Painting question?

So how hard do you think it would be to paint the WRR frame black like the X? Anyone tried this? I really like the look, but have never done this before. Don't want it to turn out looking like crap. Any suggestions?

It's a lot of work, but it can be done. You'll have to strip the bike down if you want to do it right...and the main thing is that you prime it right or the paint won't stick and you'll end up with a patchy chipped frame which looks like hell.

It's not that hard. It can be done with a few simple steps...


1. Remove frame from motorcycle.

2. Sand blast the old silver paint off.

3. Prep, prime and paint the frame.

4. Let dry.

5. Reinstall frame in motorcycle.


Seriously though. You are looking at one big ass job if you want to do it right. You can cheat and remove the easy stuff and tape off the rest, but you will regret it later. You will never be able to sand and prep the surface properly with all that stuff in the way. Like Wolfie said, it'll peel on you. Then you end up with a bad black & silver camo job. But I guess that wouldn't be so bad if you needed to blend in with a heard of Zebras.

if ya strip it, powdercoat it, not paint. its way more durable, the x is powdercoated.

PQRS... wrote:

if ya strip it, powdercoat it, not paint. its way more durable, the x is powdercoated.

Are you sure about that? How come the black paint in that color is available from Yamaha? I put a small nick in my swing arm removing the stupid warning sticker when the bike was new. The black is not very thick or durable. Seems like paint to me.

Direct from Yamaha: The WR250R/X is NOT powdercoated.

The black frame looks great, but that seems a lot of trouble for a $5000 bike. I believe the purpose of the silver frame is so that scratches don't show up from off road riding. The Black frame, although very beautiful, is more of an Urban look. I thought about getting the X model partly because the frame looks so good. But from what I hear, the black scratches easily and one of the things I want to do is trail riding.
By the time you powder coated your bike, trouble and cost. You probably would be half way to buying a X model.

Ya way too much work for me. I never thought about scratches showing up more. Thanks for the input.

jpkrass wrote:

Ya way too much work for me. I never thought about scratches showing up more. Thanks for the input.

Would it probably be an idea to get yourself a new bike with a black frame and sell yours?
For the WR/R and X this colour is just for the looks, I guess. The black frame colour is not protective.

On the other hand: black offroad frames (I am thinking of KTM for instance) should be powdercoated, which is durable and cannot be scratched easily. It also serves as corrosion protection. So, applying powdercoating to your frame might be a useful feature in case you are not afraid of the work. It would be much better then stock frames with black colour rubbing off easily. If thats an issue, go ahead and strip that bike. I do not think it is that difficult. However, removing headset and maybe other bearings or whatever may be a pain.
BTW I did that twice with silver aluminium offroad rims that I used for offroad riding. The black coating proved durable.

its painted? hmmm... i assumed it was powder coated, pretty good finish! lol.. but if i were to tear it all the way down id be powder coating it.

not trying to be contrary , but I like the silver way better than the black. If the R came with a black frame I'd be posting "what's the best way to change this black to silver", LOL!

But we all know what opinions are worth...

Funny, yesterday I was looking at the frame of one of our KLRs as we were putting an engine in and thinking to myself that if it was anything but a KLR I would keep stripping the bike down and paint that ugly silver frame.
I should also add that after over 50,000km of hard use even a silver frame starts to look pretty scarred.

I guess there's a reason why manufacturers usually have color options.

I'm planning on painting my wife's new Monster ASAP, but that will be easy as there are only three peices to remove. The parts are Silver, the frame is already Black fortunately