(spray)paint your bike
 

So i got pinched in a fast right hander while trying out a new line right off the main straight, and got a bit bumpy with my lowers. 4 turns later i see a caution flag and pull into the pit to find my lowers MIA. Yikes. cant wait to get track plastics.

Anyways, the one lower is rashed bad and the other is split in two, so im going to paint my OEM's and slap them on. Theyre in the last pic there.

I'm just gonna sand em and use spray paint, but i figured while i've got a project might as well have some fun. Is there any way to mimic the fading from the white to black that the side fairings have? i dont want to just put a solid Black/White line down there, and i want to two tone it somehow.

anybody have ideas/suggestions?

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/2173/1000158mg.jpg
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/4347/1000159g.jpg
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5025/1000160e.jpg
http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/1613/1000161.jpg

oooops need to resize, hold on.

Gloss black only quick job

Yea but im bored. so.....

I'm getting crazy thoughts like this too.

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/6641/1000159gt.jpg

somebody stop me if i'm going to far.

I think you are going to have trouble replicating that fade with a spray can. None of them I have used give control over the spray like what you would require. You may need an airbrush to get that effect.

Custom painters do gradients with a spray gun, why wouldn't a spray can work?

Of course it will, and you don't need a fucking airbrush.

A spray can, a steady hand, and (optionally, for more control) a piece of cardboard as a hand held mask (held away from the surface so as not to make a too-sharp line) works just fine.

Get some rattle cans and practice on a piece of white art paper until you can get a nice, repeatable gradient. Paint the white first, fade in the black over top.

I have done some sharp track bodywork paint jobs with rattle can. It is just a matter of surface prep and finish. Never done a fade though.

Isn't there some trick with different absorbtion rate tape?

HPLV guns, especially good ones, allow control over the spray pattern, flow of paint, and air pressure. A rattle can doesn't offer any of that. It may be possible to match the fade on the upper fairing with a spray can but I doubt it.

Bullshit. It's at the bottom of the fairing, furthest from your eye. You'll never fucking see it if you do a halfway decent job. Most modern rattle cans actually have a decent enough spray pattern, and with a handheld mask for more control, some simple modulation of the distance between sprayer, mask, and workpiece is likely all you'll need to achieve the effect with just a little practice.

If you really want maximum quality from a rattle can there are houses that will actually mix up any fucking color you want, and pop it into a rattle can for you - some which can be had with a deluxe fan-spray nozzle for a few cents more.