Painted / Tinted Windscreen
Reader DeerCelica sent me in a link to his latest Mod on his Ninja 250R. He broke out the ol’ rattle can and threw on a few quick coats of Krylon on his windscreen — and it came out really nice.
His Instructions are:
4 allen head bolts and the windscreen slides right out, the bolts on the bottom facing up don’t go to the windscreen, they go to the mirrors. Takes a whole 60 seconds to remove the screen. After that, lay some tape over the front to stop overspray onto the front of the screen. I used Krylon Satin Black (satin / flat spray paint lays allllot smoother than gloss). Gave it two light coats and re-installed (mist it on slowly).
Simple enough huh…
Also, if you don’t want to use a full black spay.. Also an old trick is to use model ‘tint’ spray. This Testors paint is available at any hobby store — and does a great job. (Not to mention it comes in ‘candy’ colors like blue, green, red, etc.)
Thanks for the tip DeerCelica!
UPDATE: DeerCelica posted some more how-to details in the comments… Here they are to help those out who are planning on trying this.. Thanks man!
REMINDER: You’re spraying this on the BACK of the windscreen, BACK = side facing the speedo/tach. Also, I didn’t sand mine, and I recommend that you don’t.
Personally I believe satin/flat paint lays way better than any gloss/enamel rattle can, its alot lighter and runs less.
I used ‘Krylon - Black - Satin finish - Indoor/Outdoor’. It worked wonderful. Wal-mart carries this paint.
Just start from 1-2 feet away and mist it on, it will look speckled at 1st, but just keep spraying in verticle sweeps, and it with cover it nicely, ATTN: be sure you have a clean surface.. sometimes paint will look like it has blemishes, the cause is the surface had a bug or hair. Be sure to clean it, Windex should work fine
When painting if you get too close and you’ll know by ‘heavy’ spots and runs. Just keep coating it untill its covered, no need to get it perfect, you won’t even see the texture once the screen is re-installed (its all dark in there). Then wait 15-20 minutes and look it over (without touching the tacky paint) and decide if you need to give it another coat. Do not wait more than 45-60 minutes for the second coat as the paint will dry and the next coat won’t adhere correctly.
Hope this helps.
Jasen Said,
July 10, 2008 @ 10:23 am
Looks really good on the black! Might do this tonight/tomorrow. Bike is coming apart anyway to install the Full Yoshi, Carb Sync, Jet etc…would i find something like this at like home depot?! No real”hobby” stores around here…Also do you spray the inside or outside? I’m assuming inside?
[Reply]
Mr. 2Fiddy Said,
July 10, 2008 @ 10:27 am
You can try auto part stores for ‘taillight tint’ — Should do the same thing…
And I would do the inside for sure… I have hit some narly bugs that would take off anything on the outside…
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matthew Said,
July 10, 2008 @ 11:44 am
do you have to sand it down alittle to paint it? and where do you put the tape for the overspray?
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matthew Said,
July 10, 2008 @ 11:45 am
do you have to sand it down alittle before you paint it? and where do you put the tape for the over spray?
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deercelica Said,
July 10, 2008 @ 1:30 pm
Don’t sand it, if lay it on lightly over several coats, it will work fine!
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matthew Said,
July 10, 2008 @ 1:49 pm
what king of paint should i use?
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Kenny Said,
July 10, 2008 @ 2:46 pm
that actually looks REALLY good… I’m starting to think I should just black out most of my bike
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deercelica Said,
July 10, 2008 @ 7:10 pm
REMINDER: You’re spraying this on the BACK of the windscreen, BACK = side facing the speedo/tach. Also, I didn’t sand mine, and I recommend that you don’t.
Personally I believe satin/flat paint lays way better than any gloss/enamel rattle can, its alot lighter and runs less.
I used ‘Krylon - Black - Satin finish - Indoor/Outdoor’. It worked wonderful. Wal-mart carries this paint.
Just start from 1-2 feet away and mist it on, it will look speckled at 1st, but just keep spraying in verticle sweeps, and it with cover it nicely, ATTN: be sure you have a clean surface.. sometimes paint will look like it has blemishes, the cause is the surface had a bug or hair. Be sure to clean it, Windex should work fine
When painting if you get too close and you’ll know by ‘heavy’ spots and runs. Just keep coating it untill its covered, no need to get it perfect, you won’t even see the texture once the screen is re-installed (its all dark in there). Then wait 15-20 minutes and look it over (without touching the tacky paint) and decide if you need to give it another coat. Do not wait more than 45-60 minutes for the second coat as the paint will dry and the next coat won’t adhere correctly.
Hope this helps.
[Reply]
Hokie Ninja Said,
July 11, 2008 @ 9:37 am
Hey, the windscreen looks great. I wish my girlfriend and I could start trying things like this on her 250R, but wait, we don’t have it yet, we’ve been waiting for over 2 MONTHS for it to come in. Come on people, summer weather is a wastin’.
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Jasen Said,
July 11, 2008 @ 10:14 am
Thanks deercelica..gonna give this a try tonight!
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keeganttu Said,
July 11, 2008 @ 4:51 pm
I know it’s off topic, but has anyone painted the chain guard? If so, pics?
