Shooting auto paint is mostly a labor intensive exercise. Most of the work is done before you even grab the spray gun. Removing the parts, cleaning the parts with soap and water, then degreaser, then silicone remover. Then wet sanding the substrate with 220 then 400, then possibly 600. This gives a surface full of microscopic nooks and crannies for the new paint to adhere well. Followed by more soap and water washing, degreaser and silicone remover.
Then comes the primer. Most often, you'll need a primer sealer to act as a barrier so your new top coat doesn't react with the old paint underneath to cause problems. That is usually an epoxy primer like PPG's DP series of primers. I usually use the dark grey DP40(?). If the surface is rough, you may need a primer surfacer. You can use any high-solids primer and just wet sand between coats to build up the thickness. The best primer for this though is a 2K urethane primer surfacer. That is a 2-part primer you have to mix just before shooting. It works well for flexible parts that will crank the typical primer.
Next is the color coat. There are basically 3 types. Single stage is where the color coat is also the top coat, without a clear over it. This is rarely used these days, but still available if you really wanted it for some reason. Otherwise, it's used mostly for painting areas (like under hood) where appearance and outright durability isn't as important. 2-stage is the most popular color + clear. Then there are 3-stage, which are your candy or pearl colors. These have a metallic or pearl base coat, followed by a transluscent and semi-transparent color coat, which let some light through to reflect off the base coat. You can create some spectacular effect with 3 stage, but it is not easy to shoot right. The semi-transparent color coat has to shot very uniformly, or else you get blotches of lighter and darker areas. On top of all that, of course is the clear top coat, which is almost always a high solids urethane clear.
Paint materials are not hard to get. Any auto refinish job shop can supply all the stuff I listed above. Different mfr have different refinish systems. Unless you know what you are doing, it is best to stay within one system to guarantee compatibility. I started with Dupont Centari back in the late 80s. Then I shot PPG's excellent Deltron urethane line for the longest time. I still do, but auto paint has gotten expensive, so on some jobs, I save some money going with Sherwin William's systems. Their color matching is not as good as PPG, but for overall job doesn't matter as much.
Speaking of color matching... that is the biggest problem with paint motorcycles. Most job shops do not have paint codes for motorcycles, unless you get lucky and have an automotive (car application) crossover. This is only possible if it's a Honda or BMW color code that is used in both motorcycle and car. Otherwise, you are stuck with places like Colorrite. Prepare to bend over. Not that auto paint is cheap, by any means, and it has gotten more expensive over the years, but monopoly tends to get even more ridiculously expensive. If you are painting the whole bike, consider picking an OEM car color you like. Then you can find out what the paint code is, and take the color code to any auto paint job shop.
As for equipment, I started with a 1/2HP Sears Craftsman direct drive air compressor and only one Sharpe detail spray gun. I've painted a whole car with that set up. I wouldn't recommend going that basic, but it is possible. These days, I've got a 7.5HP 80 gal dual stage air compressor, and about 4 different gravity fed guns, for different primers, color, and clear paint. You can start with anywhere in between the two.
Make sure you wear a good respirator meant exactly for spraying auto paint. There is a lot of nasty chemicals in autopaint you don't want in your lungs. I've probably lost a lot of brain cells from inhales some of it back when I started and didn't know any better. This is one area i would definitely not cheap out on.
If you've followed me so far and your head isn't spinning, you might give it a shot. A lot of it is patience, stick-to-it-ness, and bucket after buckets of elbow grease. Took me a long time to get "good" at it, but it is the single most satisfying auto-related skill/hobby I've ever taken on.