I agree that buying a cheapo touch up gun or something would do well for most guys.However,some guys here (I'd bet close to 50%) don't even have a compressor with enough ass to do an adequate job.Nor would many have the first clue or desire to mix their own paint.I have a few years body shop experience,I can actually lay paint and I own a pretty nice DeVillbiss gun.I haven't sprayed paint from it in 2 years.I actually enjoy the challenge of making chicken soup from chicken shit---which is exactly why we build the cars and bikes we do.If we just signed our name to a check and sent it in with our payment book receipt....what fun would that be?Plus,it's real fun for the freakout factor.Who painted your bike?Uh,I did.I like that color.Was it expensive?About $20 for the tank and fender.Wow,how do you get such a discount?The color I want is $500 a quart!!!While a bomb cannot compete with HOK by a very talented guy who will spend the time and money required to do it right....$20 is right up the alley of most of the budget minded $3-4K bike owners on here.No one can say they saw a shitty rattle job on this forum.Most are nothing short of amazing from what I've seen.
This thread has gotten way more posts than I'd ever thought.I wonder if the "bomb" will become a new art form----a cultural phenomenon.If the SO and Easy Rider shows will hand out trophies for "best rattle jobs".I guess with DIY,no billet,no catalog parts people like us take a simple hillrod thing like a rattle can,and push it to the limits of what it will do,it may be stratospheric,yet catastrophic at the same time----just like everything related to motorheads since Discovery channel got ahold of it.
All in all,it's a cheap way to do something great with your bike.Real nice to challenge yourself and see how good you are too.I myself,really have no desire to paint for a living,but for the guys who can lay out "oh my God" paint jobs with the bomb may find a new calling.As I determined in the first 3 months of being in a body shop,it's all prep and finish.You can lay paint with a brush,as long as prep and finish are top notch....the results speak for themselves.That is exactly why this thread is here.
Jimmy D