Paintwork

Hey, I'm nearly up to date!

The tank and side panels are currently away being refinished and that has been a bit of a saga.

I'd decided long ago that the colour would be changed from blue to the deep metallic burgundy that my old 400-4 had been. The Dream was available in this colour, or something very similar, but it's not that common. The Honda colour is Candy Antares Red - it can be obtained from RS Paints, but is expensive and I wasn't obsessed with getting a perfect match. The colour I've chosen is actually a Malagutti colour.

Thanks to my mate Paul by the way for recommending Roger Smith in Hoylake 07771 895 674 for the painting. He has been really good - not the cheapest, but real personal service and a lovely guy to deal with.

Here's how they looked before they went to Roger, not terrible but showing every sign of their 34 years:

The tank underside was quite corroded and Roger suggested having it sandblasted back to bare metal. The painting has now been completed and clearcoated and looks gorgeous. Are you waiting for the "but"?

But, when Roger came to apply the decals I'd got from Sunrise Graphics, the problems started. He'd left the paint and clear coat to go off for 2 days, as instructed; applied the decals and squeegeed a few air bubbles out as he did it - all normal till now and the job's looking good to finish in the morning. Anyway, he came back the next morning to find hundreds of little "micro-bubbles" under the decals. Obviously, they couldn't be left like that, so Roger called me down to have a look.

After calls to John at Sunrise, the conclusion was that, though the paint was hard at the surface (hard enough for Roger to polish in fact), it hadn't quite given up all of it's solvent and the bubbles are trapped solvent vapours that came out of the paint overnight. It had been cold that week - maybe that contributed? Anyway, Noel's Top Tip is to wait at least 7 days after painting to apply the decals, not 2 days as stated in the instructions.

Roger removed the decals without any damage to the paint with a bit of heat from a hairdryer and we are currently waiting for a new set to arrive, probably this week. Once on, they can be clear coated and job done. The paint will have had a couple of weeks to harden by then, so they'd better be right this time!

I'll post some photos as soon as it's all back.

It has always been my view that you should judge companies on how they react to problems, not how they sell you goods. Roger has come out of this as a shining example - he's been open and honest at every stage and can't do enough to help sort it out, even though we're both pissed off that the decal instructions were followed to the letter. The decal suppliers on the other hand have been patronising and defensive throughout, even dismissing my suggestion that they should change their instructions to allow a few more days for the paint to go off. I know who I'd rather deal with in future and where my recommendations will go.

I heartily recommend Roger Smith of Hoylake 07771 895 674   ;-)

While the tank's been away, I've cleaned up the Honda badges and they are ready to go back on as soon as it's home.