It’s a wiki page, so if the wisdom of ST has any revisions, get to it:
http://www.wikihow.com/Paint-a-Bike
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i have never found the actual painting part to be that difficult. it seems to me when using a rattle-can, it can only get so good. but, that article was pretty good on how to approach it. if you are going to spray paint it, you will most likely get some drips and such, just cause without fail, at some point, the can spurts out a bunch of paint. you can try to avoid this and spot treat it, but it helps to choose a color that wont show to much imperfection. i used a flat olive drab color and drips were hard to see.
i will say though, the worst part about it is the sanding/old paint removing process. i curse myself every time i take a project on that needs paint, cause i seem to forget how much i hate sanding.
good luck
-=mte=-