Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners

Does anyone in the Rochester/Buffalo area of NY know of a good bike painter?

Medical issues force me off the road early this year and I am starting a cosmetic overhaul of my R80RT.

The fellow I would like to have paint the bike is moving his shop and will be heading south for the winter. St.

Did you ever come up with a good recommendation, perchance?

I have found a shop to paint. The problem is, he is a retired snow bird and is wintering in AZ and I am in NY. LOL He is a friend of a friends, and ironically painted my bike 32 years ago. Up until the past two years, the paint has held up great, the fairing not so great.

Wally, painted bikes long ago, quit, and is now thinking of starting again. He has agreed to do my bike, after it, I don't know if he will continue.

So to answer the question, I may have. LOL, spring is not here yet. St.

Well I suppose that's something if you're a little patient! I'm not too terribly far from you, over near Albany, and am looking for some paint work as well. Be curious to hear how things turn out for you.

I will be happy to post afterwards. I may have a lead on a fellow here in Rochester as well, Wally is in the Niagara county area. If I get the name of the Rochester guy, I will post it.

My experience with trying to find a motorcycle paint shop has been, yes, there are paint shops, but, they are catering to the custom guys and the prices are astronomical. They have turned their noses up at my request for a plain stock paint job.

Car shops, don't want to fiddle with the parts involved on a bike. Too much handling and hand work. They may do a couple of bikes then decide it is not worth it for what they charged.

It is interesting to say the least. St.

This is my first time running down this particular rabbit hole so I appreciate the context. My case is somewhat complicated by having a '65 R69S with pin strips. Would love to find someone who can do them right.

I used the search box in upper right for the word "painter" and got 119 hits. Don't know what all is there, but might be worth a read. Wish I had kept a detailed list over the years whenever someone recommended a painter. Would be good to pull out when needed.

Thanks, I looked through the vendor listing earlier and a lot of what I found were broken links or artists now enjoying a well-deserved retirement. Will keep looking

I do have a guy who will do BMW pin stripe.

It is frustrating to find a local paint shop. Mind you, I could go the Holt route but I am sorry, I am not having a period correct paint job done. My bike will never be in a show to be judged. I don't even care if the paint is the proper code. Wally painted it using Chevy truck blue the first time. It was so close to the BMW color only a picky person would object.

So, I can understand why paint shops are few and far between. The handling of lots of curved and small parts means more labor. Face it, cars are kind of flat versus the fairing on an R80RT. Someone like Holt can get the price they charge. there is no denying if I wanted a period correct paint job, I would consider them. They deserve the price they charge.

I am looking for a good Joh at a fair price. Hopefully, Wally will come through. St.

Then we are all already curious about the result...