Ducati Monster Forum

i'm looking for pics of bikes that people have painted the metal ring around the headlight black. Also how did you do this? I'm not much of a DIY-er, but with proper instruction, i'm sure i could.

thanks,
tt

I did it the quick and lazy way, just to see if I liked it.  The hardest part was getting the ring off the headlight.  I took it apart, sanded it by hand, just enough to give it that brushed stainless look, then hit it with a few coats of rattle can flat-black rustolium.  Not perfect, but I would like to eventually pick up a spare and have it powder coated.  Cant be without the bike while parts are in the shop, thus the spare.  One of the easiest mods...next to swapping out the sprocket cover.
(http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp331/joev160/DSC_6970.jpg)

Take it of, sand it and paint it. or mask everything, sand it, paint it.

Just remove it with a philips screw driver (screw on the bottom) sand it down with some fine grit sand paper. It dose not have to be perfect, just get it smooth.  Buy some flat black paint and whisk it back and forth hitting the paint button in every stroke. Don't stay in one spot and spray because you get the paint to run. Don't use corse sand paper because you'll leave streaks on the headlight rim and it'll look rough. If you have a toaster oven put the ring in there once done painting at 300 degrees and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes. Keep an eye on it though.  In the hot summer days I just set it on top of the wall and let the sun bake it.  Good luck, it's simple.

As stated above. Remove it. Sand it then hit it with a couple of coats of rustolem or metail paint. Make sure you let it dry for a few hours before putting it back on.

(http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n417/Bbrent_photos/Ducati003.jpg?t=1222035821)

I  took it all apart and used a circular sander with 60 grit to open up the chrome.  I then used laquer primer to fill and then finished with 180 grit. The final coat was Krylon satin black enamel. If you want the paint to stick you really need to grind into the chrome. I also used CF brackets from Monsterparts.

(http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo359/wfo58_photo/Monster/IMG_0090.jpg)
(http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo359/wfo58_photo/IMG_0448.jpg)

spray can job undercoat and matt black, chrome eventually chips, just take it off and spray again it only took a couple hours

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3153/2713287436_069b406c9d.jpg)

Take it apart and get it powdercoated like mine,it'll be a lot tougher and wear better than paint.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/salsajayne/may007.jpg)

black looks the best...chrome is for a Harley, then again, anything chrome on a sport bike   [bang]
(http://i37.tinypic.com/8xsmes.jpg)

Sanded, primed, painted flat with a coat of metallic on top.  Matched the frame pretty well.  No chips.

(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/CPrezioso/DSCN0287.jpg)

Painted low gloss black (like everything else on the bike)..
Think it looks much better than the stock/chrome (my opinion)..

If you don't like the look of the chrome ring you can also try the brushed metal look, by simply sanding the ring with a very light sandpaper.  You get rid of the chrome, but still have the contrast of the black headlight bucket with the silver metal ring.

(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm21/JonTravisKing/Ducati%20Monster%20620/20080613_Ducati620_TailChopSmoke-6.jpg?t=1223857025)

(http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm21/JonTravisKing/Ducati%20Monster%20620/20080613_Ducati620_TailChopSmoke-4.jpg?t=1222181091)

Red Scotch brite pads work well for the "scuffed" look...

I was going to toss mine into the powder coat box....will the blasting etch into the chrome enough you think?

How did you get the rim of the headlight?  I've loosened the Philips head screw but I can't get it to screw out and I also have tried tightening it back on, but it won't do that either.  What's the trick here?

That was the hardest part of the process for me, I rotated the ring around the light until it looked/felt like some of these nubs and grooves were lining up, then I just pulled it off.  I would have bet money I was going to break it, but didn't.  Seems to go back on a lot easier than it comes off...but it does come off.

The screw isnt meant to come out, just loosen it and you should be able to work the rim off, be careful with the 'net' of springs that hold the glass to the rim,its possible to fit them back the wrong way though its only really secure if they are fitted correctly.

I recall taking one apart a couple of years ago where the captive nut into which the machine screw threads was spinning.

iirc, I had to pry the ring off.  Using great care in the process, I was able to do it without damaging anything.

Then, once I had it apart, I bent the cage for the captive nut tighter to hold it in place.


And +1 on powdercoating.

I took mine apart this past weekend and no fuss. Rattle canned both the ring and supports for the Dart Flyscreen, came out great let's see if they stand up.

(http://images40.fotki.com/v1339/fileglzH/e9935/9/90501/341997/frontend.jpg)

(http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/9392/dsc01539os7.jpg)

Yep mine too

(http://img8.werkenntwen.de/photo4/5a9a6ab448ab3e6e592e783d20c28692/v/7/v7bij0pd7tn457lvq5i2dgruv2e.jpg)

It might look cool to paint the inside of your windshield black.

you mean smoke it. yeah i thought about that. but not sure how to do it without ruining it if i dont like it. maybe i'll take it off and get some film and try it that way. it's cheap at lowe's.. errr guess i'm going to the store.

UPDATE- after looking at the film and the complex curves of the plastic, and the fact the film said dont use on plastic... i'm deciding against this course of action. maybe someone will make a dark or hopefully a tail screen that mounts on the stock fairing.

