I worry about the hoses a little when you put them on and clamp them, might peel through the plastidip.

I've been thinking about getting some of the colored bolts, and wondered how well orange might go with blue on my bike. But think I'm gonna get some gold and blue stuff. Maybe orange sprocket nuts. I like red and orange, but I think with the green red would look xmasy, and orange and green would look very mountain dewish!

Yeah, green and red is gonna look "Xmas" with say a red sprocket with green nuts. I think green/red accents would work great for fairings if you left them primarily black. (BTW, if you get aluminum sprocket nuts, be careful. #1 you can't torque aluminum anywhere near the proper spec for sprocket nuts, #2 if you get the alum nuts with steel helicoils (Probolt) the helicoil may spin in the nut when you torque it -- might be problem when you go to remove the nuts --- I hope not, that's what I have. There are Ti sprocket nuts but they're heavier than alum and they cost an arm/leg.)

There is a very recent thread about a less expensive and faster American company that sells colored bolts as opposed to ProBolt. I'd check them out.

Spraypaint is a great way color your bolts. It chips a little when you wrench them but you can always touch up. I always remove mine if I paint them but Grn has painted them while they were on the bike.

* Last updated by: Rook on 11/15/2014 @ 6:39 AM *

Glad to hear non-issue. I'm kind of surprised, most of what I read is points of contact seem to be an issue for plastidip. I don't think it would've been an issue overall anyway, but glad none the less.

Please post some pics when you get a chance. Your bike just looks more awesome every change you make. It's weird you do some rather outlandish stuff yet somehow it still ends up looking classy as hell.

haha, thanks, Vic. I'll post pics ASAP. It will be interesting to see how well the PlastiDip holds up to contact. The hoses do vibe against the motor a bit at a couple points. That's why there is the stretchy mesh (Chinese finger trap) tube on the lower left hose and on the Gen1, the upper right hose. Also, see the comments I added to my last post here about colored bolts.

Pics!!!

oooooo you should see it on the left side!!! The bike is on stands. Almost put back together minus fairings. I hate to show pics of it in the dark garage. Hang in there. She'll see the light of day soon.

* Last updated by: Rook on 11/17/2014 @ 9:29 PM *

Here's a little sneak peek. The clutch cover will be getting done later this winter and maybe the stator cover too.

Nice Rook damn that's gonna be hot! Can't wait to see it all bolted back together.

Just an update on this project, I decided to do a couple of the non-engine covers. I'm going with regular Valspar paint over self etching primer and VHT high temp paint. The finish is so much better than engine paint. It's held up well on my sprocket for a couple years. If the Valspar doesn't discolor or crack right away, I'll probably redo the other covers some day.

Lookin Good Rook.
That orange is sooo bright... very nice.

Thanks, beast. Stay tuned for pics of when I get it all put together.

I expected this might be a problem. The timing rotor touches the padding inside the lower fairing and the paint stuck. I'll sand it and place a piece of orange vinyl over the area and I think that will solve the problem. Hopefully the paint has heat cured from the engine and will remain hard all the time. it probably would have been a good idea to ride the bike a couple weeks without fairings.

You now have a very unique good looking zx, thanks for posting. You are giving me ideas to try this winter.

Thanks, Billy. Keep an eye on the thread because I hope to have the crank case cover done before winter. I'd like to do the stator cover too.

Good job Rook. Just remember, once you go naked (bike that is), you will never go back.

Yep, I took the 14 on a couple naked rides recently (the bike) and it's amazing how much lighter the bike is without that plastic.

Rook couple questions. Is the foam that's installed on some of the body panels necessary for anything? To me that's what feels very heavy. It also holds water like a sponge. Just learned this after washing the bike the other day and removed the fuel tank cover.

I think it's to absorb some vibrations where the fairings come close to junk. The foremans on the Gen1 have reflective covered foam so that's for heat. I'm not sure how much weight all the foam amounts to. I've always assumed it was almost nothing but when wet, yeah, it's heavy. There was a member in the past who removed all foam with no ill effects. I will probably remove my foam now. I've gotten rid of the big chunks without adhesive long time ago. No problems.

The busa has foam inside the side fairings and just heat shield flashing in the lowers near theexhaust. I'v wondered if the side foam might not be to absorb an accidental fuel cap overfill so it doesn't touch the engine? IDK.

* Last updated by: Rook on 9/17/2015 @ 11:09 AM *

Dam Photobucket!

Well, I have an OEM clutch cover I bought off of Ebay for ~$50 and it had some scratches in it as well as apparent chemical damage. I looked like something was splashed on it that removed the metal flake in spots so IDK if that was OEM paint or someone tried to copy the effect by dusting black with a metal flake. Anyway, I figured out how to simulate the OEM engine cover color pretty well and I've painted the salt shaker/6 finger bowling ball/cartoon cannon ball bomb with fuse--whatever you want to call it VHT Flame Proof ORANGE. It looks the exact color of a orange terra cotta flower pot but after I buffed off a spot with a rag, it revealed a nice low gloss yellow orange with an ochre undertone and a fine, grainy surface. I think it looks pretty nice. Will post pics after I get the border taped off and paint it metal flake grey. You shoot a wet coat of VHT Flame proof grey, hit that a few times with Duplicolor Universal Black Metalic and then one quick lick with VHT Anodized Blue--all before anything dries. Looks pretty close to OEM Flat Super Black but slightly more gloss and metal flake.

Sound like your describing a fine bottle of wine there Rook. I like the stuff you have done on your bike.
Dave

LOL --It does, doesn't it!

it revealed a nice low gloss yellow orange with an ochre undertone and a fine, grainy surface.

I'm sure that comes from a background as an artist. I have to return to that calling some day very soon. I don't think I can do bikes and paint both but I will try to keep a finger in the bike community. Until the then, the 14 still has some work before it's done so stay tuned, david.

Here it is. I'm not sure I'd buy one of these off the shelf but it's been a part of my plan for a few years now. I'll do the stator cover the same way. Of course, I'll show pics of it on the bike. I need to reload other pics on this thread as well.

I think it looks great Rook! Nice custom touch!

Thanks, Bobby. I used some light duty scouring pads on the black to bring the gloss down a touch. Then I dropped it on the carpet which scuffed the orange so I will have to touch that up quick. It seems like VHT Flame Proof doesn't harden up as much as some other paints. It might require exposure to high temperature to get it to cure. That was the problem with the other covers I did. The road gravel that gets tossed up in there sinks right into the paint and for quite a while after the part is installed.

We'll see how this one fares. I have a feeling Flame Proof should only be used on exhausts and engine enamel on engines. Unfortunately, they don't make a yellow orange engine enamel. Ordinary spray paint might be just fine, too and that may be what I try the next time I take the covers off. Engines don't get that hot unless there is a problem.

...then again, gravel sort of embeds into the OEM paint a little bit, too where the fairing pads touch. I suppose that's one reason they one thin coat of flat grey.