Custom Paint Process

We wanted you to know what is included in the JE Illusions custom paint experience while maintaining our secrets. It goes far beyond just the paint. You will receive instant email responses and progress reports with many pictures. Equally important, you will receive our second to none talent and proprietary methods and techniques which are performed only here.

We have many customers who fly in from all around, and we welcome you to fly into our Eugene airport and visit us anytime. We are located next to Wal-Mart on the busy road of West 11th and within 6 miles of the airport.

Please take the time to read our educational information and browse the endless pictures that we have displayed on our site. Fill out an estimate request form if you have not done so already. In the meantime, we invite you to peruse our complete paint process details below. We are using the time after we receive your estimate to give you the approximate cost based on your request with the details that you need to proceed. Our estimate process usually takes between 2 and 5 hours to answer during the work day and first thing in the morning if your estimate comes in the evening.

We have paint spray guns specially designed to spray only one thing such as primer, sealer, solid base, sparkle base, large flakes, small flakes, pearls, kandy, blending paint, graphics, airbrush guns, 1st clear coat, final clear coat, and undercoating guns. Our guns are cleaned directly after use and maintained in perfect working condition. We wear different hooded spray suites separating flake from a clear job for example. We wear gloves, eye protection, ear protection, hoods, dust masks, and respirators when required. We perform routine maintenance on all our equipment so that everything is running in tip top condition at all times. Our shop is well organized and cleaned regularly. We have all of our supplies on hand in our shop at all times. We have taken care of everything necessary for the highest level of quality. JE Illusions is secured with 3 cameras, motion scanners throughout, and sensors on all windows, man doors, and bay doors. We are also fully insured. We will not cut any corners or steps of our process under any circumstance. We believe it’s worth the money to have your bike painted right the 1st time. We paint mostly bikes that are ridden on a regular basis even though they are ready to roll right into a show and win. We plan out each and every job as a JE Illusions team in our meetings. We feel good inside and thrive on painting your motorcycles and are anxious to get started each day. Our complicated process is worth completing. Our team has signed a packet of non-compete and trade secret agreements to protect our intellectual rights, property, and techniques -- what we produce can only be achieved by JE Illusions. We are fully backed by our paint and product manufacturers. A paint technician is in our shop on a regular basis to refresh us with current products and updates. We use the latest most innovative products.

We are taking care of an entire custom paint process and experience we would be looking for if we were you. Our motorcycle custom paint process includes the following:

