Bought a new TGB XMotion 300i and already crashed it!  By  alex (Read 3,728 times)

Alex,

"Get a REAL bike?" Good grief... They've been watching too many "Mad Max" films... LOL! And THIS is coming from an old guy who KNOWS a real bike... Please see ancient picture below, when I was 16...


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With 24 ponies, YOUR scoot is as capable as the British 650's of my youth, and we thought those were monsters! I test-rode a new Kymco 300 fuel-injected scoot, so I understand the appeal of the extra power and quick throttle-response (AND better gas-mileage). It indeed WAS sweet! Couldn't afford it, but got a used 250 instead, and it's not bad. (The old bones are so arthritic nowadays, I have to stick with a flat-floor step-through scooter.)

I'm an "incurable" eBay customer... LOL!  So here is a vendor selling automotive vinyls.  www.ebay.com/itm/Gloss-Black-Vinyl-Film-Warp-Adhesive-Sticker-Roof-Decal-Skin-Sheet-300mmx1510mm/251181475113?rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D18058%26meid%3D2699544881628113526%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D8304%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D171059849150%26

This stuff is pretty good, and if you like the European "hooligan-scooter" look, the checkerboard versions are pretty neat!  Outlined with a red stripe, they're REALLY striking!

I'd hate to see you repaint the entire brand-new scooter...

Best wishes, and ride safe!

Leo in Texas

Ah, Eric Von Zipper and the RATZ... I always did get a hoot out of Harvey Lembeck! Memories of Frankie and Annette. Now, Annette's gone and Frankie is an old geezer like me. Hawking 1960's music on the insomnia theater channels... How time flies!

Sounds like you're a customer for some rattle-cans of "Dupli-Color"! What happened? Enquiring minds want to know...

Leo

PS: Hard to believe THAT picture was snapped more than a half-century ago! I remember that sunny Chicago day with my riding pals better than I remember last week. Getting old is, well, getting old!

Spandi,

Last summer I built a Schwinn fat-tire bicycle from scratch using vintage parts. From THAT experience, I learned a LOT about modern paint... Back in the day, I always used Dupli-Color lacquer. I still like it but it now comes only in smaller cans, for twice the price. That noted, I tried enamel... Both Rustoleum AND Krylon.

I used Rustoleum sanding/filling gray primer which DID a good job of filling minor sanding marks. It IS lacquer, and dries fast, allowing sanding and re-priming the same day. (You can paint ENAMEL over LACQUER but NOT the reverse. Lacquer melts enamel).

I did the final paint in yellow and black, separated with a red vinyl pinstripe. I first used Rustoleum yellow. It took 4-EVER to dry... I ran short, and re-covered with Krylon "fast-drying" yellow. It covered and went on better, with less tendency to run than the Rustoleum. Guaranteed to dry "in 15 minutes"... It took a full week to dry enough to use masking tape on it without pulling loose... LOL!

But... it DID look good. I masked and did the black using Krylon black enamel. After 2 days, it was dry enough to carefully outline with the red vinyl pinstripe. I also applied my own home-made waterslide decals. I let it set a day to harden to the touch, and began clear-coating.

I first used Rustoleum clear on the fender. Again, it just would NOT dry. So I went with Krylon clear on the frame and fork. I put on at least 10 coats over a week, which actually dried looking like glass! It sealed the vinyl pinstripes, and decals, and FINALLY dried enough to handle and assemble.

Both the Rustoleum AND Krylon clear gave a fabulous finish, but they both took over a month before FULLY curing. For weeks, the finish seemed "dry" but if you leaned anything against it, it would sink into the paint. A hard squeeze would also leave fingerprints.

Probably nothing beats color-lacquer, finished in clear-lacquer, then rubbed out and polished... UNLESS clear-coated in enamel. BUT both the Rustoleum AND Krylon enamel, clear-coated with either brand gives a glassy, factory-looking end result, so long as you remember it stays "soft" for WEEKS after it "dries to the touch". That means it will "twist" and "peel" if you tighten nuts and bolts into the soft paint.

Automotive lacquer has the advantage of drying in minutes, and allowing clear-coating the same day. However, the disadvantages are that it dries dull and frosty, requiring wet-sanding and polishing UNLESS clear-coated with enamel. AND it's DOGGONE EXPENSIVE!

The enamel has the advantage of fairly easy application, glassy-smooth clear with no rubbing out, and low cost for BIG cans. The disadvantage however, is PAINFULLY-SLOW DRYING... With at least a month in the sun needed to fully cure. After it is FULLY cured, runs and dust can be wet-sanded out if needed. (I try VERY hard to NOT acquire those nasties, since the clear dries SO beautiful!)

Doing something as big as a scooter, personally I think I'd always go with lacquer filler/primer to prepare because it allows a smooth, sanded undercoat in one day. Then, I'd go with the Krylon enamel for color (or lacquer, if a metallic car color is desired). Then, apply any stickers, decals, stripes, etc. and finally, I'd clear-coat with Krylon. It worked better for me than Rustoleum, with fewer runs, and dried BRILLIANTLY glossy. I absolutely HATE wet-sanding and rubbing out... LOL! Both brands dry beautifully, but the Krylon dried much faster, at least to the touch.

