I am an automotive painter for the past 10 years. The plastic on these bikes is "PP" poly propalean. Same stuff that Honda bumpers are made out of. Some paint systems have a better plastic paint system then others. I chose Axzo Nobel. In there paint class I went to they painted a shower curtain. Months later they brought that same shower curtain to my shop and wadded it into a little ball and then pulled it apart. The paint didn't crack and never peeled. Granted after bending it back and forth hundreds of times it will start to crack kind of like a piece of bailing wire. I painted the plastic a few days after I bought the bike so that there would not be any repairs to be done on the plastic. I just had to scuff it down so the paint would stick and then spray them.
Suzuki doesn't make graphics for a black quad, so the graphics on the tank pieces is all painted on and cleared also. This bike (if no roll overs happen) should stay that shinny for about 10 or more years.
I just like pulling up to the local ridding area looking different then everyone else out there. Its kind of boring having the same bike as everyone else. Thanks for looking.. Jason

 

Whoa! That's pretty cool Duramax. The graphics look really good. How much did this cost?

MX

 

That is sweet I wish I knew more about paint and those sorts of things because I would do it myself!!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Yeah the bike looks tough without the graphics. But heck there is some on ebay that can be done in any color you want. Check them out here

 

The cost for me was nothing. The paint would have cost about 150.00 if you where to go buy it.. But since that's what I do for a living I didn't pay for the paint.
My friend also does graphics and stickers. That's where I got the Suzuki stickers and the S for the side tank covers. He made all of those for me.. Jason

 

So, what would you charge to do a set of plastics like that?

Just curious...

MX

 

Did the oem stickers come off pretty easy? I know some of them are a pain, like the one on the top left fender for me was a pain and actually had to scrape it off with a blade because each time I got a piece of it up to peel it off it just came apart like the tags on your car if you have ever tried to pull the old ones off. I purchased those aluminum covers from ebay and had the guy make an extra one for that top sticker.

 

All I have to say is HEAT GUN. I did have a little trouble with that one on the top of the left front fender. That one was a pain. Adhesive remover eats the plastic so you cant really use that either.
I painted both sides of the plastic. You would never know it was yellow just by looking at it. There are foam stickers on the back side of the tank covers that I pulled off and reused easily and there are a few other I had to re use.
A cost for all of this is almost not worth it unless you wanted a show bike or really wanted something different. Just remember you can go with any color you want. I chose black but if you look at the front fenders and the graphics there is a chrome illusion paint on those parts. It fades into the black. The Chrome Illusion turns into 6 different colors. You would have to see this bike in person to get the full effect. There are cars sometimes on Ebay that have a Chrome Illusion paint job on them so you can get the idea.
I have people drop there jaw in this town over this bike. Its nice to see people enjoying all the hours I put into this. Bottom line it would cost someone if they dropped off new fenders to me about 800 to 1000 dollars to get painted, deepening on color and graphics.
Thank you guys for all the replies and interest. Jason