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Jasen Said,
July 15, 2008 @ 10:56 am
Just wanted to say i did this over the weekend and it went great!
Thought i might try and find a green…but couldn’t find anything that tickled my fancy.
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Tommy Said,
July 16, 2008 @ 1:15 pm
Nice Mod - if you like this one you might also be interested in a group by for Lamin-x headlight film on KawiForums - $13.95 pre-cut.
http://www.kawiforums.com/showthread.php?t=115358
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Jasen Said,
July 16, 2008 @ 2:15 pm
Yup! I’m on the list for +1 Smoke…just gotta give them a call sometime soon. It’s a sweet deal and i think it will look great on the bike!
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Fred Said,
July 17, 2008 @ 4:22 pm
That’s a great mod! Has anyone tried using the Testor’s paint though? I’d kind of like to hear how well it worked out. I’ve got a red bike that’s why…
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Mr. 2Fiddy Reply:
July 17th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
I’m probably going to use the Testors Tint this weekend when I get back into town. So I’ll post up the results after..
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Outinthedark Said,
July 17, 2008 @ 5:36 pm
Has anyone done this with another color other than black?
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Bthornhill Said,
July 18, 2008 @ 12:02 am
I painted my windshield with satin black Krylon just to try it and the first two light coats went on just fine. I let it dry over night where again I went to spray it the next day after work. Everything after that went to hell in a hand basket. I got all kinds of spider webbing and crinkles where it basically turned to crap in front of my eyes. I stopped everything at that point and let the mess dry where I then proceeded to sand it with 1000 + grit sand paper to try and clean it up. After that I then proceeded to repaint it where it went all crazy again and even worse then the first time. O’well, I was kind of planning on buying a GP Windscreen (Dual Radius) - Smoke from HotBodies so I guess that’s what I’ll have to end up doing. My ridding friend thinks my monster looking windscreen looks kind of cool as it appears to have a funky reptile texture to it when you look at it from the outside. Others be careful as I thought I had the surface clean as my first two coats went on beautiful. Man I was on my way. I actually have all kinds of painting experience where I cannot figure out what went wrong. I’ve painted helmets, RC car and boats, cell phones, camera bodies and laptops to name just a few and all I have to say is Dame it…..
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Fred Said,
July 18, 2008 @ 11:44 pm
I tried painting my red bike’s windshield with Testors transparent candy apple red. It came out ok but there was just so many fine bubbles when I sprayed it. In the end it was alright but if you want it to really be a tint, try and get it in one or two passes/coats. I did 3-4 coats and it’s pretty close to being opaque.
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keeganttu Said,
July 19, 2008 @ 5:02 pm
got any pics fred? i’d like to see it
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Jaxidian Said,
July 19, 2008 @ 9:31 pm
I’m curious about the candy color tints - how would something like blue look on the under-side of a light smoke windshield? I have a double bubble coming in the mail for my 2007 250 and I think it would be totally badass if it had a slight blue tint to it! I didn’t want a heavy blue tint which is what ZG offered out the door but a slight blue tint would be rocking!
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Bill Said,
July 20, 2008 @ 12:25 am
Im considering this but would like to see it on a blue bike if any one has a pic.
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fiapop Said,
July 20, 2008 @ 6:46 pm
I dont understand this part “after that, lay some tape over the front to stop overspray onto the front of the screen” … lay tape over what exactly? do u mean like cover the entire front with newspaper or something and tape the edges?
thanks!
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Jon-Mark Said,
July 20, 2008 @ 8:02 pm
This sounds like a great idea but I’d like to see some pics of from anybody who has done it on any bike other than black, I’ve got a red 08 250 and cant decide if I want black or red on the windscreen
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JA50ND Said,
July 29, 2008 @ 11:33 pm
Before[IMG]http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL1154/4406842/9319230/327883581.jpg[/IMG]
After[IMG]http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL1154/4406842/9319230/327883583.jpg[/IMG]
THANKS FOR THE GREAT MOD!
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JA50ND Said,
July 29, 2008 @ 11:37 pm
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JA50ND Said,
July 29, 2008 @ 11:40 pm
THANKS FOR THE GREAT MOD!
Before Picture
After Picture
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Newbie250R Reply:
August 4th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
I have been looking at doing my Blue 08 with the above instructions. JA50ND, did you do the flat black or tint?
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Stephane Said,
August 5, 2008 @ 1:00 pm
Very nice job. I would love to do this to my 250r. Saves money and looks great. One thing is,can you see threw it like a tinted window?
As well does anyone know when the 2009 250r are coming out?
I’m still waiting for mine.
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Aaron Said,
October 4, 2008 @ 12:47 am
I just Painted mine after reading all of these and they came out really nice
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Aaron Said,
October 4, 2008 @ 12:50 am
I just painted my red ninja 250’s wind screen with a semi-gloss black and it came out really good.after i read these i just had to do it for my self and the results are way good.
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Roki_799 Said,
May 19, 2010 @ 7:00 pm
Looks Really Good I did mine way back when I first got my 250 but took off the sticker and did the front side and back with a VHT smoke. It looks alright. I got some of the gloss from the VHT but not as much as you have it still looks good i think matches more with the black plastic.
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