I have stray painted a number of bikes with rattle cans and lately with a much nicer setup with a compressor and a good gun. My 2 cents based on this experience is to get a respirator to keep your lungs safe. Acetone to clean up. Tack rags to get the dust.

I have used rattle can paint with good result. Start with a primer. Sand it smooth. You can make lots of mistakes here and then sand out any problems. The automotive touch up paints like Dupli Color have nice paint and good nozzles that spray in a flat pattern like a good automotive spray gun. Then go apply any decals, artwork or pinstriping. Then use a clear coat.

I did not start out as a big fan of clearcoats, but now that I have used them, I love them. For starting out, with out going out and buying a compressor, spray gun, filters and dryers, I would get Eastwood's two component clearcoat. I haven't tried it, however, I have heard that it is good.

I have used single component clearcoat, and it is Ok at best. It is not a tough finish. I use a 2 component clearcoat with my spray set up and can say that it is tough as any paint I have ever encountered. It is so tough, that my advice is to avoid runs in the clearcoat. You can sand them out, but it will take more work than with other paints. I expect that the Eastwood 2K clearcoat should be as tough and good as what you can get with a good automotive clearcoat.