Yamaha TX750 Restoration: Painting it all pretty.

I was doing pretty well the last few weeks getting twice a weekly updates posted to the blog. Then work happened. A new class started and being the course director and an instructor I've been hopping around getting 41 new officers settled in and trained. Only 13 more weeks to go before they move on and I change gears for the next class.

I did manage to sneak in some work on the TX750 brake system though. Here is a quick update on what I accomplished. 

I found some caliper paint finally and put three coats on the prepped left side caliper. The paint went on well and dried to the touch quickly. This is what it looked like after drying overnight. Comparing it to the existing right side caliper the color is a good match.

The last step after layering on three coats of paint and letting it dry was to bake it at 200°F for an hour. I just so happened to have an old toaster oven in the shop to use for just this type of thing. The caliper barely fit so I cranked it up and set it to cook. After thirty minutes I took it out to give a quick check. My infrared thermometer showed the caliper was getting up to 180°F and I was quite pleased until I saw the back of the caliper. The rack in this pic above dug into the soft paint and marred the finish. It is in an area that won't be seen unless you are really looking for it so I wasn't too perturbed. 

And this terribly fuzzy shot is what it looked like mounted up. I really do think it looks right. There are a few other defect areas thanks the how I placed it in the toaster oven. In the end it works being not perfect. The rest of the bike isn't perfect so why should the left caliper be?

While the caliper was toasting, I prepped the wheel and disc for painting the inner webbing. The tire and disc surface were quick and easy to prep. I had to think on how to do the inner webbing without spending hours taping and cutting.

My wonderful wife came up with this idea. This is Glad Press'n Seal. Its heavy duty food wrap and has a slightly tacky inner surface and a non-stick outer surface. I pulled a large piece off the roll and with the help of the wife snugged it down on the parts of the disc I didn't want painted. A little trimming with a very dull knife later and it was masked. A 20 minute job start to finish. Not bad. Thanks babe!

Three coats on the disc as well. No baking for this guy. My wife's wonderfulness doesn't extend to allowing me to put a rubber tire and wheel combo in her oven. After letting the paint go off for about 15 minutes I peeled away all the masking. For the bolts and the center hub I just smeared some grease on the areas I didn't want painted and wiped it away.

And here you go! Another fuzzy picture of an acceptably imperfect disc paint job that does the trick for this 10' restoration. Ten feet being the optimal distance to not notice that the bike isn't perfect. I do have a bit of touching up to do, but I'm happy. I only spent an hour a day for a few days to put this all together so really I got what I was deserving. As above it will work and look decent. I can't wait to try the new brake system out.

The only thing left will be to do the final mounting and then finish the hose plumbing. Stop by again soon for the final update.

Blue