Search skills not helping me much with this one, I would of thought it was simple but not for me.  I have started painting the front end, forks center of the discs, some blots etc and the black I am using is not so black, it is what I have used in the past to freshen other things up but it is obviously not a match. I am enjoying this project and taking more care I guess.  I am using Bobcat black, got it to freshen up the skidsteer and have not gotten around to it yet. It is not an old paint new paint thing but a different shade. 
   Was wondering what people are using, I want to paint the valve covers, mirrors and wheels as well this spring and want a decent match. Have painted the center of the discs with a glossy Tremcald engine black for the heat, looks to shiny perhaps.
   Ford Fire Red looks good for the tiny  touch ups against the Mystic Red of the bike though if I painted a side cover or any single piece it would be brighter, but I worry about the black and silver of the wheels.

Did the forks and the rear of the front fender semi-glow black.
Made the wheels silver again, calipers and center of rotors red (heatresist).
The radiatorscreen went silver too, looks better than original black.

I had a problem taping the new rotors, decided to just paint then, let the old pads get the edges off, when the paint is removed from the disk, will install the new pads.

I asked this same question a few months ago. I ended up painting the engine covers with aluminium (aloominnum) primer, them Smoothrite satin black. I 'cured' them in the oven at 120'c for forty minutes or so. This was a wild guess, but it's surprised me how good and tough the finish is - not at all like my previous experience with rattle cans.

'Black' as a colour can not exist at all. Black is a complete absence of colour. Right, having finished sounding like your most-hated-ever teacher , the reason that the black you are using is a different shade is because all black paints are a combination of extremely dark red, blue and green. When I lived in London and had to squeeze into the aluminium toothpaste tube every day, I used to amuse myself by seeing how many shades of black I could see on the London Underground posters.

This is a really long way round of saying that if you want your blacks to be all the same shade, you need to buy the same manufacturer and even, if possible, the same batch.

Well, the black we know is still a color.
Only the absolute black is no color anymore, even can't be seen with the eye.

I only saw 50 shades of grey, 50% on my head, and 50% in my head

Now I've got that sodding 'Belle Epoque' song playing in my head.

Black is black...
Grey is grey...

Really, is there any need for this on a technical forum!

BLACK DIAMONDS found in BARNSLEY BED,is the only true black in the known galaxy  It has taken 240,000000
years to perfect the right shade (ONLY one thing done fast in yorkshire too rude to mention)
pay attention,  Now for the Coex de graf.If your color blind HOW do you know  ITS BLACK

You are correct, Ford fire red is the match for Mystic Red, but not the version that Duplicolor sells.  To get the right match you need to take a battery cover to a real auto paint shop and have them tune the match.

Once you have the base color matched, a cheap Badger model 250 airbrush will do a nice job of blending in.  Follow up with a good rattle can clear coat rubbed out with compound.

For black, I have used Rustoleum or Krylon Satin Black with good results.

Point-Seven-five wrote:You are correct, Ford fire red is the match for Mystic Red, but not the version that Duplicolor sells.  To get the right match you need to take a battery cover to a real auto paint shop and have them tune the match.

Once you have the base color matched, a cheap Badger model 250 airbrush will do a nice job of blending in.  Follow up with a good rattle can clear coat rubbed out with compound.

For black, I have used Rustoleum or Krylon Satin Black with good results.

   Saving the full paintjob for next winter, 'satin' sounds like the right luster (if that's the right word) and I should be able to find both of those and stick to one.
   The silver for the wheels has a large range of shades but if I get close that will work with no old silver to contrast with the new.

What popped into my head when music came up.

For black, I have used Rustoleum or Krylon Satin Black with good results.

I use the Rustoleum, its fantastic in Satin Black and as close to BMW original as you get.

When doing the wheels, I would suggest checking Duplicolor wheel paint and their matte finish clear.  I have used some Rustoleum paints without clear, and found(the hard way) that brake cleaner can be tough on them.

Point-Seven-five wrote:When doing the wheels, I would suggest checking Duplicolor wheel paint and their matte finish clear.  I have used some Rustoleum paints without clear, and found(the hard way) that brake cleaner can be tough on them.

   Yes Black Satin looks to be it, only found Tremclad locally here so went with that.


   A work in progress, wondering if painting the calipers with the same paint will be a problem due to heat.   Found out how pitted the frame is when I got her home  , next year country.

   Got around to painting the front wheel.



   Used Duplicolor silver Wheel Paint,  had a can of Rustoleum Metalic Aluminum that was a good match colorwise and the caps of of both cans matched (it's a science) under the Canadian Tire fluorescents with my old eyes.  Now that it is on the wheel I am thinking it is to silver/shiny.  Will a matte clearcoat tone this down?  
  The wheel paint does seem strong, maybe that means brittle and it will chip, we will see, it took two tries to get it right so it must be really strong, if I have to paint it again the unsprung weight is going to be a problem .

I would recommend putting clear on any new paint.  Matte is what I used.  It was hard to find, so I got it from Amazon.  Worth the hassle because uncleared paint suffers greatly from exposure to brake cleaner and numerous petroleum products.  I like to use lots of it to build up a nice thick film.

The best paint I’ve found for fork stanchions and brake calipers is Gun-kote or Brownhills gun paint. Depending on spray pressure and amount applied changes the shade but it is incredibly durable. I painted these nearly 2 years ago and they still look the same now.