My next step was to pick out a color and paint the lugs and bottom bracket. When I picked up the frame from the powder coater I found a color that matched my KTM Adventure 990s metallic orange to a T, and it gave me the idea to maybe do my lugs and bottom bracket with in a nice navel orange-orange.

I found a good auto paint supply and purchased some single stage paint and a bit of 400 grit sand paper to scuff the powder so it would take paint.

That afternoon, I was stumped with how to properly mask the lugs. I used blue painters tape and tried to make it conform to the shapes of the lugs then went off to paint. I had to paint it right away as the paint had it's hardener added at the supply shop.

I'm usually a very patient person, but sometimes I get impatient when I'm painting. This time was a good example of that, and the results prove it! Unfortunately (for you) I don't have any pics of how this worked. But it's safe to say it didn't work well at all. The color was off, due to the yellow base and I had some lumps and runs and poorly masked edges.

I decided that I needed a pro's help to get it right, so I googled pin stripers and sign painters in Burbank to see if I could get lucky and find someone close by. I got lucky (so I thought) and there was a sign painter less than 5 minutes away. I threw the frame over my shoulder and rode over to talk to them about fixing what I'd done. The guy said that it was no problem, quoted me a reasonable price and said he'd have it done by the weekend - it was Monday.

I got a call from the sign painter on Thursday letting me know that he was gonna try to get me done that day and that I'd be able to pick it up on Friday or Monday at the latest. I didn't hear from him again until I stopped by his shop the following Wednesday. When I got there I got some song and dance about the boogered paint not being cured and he wasn't able to do anything to it. He also recommended that I take it back to the powder coater and have them strip it and recoat it!!!!

At this point I was pretty down about the process - I'd started acquiring parts and I'd gone way, way, way over my initial budget so I didn't want to pay another $150 to repowder the frame. I put it away for a week or so and tried to figure out how to move forward.