Flame Paint Job!!
The Painter:
I had a hard time finding a painter. I live in a rural area in Northern California, and had to call three different painters before anyone even answered the phone. I had no idea just finding a painter that wasn't a flake would be so hard. The guy I found works part time, in fact only does about 5 or 6 bikes a year, since he only paints during the winter months. The thing I like about this guy is that he really gets into each paint job. Only doing a few bikes a year keeps him excited about each bike he does. He seamed to really like my paint job, maybe because it was the only bike he did this winter.
The paint job:
In the early days of my research for this paint job, I thought I wanted to have pictures of castles painted on the fenders and pictures of the Rhine river ( pictures we took while in Germany ) on the tank. But when talking to custom painters at some of the bike runs in this area, I was not convinced that the finished product would be what I was expecting. So my next idea was "real fire" like I had seen on other bikes. But while talking to my painter he ask if he could "try" something new with my paint. Since he promised to do it again if I didn't like it I said go ahead. While what he did was not what I "thought" I was looking for I really like how it turned out!
The Paint:
First step was to remove the factory decals from the tank and prime that part of the tank. Next was to prime/seal the factory paint on the fenders & the remainder of the tank.Third step was the base coat, which is about 3 or 4 thin coats of your basic black. Is there any other color for a Harley? After the black base coat(s) then the actual flames. This was done using Red, Yellow, & Orange candy colors. The "top coat" is a clear pearl which is covered with 3 or 4 more clear coats, which are then polished to a high gloss. The finished product is pictured below.
