Chrono
New member
- Apr 15, 2014
- 94
- 0
So I was riding my Kawasaki Concours 1400 perhaps a bit close to those 4' high reflectors that are supposed to keep you from changing lanes. I guess one of them didn't like me being there, because it came over and hit my left saddlebag. Dang. That's some thin SOFT paint. Time for a correction, but I didn't want to break out the Lake pads and have to clean them for this small job. This entire job was done with a kitchen sponge, with one step being a 1" x 3" piece of 3000 grit foam backed 3M sandpaper.
here's the damage:
Cleaning with ONR (detail strength) revealed just what I was dealing with. A few nail catchers along with some clear coat abrasions.
Good reliable 3M Compound eradicated the abrasions, leaving only the actual scratches. This took 2 rub-downs, again, with a slightly moist kitchen sponge!
Those scratches weren't going anywhere fast, so I resorted to a 3000 grit wet sand, lubed with Poorboy's Spray & Wipe, cleaned with 20% IPA.
Menzerna 2500 took care of the sanding scratches, revealing a 85%+ corrected surface:
Then some Megs Ultimate Polish. Have you ever noticed that the bottle says "glaze"? That's why I reached for it!
Looking good, maybe 90% corrected. I decided against my original idea of Collinite 915 wax, opting instead for Megs Gold Class. I though it might have some hiding abilities - maybe it will cheat a bit whereas the 915 will just display what's underneath in glowing brilliance. I rubbed the wax in the direction of the defects, with my fingers, thinking that "feeding the paint" this way would result in better cosmetics.
All done! It's 90%, and some of that may be cosmetic influence, but I'm 100% satisfied considering how easy the repair was. Here's the results:
here's the damage:
Cleaning with ONR (detail strength) revealed just what I was dealing with. A few nail catchers along with some clear coat abrasions.
Good reliable 3M Compound eradicated the abrasions, leaving only the actual scratches. This took 2 rub-downs, again, with a slightly moist kitchen sponge!
Those scratches weren't going anywhere fast, so I resorted to a 3000 grit wet sand, lubed with Poorboy's Spray & Wipe, cleaned with 20% IPA.
Menzerna 2500 took care of the sanding scratches, revealing a 85%+ corrected surface:
Then some Megs Ultimate Polish. Have you ever noticed that the bottle says "glaze"? That's why I reached for it!
Looking good, maybe 90% corrected. I decided against my original idea of Collinite 915 wax, opting instead for Megs Gold Class. I though it might have some hiding abilities - maybe it will cheat a bit whereas the 915 will just display what's underneath in glowing brilliance. I rubbed the wax in the direction of the defects, with my fingers, thinking that "feeding the paint" this way would result in better cosmetics.
All done! It's 90%, and some of that may be cosmetic influence, but I'm 100% satisfied considering how easy the repair was. Here's the results:
