THX! to both of you guys for offering your thoughts and experience. You've been very helpful.
As with most "new" things there's always plenty of fog when trying to figure out the nuts and bolts of how to do something and separate that info from the hundred of other bits of info surrounding the topic. Thanks to you guys and lots more research, the fog is beginning to clear.
Doug..can't think of a better way to end a work-day-week than sitting around a campfire. I started out my "learning how to paint a bike with auto-grade paints quest" at the HOK website. Beautiful paints. I have just two bikes to paint and didn't want to invest in all the traditional refinish spray equipment(and learning how to use it) for essentially a one-off task. That landed me in the rattle can solution. HOK can be loaded into rattle cans, but despite extensive searching...there's just next to zero info on the web of someone going the rattle can route. Without a reasonable understanding of how t go about it..decided not to go that route. (remember..I'm starting with minimal understanding of pro-painting techniques and equipment) I was tending to go down the path of primer, basecoat, clearcoat, decals, more clearcoat when you posted your thoughts. Given the time restrictions suggested by, in this case the PPG Shopline JB basecoat tech data sheet, and my reluctance to apply decals to fresh paint, it seemed the basecoat-clear-decal-clear route would give some time to let things set up and allow more time to apply the decals. The down side is a little more work and the expense of another can of clear ($23). Nice looking ride that you posted. 35+ years of doing this..yikes..the body of knowledge that's in your head..yikes.
3alarmer..lots of info..as I continue to do research, and after talking to a guy that does auto-refinishing at a local body shop, I'm realizing the degree that auto paints differ from hardware store rattle can enamels is SO HUGE that it's hard to call both of them "paint". I found a tech sheet for the JB basecoats and they say the tape time is 45 minutes...not the 5-6 hours I was initially told. Hard to imagine. Auto paints seem to set up very fast..really fast. I'm sure the speed that all the refinish steps can be done is a product design & selling point used by the various paint suppliers. That said, I looked into the "clear needs to go on in (for PPG JB basecoats) 24hrs" thing. From a number of forums, with guys that do refinishing and/or custom painting for a living, the "clear needs to go on in X hrs" is an understandably conservative guideline from paint suppliers. Their interest is in insuring the most success possible to limit customer service issues. Apparently, in the not so distant past it was understood that the wait time to apply a clear over basecoat was "indefinite as long as the vehicle wasn't removed from the booth". What the paint suppliers have concerns about is a car getting sprayed with basecoat, being removed from the spray booth and sitting outside or in the shop, the basecoat get contaminated or UV works on it........etc... and then gets cleared, adhesion problems arise..and they have to deal with the customer service issues that come next, regardless whether they are at fault or not. I was in a related profession and can appreciate the suppliers stance.
I plan to apply the decals via a process you've described. Mine are dry-applied vinyl (Wantit out of the UK)..no second chances or repositioning. I do have SprayMax Clear Glamour clear coat.
Orange Follis..very nice looking frame.
Still deciding which route I'll take. Doug's path is a little more work and cost, but it's minimal in the overall scheme of things. I have $150 in primer, paints(2 colors), and clear. Another $50 in PPE and various supplies. Exceeding the 24hr thing offers a relaxed pace, lower cost & effort, and minimal risk I think.
In the end..take a deep breath..it's only some paint and a bike. It'll surely look MUCH better than what I started with, and I'll learn something.