I wanted a multi-color fine metalflake in the black, so I used WalMart's finest glitter from their craft department. There is the coarse "kid's crafts" goofy stuff, and a super-fine, very professional glitter in all colors. I mixed all the colors together of the super-fine, and dusted the mix onto the black enamel while still tacky. I put the glitter on a creased paper and blew it at the paint from a foot or so away, and, pinched it in my fingers and "sprinkled" it into the air over the paint to fill areas lacking glitter. So long as it hits the paint in a free-fall manner, from a foot or more away, it goes on SWEET! Three coats of clear smoothed the finish perfectly. The metalflake is SO subtle, but is a knockout in the sun!

Sorry to make this so long, but since I just finished such a project, I figured my experience might help. I have not used the Rustoleum ENGINE clear. You may be onto something there. But, both the Rustoleum AND Krylon clear gave me FABULOUS finishes. They just require the patience of Methuselah.

Side note: Krylon clear enamel also comes in a "Super-Thick" version. I used a couple of cans of this with good results too. It's not as thick as they'd like you to think, but it does offer much faster buildup than the standard clear.

Hope this may help!

Sincerely,

Leo

I do understand the unintentional wrinkle-finish!

I do a lot of models requiring a nitro-fuel-proof finish. I don't like messing with 2-part sprayed epoxy, and usually use Top-Flite "Lusre-Kote" gloss-clear over "whatever". The Lustre-Kote also gives a fabulous gloss finish, and is pretty much fuel-resistant (to NITRO, NOT gasoline or Diesel). The trick with it is that it's neither a lacquer OR enamel. And it will go over MOST finishes OK. But not ALL finishes. Once in a while, it will attack and craze enamel, or lacquer. You have to test it on the paint you want to use.

I'd like to know what the professional stuff is that's used by the bike and car-builders on TV! They don't talk much about it. They spray it on and it's completely dry in seconds. They mask and re-mask for color after color as fast as they can mask and spray. Then the shoot it with clear, and assemble the vehicle ten minutes out of the shop.

I've talked with some body guys who know the technical name for the stuff and do not recommend it for the average Joe. Supposedly it's so toxic that you need to wear a breathing device and wear a suit like you would in nerve-gas warfare. AND, the paint costs hundreds of dollars per quart. No wonder some of these custom car paint jobs cost $50K!

I think I'll stick with rattle-cans from the store...

Stay safe, and keep the fingers out of the clear-coat!

Leo

I do understand the unintentional wrinkle-finish!

I do a lot of models requiring a nitro-fuel-proof finish. I don't like messing with 2-part sprayed epoxy, and usually use Top-Flite "Lusre-Kote" gloss-clear over "whatever". The Lustre-Kote also gives a fabulous gloss finish, and is pretty much fuel-resistant (to NITRO, NOT gasoline or Diesel). The trick with it is that it's neither a lacquer OR enamel. And it will go over MOST finishes OK. But not ALL finishes. Once in a while, it will attack and craze enamel, or lacquer. You have to test it on the paint you want to use.

I'd like to know what the professional stuff is that's used by the bike and car-builders on TV! They don't talk much about it. They spray it on and it's completely dry in seconds. They mask and re-mask for color after color as fast as they can mask and spray. Then the shoot it with clear, and assemble the vehicle ten minutes out of the shop.

I've talked with some body guys who know the technical name for the stuff and do not recommend it for the average Joe. Supposedly it's so toxic that you need to wear a breathing device and wear a suit like you would in nerve-gas warfare. AND, the paint costs hundreds of dollars per quart. No wonder some of these custom car paint jobs cost $50K!

I think I'll stick with rattle-cans from the store...

Stay safe, and keep the fingers out of the clear-coat!

Leo

Leo, I bought (ordered from ebay) some back vinyl, in a "carbon fibre" pattern. I think it will look great! Just got to fix that crack in the fairing, and when the vinyl arrives...

I think it could actually look better than the original paint!

The trick to drying is in the reducer and yes a reducer that drys quickly yet still gives a deep finish without a lot of buffing can be quite toxic and costly.

I still have all my guns from 30 years ago and they are all out dated High Volume High Pressure paint guns but they did do a lot of work in either laquer or straight enamel.

The worst was for a friend who insisted on saving money using some off brand Rustoleum like primer and did not want to spend the money on a surfacer to prevent a reaction between whatever that primer was and the factory enamel from Ditzler. The Premium Ditzler with a high gloss medium speed reducer went on like glass and looked great however it reacted with the primer just as it finished flashing off and curdled into a nice "Crows Feet" pattern. We went from a Car Show paint job on a restored vintage F250 to a Junk Yard paint job in a bink of an eye. The hood was of course where it happened and since he skimped he did not have enough paint to do the hood over and just left it.

I could hear Von Zepper saying "Youse Stupids!"