Polishing Question

[ccratin]

I use the side of a large wood screw held in both hands. I'm certain it's not safe either, but it works!

 

[BriTXbike]

Well I ordered some Zoop Seal this week. I saw they used it on Truck TV and looks like it's worth a shot if it lasts up to 3 yrs.

Next question is where does one find the polishing bits that look like a Bullet? I've seen them in kits but I really only see myself using 10% of what's in it. Anybody know of a good place to buy them or can suggest an alternative to getting in the small areas where the bolt mounts are.

 

[Guest]

I found some very small buffing wheels that work on a dremel tool to do the tight spots. It worked pretty good.

 

[RotaryRodder]

A good thing to use are sanding blocks.I used them on most of my clear coat. I also used my dremel with polishing attachments,and alot of mothers polishing paste. You can get the blocks in different grits of course.It is alot easier to remove the covers and such to polish than to do them on the bike. There is as much prep time as there is disassembling time,and less chance of screwing something up.Worked pretty good too.

BTW, how do you like those lowering blocks? do they make any noise?

 

[wayne cooper]

wheel cleaning

wheel cleaning

If you want to keep your polishing wheels realy clean pick up a "pruning blade" for a sawz all. They're only a couple of bucks and do an excellent job.

 

[DaveDanger]

I have a suggestion that worked great for me. I finished changing my front tire this morning and decided to clean up the front forks a bit while I had them accessible. So I sat down on the floor and began to polish the old, OLD, yellow clearcoat from the forks with 000 steel wool and some Simple Green? cleaner. Didn't work nearly as well as I thought it would. It cleaned pretty well, but the yellow clearcoat didn't budge much. A customer (Local Harley shop owner) stopped by and watched me for a few minutes and asked me if I had any fingernail polish remover. I didn't have the remover per se, but had a gallon jug of the base chemical that nail polish remover is made from... Methyl Ethyl Ketone or MEK. He suggested that I try a few drops of that in the steel wool. I was astouned at how quickly the old clearcoat wiped off. I don't mean that it came off like a greasy fingerprint, but with very little buffing, the clearcoat simply dissolved. I then took a plain grease rag with a bit more MEK on it, and wiped the surfaces down. Instant satin finish. I spent maybe a half hour on both forks, every square inch. I will sit down tomorrow with some Mother's or Flitz and finish the surfaces to a mirror polish, but I thought the clearcoat removal suggestion might be worth the time to document
I can see now that I'm going to have to design a lift that will raise my bike off the floor to a level where I can work on it while either standing upright or sitting comfortably. Squatting on the floor sucks out loud.

 

[tracy borchert]

blocks

blocks

BTW, how do you like those lowering blocks? do they make any noise?

No my lowering blocks work just fine I've had them for about twenty years now and love them.They lower my bike exactly two inches in the rear.Just a little stiffer ride.