Another downside to PC: once it's done, it's hard to remove. If you ever decide on a do-over, it's a b**ch to remove. I'm facing that dilemma right now, and am trying to decide whether it's worth the cost and effort to strip and redo with liquid. From now on, most of my nicer restorations will be done exclusively with liquid paint.

Make sure you have the time and inclination before you DIY; there is no such thing as a free lunch. I'm really happy with my DIY and it only cost about $50 or $60US total... and about 20 hours of labor.

I enjoyed the labor, so for me that's better than free. But, if all you care about is having a painted bike, and won't enjoy the process, you have to think about the value of that time. A rushed DIY job looks like crap.

^+1

My first DIY project was a Look repaint with full La Vie Claire livery. About 7 or 8 different colors in all (white base, pearl topcoat, yellow, blue, red, black, white, touch of gray, 4x clear). I was in way over my head. I probably spent closer to 40 hours when it was all said & done (not counting time recreating the decals). I work slow, and made a few mistakes along the way, but I'm happy enough with the finished product. Many a lost family weekends & my wife was sure glad when I was done! If you DIY, I'd recommend automotive paint. It goes on smoother and dries harder. Your local auto paint supply store should be able to match colors and put the paint in aerosol spray cans for you. Also, don't scrimp on the paint masks. After one paint session with a cheap dust mask I started blowing blue snot! Some of the lessons I learned can be found HERE. Also, be sure to check out Randy Jawa's "My Ten Speeds" site for helpful hints on DIY painting.

That's good advice. If you can smell the paint, it's not a good one. You need a vapor respirator with replaceable cartridges. Your cells are worth it.