from garage - or do this outside away from precious objects on a still, warm, dry day). All this prep takes almost as long to describe as to do - just be thorough.
Follow the directions on the can - shake for the whole 3-minutes. Spray in very light coats sweeping horizontally - try to feather the edges (hard to do in such a small area - but that's another reason for masking the entire bike). The paint dries very quickly and to a nice finish - and is not finicky about being left awhile between coats (it won't crackle if you wait an hour or a day between coats) but you can usually spray additional thin coats as soon as dry-to the touch (minutes). Once taping is done, I'm usually done with the painting in less than an hour for three light coats.
Sounds like a lot of work, but the only thing that takes time is the whole-bike masking and i've always found the result blends in with existing finish in excellent fashion. 

see also <www.wurthusa.com>

The part number for the paint is 0892 181


John Merlin Williams

jmerlinw@xxxxxxx



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On Aug 25, 2007, at 7:31 PM, Steve & Linda Berto wrote:
I have battery acid and gas stains on my transmission case on my 2002 R1150R. Any suggestions on the best way of getting rid of them, covering them up, or 
painting them?

The dealer said I would have to paint over them.
Any idea what type of paint and color to use?
Also, I have a new email address and need to have this changed for the list. Where and how do I get my email address changed to keep receiving the digest 
list?

Steve Berto
s.l.berto@xxxxxxx    (New email address)

Annandale, Va