In the first three parts of our Project Lowbucks YZ125, we concentrated on seeing what we had, cleaned up a whole lot of the parts figured out what we needed to complete the project.
Now, we’re going to take the frame that’s covered with rust and make it look good. While we’re at it, were going to paint the pipe, check out all the plastic parts and get the bike ready to accept the major pieces.
Here’s a few things you need to know before you start to shape up an older YZ. A perfect match for the yellow that comes on the plastic is Krylon Sun Yellow. It’s usually around four bucks a can, and one can is normally enough to do the entire bike. If you feel a little funny spraying plastic, don’t. You can take a fender that’s 20 years old and make it look nearly new with the Krylon Sun Yellow.
Will it wear off? Sure, where your knees rub against the gas tank. But it shouldn’t wear off on places like fenders, number plates and side panels. And you also have the option of putting clear plastic over the gas tank to prevent the paint from rubbing off when you’re riding.
As far as black paint for the frame and such, you can get away with the cheapest stuff you can find. We found decent gloss black spray paint for about a buck per can at Walmart, and it worked just fine. You don’t have to use heat resistant paint that costs up to $10 a can, unless you really want to. Remember, this is project low bucks and the idea is to get riding for minimum dollars. If you want to spend more, that’s your decision.
Luckily, we had a bunch of yellow plastic around and didn’t have to spend any money on fenders and such. If you don’t have some decent used parts, you can always go to eBay to find them. Prices vary a huge amount, so don’t hesitate to look through all of the listings. For example, we found front fenders that would fit our bike for anywhere from $8 to $30.
Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t see where a $30 Fender will protect your and your bike any better than an $8 fender. You may be tempted to take pieces of plastic that are chewed up on the end and shorten them to make them look better, but we’d recommend that you not do it. It’ll end up looking pretty bad, and you won’t save much in a process.
Before you go blasting black paint on that frame, make sure that you get all the rust off. This means sandpaper and wire brushing to the max. When you do get the rust off and you’re down to bare metal, make sure you give a light coat of primer to the metal. If you don’t give a coat of primer to that bare metal, the paint will literally fall off of the bike after a matter of time. So do it right.
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