I'd been toying around with the idea of painting up the KLR in the same scheme as the bug but never got around to doing it. Finally I resolved to go through with it. There might be some adjusments on what's left silver vs black, but for now, here's the process and the results.
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Starting with a pile of plastic,
some sand paper and paint. I was surprised by how much the green had
faded over the years and how much sticker residue was left behind. |
Glen can somehow see through the pitted glass of the sandblasting container. Here he's roughing up the surface and taking out as many imperfections as possible. |
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The black bits are undergoing their
first coat. I used Krylon's "Fusion" spray paint, as it is
formulated to bond with plastics and will (hopefully) not flake or chip
off. You can see the painted tank in the foreground. |
The lighting wasn't all that great
so I hand-held a few pieces to make sure that they were getting an even
and thorough coating of Olive Drab. |
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All (well, 'most') of
the pretty pieces, ready to go home for reassembly.
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The KLR is not a pretty bike to
look at without its shell. |
Hard to imagine that the KLR can
look even uglier than it does normally. |
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Here it is! I'm going to probably
touch up a few more parts, like the brake pedal and the skid plate.
That'll be another day though. |
There's a utility right-of-way
near my house that I've always wanted to test the KLR on. I figured
that it would be a good spot for photos, if nothing else. |
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I couldn't bring myself to remove
my two Alaska stickers - they got masked off and were saved from the
sanding/painting process. |
Hell, I was already on the utility
trail - why not take it all the way up the hill and home? |
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Really, its not much of a trail
and the blackberries were fairly aggressive, repeatedly tearing my feet
off the pegs. |
Home again, and parked next to
its now-faded companion. |
