Well, another paint job is complete - signed, sealed, delivered. Gordon (igoforit2003 on TWT) had scratched up both saddle bags from his FJR1300. Touch-up paint had been used to cover the damage temporarily, and it came time to repair and repaint.

Three weeks from start to finish, but one week of that was waiting for the factory-matched paint to be shipped. The damaged aras were sanded down and the gouges filled, then the entire case sanded to prepare for paint. An adhesion promoter was first used to prevent peeling or chipping, and both a white primer and silver base coat were sprayed prior to the Yamaha color.

When ordering from Color-Rite (my preferred supplier for factory colors) the choices are either 2oz or a quart of paint. A quart was definately too much, but 2oz might be a tight squeeze. To keep the cost to the customer down, HOK Orion Silver was used as a base color to avoid needing three coats of the final color.

The outcome was great, and the base silver was an almost identical match to the final color. Had I painted the final color over the white primer, coverage probably would not have been as even. After a few coats of UV clear, the bags were thoroughly wet sanded from 330 grit all the way up to 2000 grit (which pretty much feels like you're just rubbing notebook paper on the surface). Mother's scratch remover was used to buff the dull, sanded surface to a nice shine, and Maguire's polish was used to top it off.

I used a product on this job that I hadn't before - a rubber/plastic restorer that is meant for bumpers and grilles. I used it on the rubber emblems and the backs of the cases, and I am pleased with the results. It works similarly to Armor-All, but is less greasy.

I met Gordon for lunch to deliver the bags, and he was impressed with the finish. He had a coworker and fellow rider along with him, and he couldn't tell that the bags had been damaged and repaired. Mission accomplished!