Polishing Question

[BriTXbike]

Preach on Gman. That's pretty much my approach. I did the same thing with to much compound first time around. I read allot of guys that went through all the sand paper 400,800,1000,1500,2000. That was just to much for me since black is pretty gritty and with the wheel is more than effective at cleaning it up. My only recommendation is make sure you do a good job of striping the clear coat first. 30 minutes and two rounds of air craft stripper has worked for me the best cuz then you really have the bare metal to work with. Also cleaning the wheel I just rack it with a screw driver, seems to work pretty well. One other thing plan on getting VERY dirty as that crap flys everywhere.

Gman: the clear powder coat cause the metal to loose any of the luster? I've never seen a part clear powder coated before

[G man]

I agree with you on the sandpaper, Brian. I can only see the need to sand if the corrosion is very heavy or there are gouges from a drop. Sanding to remove the clearcoat would seem to add a lot more work to remove the sanding scratches. Aircraft stripper is wonderful stuff.

As far as clear powder coat goes, if a good quality urethane or polyester product is used and it is applied and cured correctly it will be crystal clear. In fact, I have seen some pieces where I felt the powdercoat made for more depth. Could be an illusion, but it certainly looked at least as good as the bare product. Any good powdercoater should be able to select the right product.

The key is really the prep. The surface must be super clean. Also, cast parts (like engine side covers) should be pre-heated prior to powder application to prevent out-gassing from the pores. This can create microscopic bubbles or pinholes in the actual coating which will eventually allow the same kind of corrosion to happen again.

[G man]

Also, I won't say I didn't use the old screwdriver trick myself the first few times I polished aluminum. I just have this horrible mental picture of someone trying it on my suggestion and ending up with a screwdriver throught the eye. So kids, please don't try that one at home. The secretary will disavow any knowledge of your mission...

[mixongw]

Also, I won't say I didn't use the old screwdriver trick myself the first few times I polished aluminum. I just have this horrible mental picture of someone trying it on my suggestion and ending up with a screwdriver throught the eye. So kids, please don't try that one at home. The secretary will disavow any knowledge of your mission...

What the heck is the "screwdriver trick"?

[BriTXbike]

The Screw driver trick is talking about the process by which you Score the buffing wheel of compound build up. Basically cleaning it up a bit so the old compound does not build up and you become counter productive in your efforts to polish the part your working on.

[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.

[renobruce]

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

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

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.