JE Illusions T-shirt, make sure to email us your size and we will send you one with your completed custom paint work.
Free undercoating of your fenders.
Free lip seal of your tank filler cap hole.
First and most importantly - CUSTOMER SERVICE. We are there for you every step of the way. We are there for you before we paint, during the process, and anytime after your job is completed. You can reach us by phone, in person, or by email, and we will promptly respond.
LABOR & MATERIALS: We use the finest materials and custom paint products on the market, which are all included in your estimate. Our labor and every proprietary process that we've developed to ensure that your job meets our standards and exceeds your expectations are always part of the package.
DESIGN PROCESS: We collaborate to come up with the ultimate paint theme for you with pictures, references, a design consultation with Josh, sketches and rendering, scans, emails, phone calls -- whatever it takes to get your project off the ground running. The ultimate paint theme can be elaborate to some and simple to others. During this phase we go over ideas, colors, layouts, logos, airbrushing, and other details to make this project unique and perfect for you. We will translate the ideas and images in your head and turn them into a reality on your motorcycle parts over the process of all the steps below. Sometimes we may even ask for a recommended song or CD to listen to which would point us in the right direction while airbrushing. Music inspires us!
PREPARATION PROCESS: We always begin by inspecting each one of your parts for damage, disassembly, and notify you right away that we received your motorcycle parts safely. Any areas such as filler cap holes are masked up to eliminate over spray and maintain a clean crisp finished tape line. We use our large 14 ft. x 26 ft. cross flow booth for all of our prepping. This booth conceals the prepping dust while the 13000cfm booth fan blows the dust outside through ducting. Our shop remains squeaky clean. We have twin air compressors which are designed for paint shop use and supply us with 150cfm air. Our compressed air runs through endless piping, filters, and dryers feeding us anywhere in the shop with high volume clean and dry air. Our Rock Solid™ prep work begins with stripping, sand and bead blasting, and machine sanding any existing paint off your sheet metal, skins, body work, parts, or helmets. We like to start with a clean slate so that we can warranty our work and you can count on our work 100%. If your parts have any damage we will find it and fix it. Even a little scratch on the back side of a brand new part will be treated and fixed so that the rust is locked out and the detail is clean. It’s very important to give enough attention to detail and patience to properly prep each little square inch of each part to our superior JE Illusions standards. We double and triple Quality Control (QC) our prep and body work process before it’s officially completed for priming.
ACID ETCH & PRIMER: First we prepare our down draft spray booth followed by setting up all your parts in the booth angled on racks and hung just right. This booth is the Cadillac of spray booths. It’s fully adjustable pressurized, it has bright accurate simulated sunlight, temperature control, bake cycles, humidity control, and extremely clean while spraying. We blow the parts using high pressure, wipe them with 3 solvents 3 separate times, re-blow them, and tack using 2 different styles of tack rags. Next acid etching is mixed and sprayed as a rust preventative and metal adhesive. After proper flash and force dry time multiple coats of primer are sprayed which locks in all surface types and body work.
BAKING THE PRIMER: This is where we stand clearly apart from our competition. We have an infrared booth with 360 degrees of ultimate baking lights. An infrared booth is the very best possible way to adhere or connect paint to your motorcycle part surfaces. We control the density, time slots, and zones of our infrared booth while a venting system exhausts vapors. What is superior about this booth is that the infrared cures the paint starting from the inside of your part and making its way to the outside surface (most paint is cured only on the outside with heat or room temperatures). Infrared booths can be found at state-of-the art paint systems like car manufacturers. The difference our infrared booth will bring to you is a custom paint job which does not change over time, no die back in the base or clear coat creating a dull look, no separation, flaking or bubble, etc. which makes all of the difference in the world in the finished product.
SANDING THE PRIMER: After your parts are fully cycled through our infrared booth and cured we prefer to let them sit until the next day before sanding. We then apply a guide coat and begin wet sanding with a series of different style sanding blocks until the surface is as smooth as silk. All the little crevices and hard to sand corners are then detailed by hand. Finally, each square inch is blown off and QC.
SEALER: Again we prepare the booth, set up all your parts, blow them off, wipe them with our solvent process, double tack them, and dial the spray booth temperatures so that each part surface is at correct spec for spraying sealer. After our sealer is mixed and sprayed we turn up the booth temperatures in excess of 140 degrees while sustaining our super clean spray environment.
GROUND COAT BASE: After the sealer has flashed properly the temperature is adjusted and we spray multiple coats of our ground coat base directly over the sealer. Again, once this is completed we bake your parts at 140 degrees and above.
SANDING THE GROUND COAT BASE: After the bake cycle is completed we let your parts stand for a specific amount of time which is non-disclosed. We then sand the ground coat base very smooth for your custom base colors we are using. This is the smoothest solution possible for your base colors, yet it takes extra steps and uses more base and other materials.
BASE COAT: Again we prepare the booth, set up all your parts, blow them off, wipe them with our solvent process, double tack them, and dial the spray booth temperatures so that each part surface is at correct spec for spraying the base coat. We are now ready for your 1st base color (or only base color if you are going with a one color custom paint job). We use our paint computer programs, mixing banks, and scale to measure and make any automotive or custom paint color in the world. All of this is done in a code standard enclosed mixing booth with proper temperature control and ventilation. Our mixing bank set up on a timer automatically mixes all the toners around the clock. We have many different methods for the order we spray your colors depending on your design complexity. In many cases a custom paint job is created backwards. We will email you many pictures of all this so that you will be able to see how your design is developing for your bike portfolios. At this point your base color has been properly sprayed, covered, and baked. It takes many coats to properly cover base coat. We insure that the color is even and there is no blotchiness out in the bright sun.
