Fresh Powder

I had the frame powder coated about a month ago. I got some recommendations from club members about where to go and paid a visit to a couple of the shops. I selected Powder Coating Specialties of Golden for the job. They do a lot of motorcycle frames and obviously knew what they were doing. So I drove the parts down, selected High Gloss Black for the color, and one week later the job was done. Total cost for all the parts shown was $265, including the prep work. Can't beat that!

The parts look great and clean up was minimal, mainly some light dremel work on bolt holes and such. They did an excellent job of masking things like the steering head bore. I really didn't have to do much to get the parts ready, just a basic cleaning.

There is a some controversy in the community over powder coating vs repainting. Some people don't like powder coating because that's not how the factory did it in 1972. Others have various criticisms of powder - they say it's hard to touch up, it may peel away from motor mounts, over time it may dull, etc.

The criticisms don't seem convincing to me though, and I don't feel a need to keep the bike one hundred percent original like the "resto nazis" do. I think sensible improvements are a good thing. And the previous paint job certainly didn't hold up very well. So I think this is the way to go.