To commemorate the 46th machine of the year (MOTY) held at the end of the last year 2018, "Young Machine" magazine and Yoshimura's collaborator, Special Monkey 125 was born. On March 22 to 24, Tokyo Motorcycle Show 2019 was decided to be exhibited at Yoshimura booth. In addition, among MOTY voting participants, one lucky person who can get this MONKEY is decided at the venue! In this featured series, we will deliver a documentary on the production of 1 Special MONKEY to the world. The 5th edition is a painting metal parts such as swing arms coated with CERAKOTE, which is more durable than ordinary paint.
Try to figure out the magic of the Cerakote that is strong against scratches and high temperatures
The Monkey 125 Custom Project has now completed the "tank and cover painting" and "front fork anodized" processes. In this article, we painted the Swing Arm, Steering Stem, Handle Post, Headlight Plate, and the remaining metal parts.
About this process, we decided to use “Cerakote” that Suzutomo Co., Ltd. acts as the general agent in Japan. The reason is that those parts that are easily scratched by rubbish from the road or key chains are required to be more durable painting than usual painting.
[Interviewing cooperation] Suzutomo Co., Ltd. (2-3-11 Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo TEL: 03 3834 3571): They are long-established stores founded in Taisho 7 and the current office is in Taito-ku, Tokyo. They originally used the plating process as their main business, but they started Japanese sales agent for Cerakote about seven years ago. In addition to Cerakote, they specialize in construction such as powder coating and manufacture and sale of proprietary products under the "SGT" brand. The first photo shows President Mr.Suzuki (left) and Factory Manager Mr.Okamoto (right).
Actually, as with YF Design, which was in charge of painting the Tank and Side Cover in this series #1, Suzutomo's Cerakote is also used for the muffler of Yoshimura endurance machine, etc., and its performance is guaranteed. Other than Yoshimura, it was used for the racer of FCC TSR which won the 2018 World Endurance Championship. In particular, in TSR's machines that fight for 24 hours, Ceracoat, which has excellent heat dissipation and heat insulation properties, greatly contributes to the prevention of troubles such as the tire waste accumulated in the under cowl burning up with heat.
[What is CERAKOTE (Cera coat)? ]CERAKOTE is a coating based on ceramic. There are various types for the wide renge materials such as metals, plastics, polymer resins, woodworking and other materials. It boasts a hardness of 7H-9H. And it shows very good performance in abrasion resistance, corrosion resistance, impact resistance, high heat resistance, solvent resistance, weather resistance, etc. This time, we used the main H series, with over 100 colors available.
Well, the CERAKOTE contains a ceramic, so it sells the magical performance of being scratch-proof and able to withstand high temperatures. I thout that this work is complicated. But…. It finished in a short time, so it might be easier than [Standard Painting]. Since this work did not require a primer coat and a clear top coat, so the number of work processes was 1/3 compared to a standard paint. The reason why those do not need a primer or a topcoat is that those have lower hardness and impact resistance than CERAKOTE, so those will be damaged or peeled off. The coating cost is about the same as a single color paiting of a standard paint.
CERAKOTE doesn't require a Top clear coat and primer coat
The remained parts that need a paint.
Base treatment was already done
Really? Started painting suddenly.
The exclusive black color for Japan.
Next is the Steering Stem
The coating is very thin.
Drying in 120°C
It also can be used for a muffler.
Remove the masking tape then done
Before and After!!
So the last part will be to assemble the painted parts.
looking forward!
● Photo by: Shin Matsui
This article is restructured based on the article published in the April 2019 issue of Young Machine.
See here the photo collection of motorcycles
Original Source[ YOUNG MACHINE ] (*Japanese)
See HONDA Moto Index Page
See Accessories for HONDA Monkey 125