Thanks for the kind comments!
c_bake, you can do it yourself, and get great results. I painted this in a barn-like building...it's tough to describe but it's a nice backyard barn, with windows, which help a lot! Since the color I'm using has metal flakes in it, I tried to sand the color coats as little as possible. I've read that sanding them makes the flake less obvious. I tried to get a lot of clear on the bike so I had lots of material to cut and polish smooth and shiny. I found that a bit difficult, it didn't want to sit nicely on it like it did the fork crown. I put 5 thin coats of clear on it, and wish I would have done maybe 2 more. I messed up a few places and cut through both the clear and color, but they happened in places that I had already planned on having a pin striper paint. I'm hesitant to show them off
Once it's striped I'll show ya!
If you take your time and make the frame smooth, then be patient while painting you'll end up with a finish that will look better than a powder coat finish. Don't get me wrong - I love powder coat, and have used it for other builds, but it always seems to be thin or somewhat transparent at sharp edges, and the finish isn't very shiny, even the glossy finish. I've considered clearing powder coat and cutting and polishing but haven't ever done it.
Here's my materials list:
400 grit sandpaper - to scuff the powder coat (Autobody Paint & Supply)
600 grit sandpaper - to smooth and remove previous paint attempts (Lowe's)
1000 grit sandpaper - to wet sand clear coat (O'Reilly Auto Parts)
1500 grit sandpaper - to wet sand clear coat (O'Reilly Auto Parts)
2000 grit sandpaper - to wet sand clear coat (O'Reilly Auto Parts)
3M 39002 Rubbing Compound - to remove sanding marks (Autozone)
Turtle Wax White Polishing Compound - to remove the finest swirls and sanding marks (Autozone)
Duplicolor Specks Retro Red Paint - 1 can is enough, but I bought 2 (Autozone)
Rustoleum Glossy Clear - 1 can is enough, but I bought 2 of these, too (Autozone)
Clean white cotton terry towels - I used 5 for the polishing stages (Autozone)
Rustoleum Spray Handle - this helped a bit, not sure if I'm 100% sold on it though (Lowe's)
That's all that I used, I'm sure you could go to 2500 grit wet sanding but for my project I felt 2000 was good enough.
Good Luck!