DESIGN & ARTWORK: The next step is to begin layout, airbrushing, kandy spraying, or blends. It all depends on your project details . . . If your design requires kandy, we spray at least 8 coats of super deep jolly rancher type kandy over a variety of sparkle and secret base coats. If we are airbrushing, Josh Ellison has 8 airbrushes set up connected to any color in the world thanks to our mixing banks and scale systems. He has different style airbrushes set up which are specifically designed for one thing and each has a different size needle. If we are doing color fades or blends this is also possible through our proprietary color blending methods which are as smooth and gradual as a sunset (as you may have seen Jeff Gordon’s 45 foot coach blend on Discovery Channel or NASCAR race day on TV that Josh Ellison painted a few years back). We do our layouts by hand with fine line. Most of our layouts are symmetrical side to side as a mirrored image, however some of our designs require asymmetrical layouts or this is requested. It’s important to make a symmetrical layout correct because a little error stands out too much. We use our sketches, computer concepts, and pictures as reference. We computer design and use our cutting printer/plotter for detailed logos, murals, etc. Using advanced technology and intelligence on our side such as our computers, computer programs, drawing computer tablet (for being able to actually sketch with a cyber pen as its being transferred to our computer screen), and of course our cutting plotter for the most accurate stencils for details and realism possible. What good is all this software going to do us if we don’t have a computer graphic designer professional? Jason Krueger has been working as a part of the JE Illusions team for over 3 years and a history in graphic and web designing for 19 years. Also we use real 3D models and objects depending on what we are implementing as reference. We will be sure to email you many pictures of your parts moving through this design process which is the most exciting part to see.
FIRST CLEAR: Again we prepare the booth, set up all your parts, blow them off, wipe them with our solvent process, double tack them, and dial the spray booth temperatures so that each part surface is at correct spec for spraying clear coat. We now apply our proprietary 1st clear coat process. We now have created our 1st step to depth and a protected barrier of at least 4 coats of clear coat over each square inch of each part. After they are temperature force baked we move them into the infrared booth for a cycle of drying from the inside out.
SANDING THE 1ST CLEAR COAT: After your parts are fully cycled through our infrared booth and cured we prefer to let them sit until the next day before sanding. We then begin wet sanding with a series of different style sanding blocks until the paint lines, if any, are flattened and the surface is as smooth as glass. It’s important to us that all the paint edges from one color to another are as if they were never there. For example, have you ever seen or felt the flame edges on a bike custom paint job? There should be no edge at all if the proper steps are taken! What happens in many cases while sanding the clear coat is it can be burned through, so inexperienced painters naturally restrain themselves from sanding enough. This is not good because now you have burns in your colors which are shockingly ugly and difficult to fix and paint edges which you can see and feel in the finished product. The combination between our clear process and sanding techniques will bring you the highest results. All the little crevices and hard to sand corners are then detailed by hand. Each square inch is blown off and QC.
CLEAR ADHESIVE PROMOTER: Again we prepare the booth, set up all your parts, blow them off, wipe them with our solvent process, double tack them, and dial the spray booth temperatures so that each part surface is at correct spec for spraying adhesive promoter. We apply our adhesive promoter process to your parts at this point but this is secret information we cannot detail.
FINAL DESIGN & DETAIL: Next in the process is the secondary layer of layouts, additional artwork, airbrushing, and most importantly final detailing and shadowing. All of our work is finished off with shadows, which can be subtle, concentrated, or anywhere between depending on your requests. We now have a super flat surface and everything is detailed to perfection. We will email you many pictures of this for your approval.
ADDITIONAL CLEAR COAT BARRIER: In some cases we repeat the 1st clear, sanding of the 1st clear, adhesive promoter and the final design processes. This is done for complicated layouts and murals and this is always included in your price estimate.
FINAL CLEAR COAT: Again we prepare the booth, set up all your parts, blow them off, wipe them with our solvent process, double tack them, and dial the spray booth temperatures so that each part surface is at correct spec for spraying the ultimate final clear coat. We then apply at least 6 more coats of final clear over the finished product. We use a final clear coat specially formulated with more silicone pack (extra gloss) and durability than anything out there. We apply our proprietary method once again to our final clear coat which sets us apart. Now your parts are ready to be sprayed in a temperature regulated down-draft booth by our experienced final clear coat artist Trevor, who has 16 years of experience spraying clear coat consistently. He can lay it down so smooth, wet, and clean that you would think that it had never dried and you can reach your hand through it!
FINAL BAKE: The parts are now flashed, force dried, and moved to the infrared booth for a specific amount of time. Your paint has officially gone through our JE Illusions process of quality, detail, unique eye pleasing design and artwork created specifically to your liking. Our second-to-none durability and longest lasting custom paint includes you in the JE Illusions exclusive.
BUFFING/POLISHING PROCESS: Once your parts are through our final bake process and cured without bake for the proper amount of time we move them into our buffing station to begin wet sanding the surface. We use 5 different grits of sand paper on the entire surface, even the areas hard to see once your parts are on the bike. We then machine buff using 3 different types of pads and glazed to its beautiful deep gloss shine that is customary here at JE Illusions.
UNDERCOATING: In order to keep the underside of your fender as clean and detailed as your top exposed side, we perform undercoating after the paint and buffing process. This ensures that the undercoat is kept clean from paint over-spray and buffing compound. We begin the undercoating process by painstakingly masking off all of your fender's painted area and holes. We then prepare the surface by sanding, spray several layers of undercoat, unmask the top surface, and then final glaze.
FINAL PICTURES: Your parts are now ready for their final photo shoot. We take many high quality final pictures of every job we do and we will email them to you.

Our attention to detail, planning and service really come through in all of our work. We have the experience and talent to get your job done, as well as the integrity and passion to follow it through to your ultimate satisfaction. We are there every step of the way and we do everything we can to support you, our valued customer. We look forward to the opportunity to paint your motorcycle and prove to you that we are the real thing.

~ Josh Ellison, AKA JE, designer, custom motorcycle painter and airbrush artist. I will be working with you.