(http://i455.photobucket.com/albums/qq277/jtmoto/10-10-08080.jpg)

Powdercoated, I tried spraying it three times and it kept scatching off.

I did powdercoat as well.

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3111/2428977644_7327210849_o.jpg)

you could also paint it to match another color on the bike, like so

(http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg216/mikesixtysix/blackfog/IMG_3807.jpg)

I thought the same thing. here is what it looks like smoked...

(http://gallery.me.com/theo.keetell/100150/IMG_1737.jpg?derivative=medium&source=web.jpg&type=medium&ver=12237634170002)

It looks ok on the bike. But I wasn't loving it. In general, I don't really like the windshield anyway, so it took it back off.

and here is the headlight painted black from the front and side.

(http://gallery.me.com/theo.keetell/100150/IMG_1740/web.jpg)

(http://gallery.me.com/theo.keetell/100150/IMG_1743/web.jpg)

how'd you do it?

...rattle can to the inside of the plastic. I removed it from the frame, cleaned it REALLY well first, taped off the edges and outside of the plastic. Cleaned the inside again and paid closed attention to not leave any streaks. Then right before I put paint to it, I wiped it down again lightly with a lint free cloth. Then I sprayed a few light coats, then one heavier coat. Let dry, put it back together...done. It's a satin black on the inside, gloss on the outside.

Like I said, I am not a fan of the windshield anyway, so I didn't mind trying it out to see if it looked good. I like it much better all black then clear, but still not enough to leave it on my bike, but that's just me. If you like the windshield, give it a shot as I am sure you will dig it.

Only thing it's missing the the headlight ring and forks anodized black ;) [thumbsup]  Then again, the rotor carriers, and DLC the sliders.  Ok, now it's done :D

If I had bad taste, then yeah, I'd do that...  there's such a thing as too much black.   [roll]

Whooooaah  relax there big guy, I didn't mean to pee in your cornflakes.  Sorry I'm not allowed to have a different opinion and say something on a message board  [laugh]


I did just get back my headlight ring, powdercoated black in bad taste.  I think it looks great, and for $10, you can't beat the finish/durability.  Only problem with paint I see is potential for rock chips.

Finally got around to doing this. Along with CF turn signal brackets, Rizoma Signals, Titanium Bolts and Ti drilled washers. powdercoating was a little thick on the inside part of the ring so I had to file it quite a bit to get it all back together. While that was a pregnant dog to do, it was worth it because I'm happy with the results.

(http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4iYlZ1m8UEM/Sea85mCzakI/AAAAAAAADBc/DOcZ_crcjoY/s400/IMG00038-20090415-1926.jpg)

(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4iYlZ1m8UEM/Sea85qJcQoI/AAAAAAAADBU/n-hG3JOWuwI/s400/IMG00034-20090415-1922.jpg)

(http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4iYlZ1m8UEM/Sea85ROjSUI/AAAAAAAADBM/7W6DxD5eNFU/s400/IMG00033-20090415-1922.jpg)

Since the headlight brackets are grommeted,  do you think that aluminum bolts would be sufficient (anodized of course) to hold the headlight in the brackets?

Well, I think the aluminum bolts would be plenty good to replace the M8 bolts on the sides of the bucket - I went with Titanium for the tapered, high-tech look. I've got a set of aluminum bolts holding the U-Bracket in as well - seen somebody else do this with colored bolts so they had to be anodized aluminum. I guess my only worry is excessive vibration, but there isn't a lot of load on them (less than those which people use to replace their engine side cover bolts with I believe.)

For any body stumbling across this later with headlight ring related issues - the small bracket that is fitted to the inside of the ring by the small screw at the 6 o'clock position - this is used to apply tension and hold the ring to the bucket when have it all assembled. You have to remove the screw, square "retaining nuts", and bracket to go to the powder coater.

when i went to put mine back together, i had boogered up (technical term) the screw's threads and couldn't get it to turn very easily. BUT, atomemphis, WHAT SIZE SCREW IS THAT?!?

Tell you what, I'll go out of my way to solve that problem for you, free of charge: M4 works great. Use an M4x20 or so, that way you have plenty of threads to use, put some tension in it so when you have it together, you don't have to worry about the square retaining nut popping up and out of the bracket, preventing you from getting the proper 'torque'.

I happened to have a Ti socket head for this too, which is nice since I just get to use mostly hex-wrenches to take most of the motorcycle apart.

I did mine with truck bed liner paint, as well as the headlight bucket.  Gives it that nice rough finish and has held up well.  Wish I could say the same thing for the belt covers that are bubbling...again.  I almost considered leaving it with a clear finish after I sanded it, it looked so nice all bare aluminum and all. 

I chromed the headlight bucket to match the chrome ring
 ;D

Still working on this one. Btw, it started with painting parts black [evil]

http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv108/ducrider45/000_1534.jpg?t=1239911693 (http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv108/ducrider45/000_1534.jpg?t=1239911693)
(http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv108/ducrider45/000_1534.jpg?t=1239911693)