Paint job pricing

[Dak44312]

Can a few of you give me a rough range of what to expect to pay for solid color on my Interstate, minus the trunk? I'll be carrying in all of the tins. Most of the paint is original. The tank has a shallow dent which shouldn't give him too much trouble. There is also a 2" hairline crack at the base of the fairing. I'm also asking to knock down the texture and paint the inner pod pieces and speaker panels. So far, I've been quoted 12-1500. Does that seem about right?

[old2soon]

For a little more perspective go to your auto supply house and price out a quart of the paint you want to have applied. After ALL the materials you are paying for shop time and most important-the painters EXPERTISE. And the body mans EXPERTISE. Does your chosen paint shop have GOOD reviews and will they stand behind their work-warrantee guarantee? Ask to see a finished job and maybe talk to some previous customers. And if it were me-very persnickety and nit picky. Course back in the day I used to paint. I have been not shocked but Amazed at pricing on todays body and paint work. As to your original question-remembering what others have said they paid sounds like a ballpark figure I M H O. Good luck with your project.  RIDE SAFE

[Bighead]

$12/1500 iz not out of line. Cost me $1500 for my IS but it was two tone. And as Dennis stated you are paying for the painters expertise or ateast should be. Look at some work he has done before comitting to a painter.

[Tailgate Tommy]

I had a quote, by a really high end hot rod shop, to just paint the disassembled saddle bags black for $1600. Got them painted finally for $800, which is still a lot. But they are flawless.

[Jess from VA]

I have used a very good local bump shop for bike paint with good prices and great paintwork. 

I'd never go to a bike painter.

[h13man]

One color, 2 fenders, tank, $750 at my local body shop. That was a quote 4 yrs. ago. This is labor cost only.

[Attic Rat]

I have had several interstates painted in fact I have two in the body shop right now being painted one color  (Black). Big head is correct for a good painter it will run between 1200.00  to 1500.00

[BF]

I took my tins to a professional custom car and bike painter that does outstanding custom paint and graphics work that is well known in this area.

No body work or dent/scratch repair was needed on any of my tins.

I took my tins to him...did not supply him any paint.

Got one color (black) with two coats of clear.  Told him I just wanted it black and shinny.

The outer shell of my Woodys fairing was $250.00 (didn't need the inner painted.)

Front fender was $150.00.

The rear section of my rear fender was $100.00 (didn't need the front section of the rear fender painted as it was a NOS piece.)

Either I got really lucky or some of you guys are getting ripped off.

Later on I had a raspberry repaired and a repaint on the outer shell of my Woody's fairing (which is fiberglass btw).... $200.00....same painter.

[Bighead]

You got a decent deal, cost me $500 to paint my  Woody's fairing inside and outer but two color and I supplied the paint. The painter does custom paint on very high end Hot Rods. And has a cover on Hot Rod magazine.
Think about an Interstate.
1 fairing
2 tank
3 both fenders
4 two radiator pods
5 trunk
6 all three. Side panels.
7 both saddle bags
That is 18 pieces in total. I think that the $1500 I paid was more than fair and he supplied the paint.

[Dak44312]

Thanks everyone. I found a painter and checked out some of his other work that includes cars and bikes, including a couple high end HD jobs that involved airbrush/marbling/Von Dutch wannabe/other typical cheesy Harley techniques.

We agreed that he would lay a single color black base with 3 coats of clear for $1200. This includes fixing the shallow tank dents and repairing the split in the fairing. He will also smooth and paint the speaker panels, instrument surround panel, and pod inners. I've permanently removed the trunk (already have another full I/S), so that's not included. Most everything is in OE paint and has not had any prior work.

I dropped off everything on Friday. It's gonna be a few weeks, as he has others in front of me. Overall, I feel like it's pretty fair for what I've asked. After seeing the responses here, it kinda confirms that I'm in the ballpark- good enough for me.

[davit]

Holy crud, I see a thousand plus reasons to put up with a few imperfections in my bike's paint. 

[rugguy]

I decided to paint my own two years ago. The level of hand work and detail prep you have to do before you can even shoot paint is incredible. You don't realize how many parts there are on an I/S and how many irregular surfaces that have to be dealt with. Painting a car takes a lot less detail and you don't have to take it apart to do it. $700 for one color with clear and no body work is a decent price. Add extra for body work, any custom work or paint and you can get to $1500 in a hurry. Finally, the proper buffing and finishing of a paint job by a pro can make or break a paint job. And regardless of who you go with, take your tins (plastic) off yourself and deliver it to the shop. There is a lot of work involved with pulling the plastic and you want to do that work to save the cost of a lot of shop hours.

[hubcapsc]

Holy crud, I see a thousand plus reasons to put up with a few imperfections in my bike's paint. 

Yeah man. I used to have one of those cool Valkyrie specific
Hoppe fairings... getting it painted was the pits... the guy
who did it did a poor job (not in a looks way, but in a technical way)
and would have redone it... all I would have had to do was
keep on dealing with hassle... I just lived with it...



-Mike