I gotta Harley I'm going to be doing

Whitethunder46

Whitethunder46

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Well, I'm slowwwwwwly starting to get some interest. One of my friend's I work with is giving me 2 customers, I have this nasty truck I'm going to be doing soon, and yesterday my golf course Superintendant asked me to detail his Harley.

I'm not sure of the model or anything, but it's either an 05 or 04 and it has a black gas tank and a few other black pieces. The rest is alllllll chrome.

So, any tricks to doing this detail? I know not to use tire shine. I haven't looked at the bike close up, but I plan on using some WG Finger pockets and some of the XMT polishes to clean up the paint. Follow this with VM, RMG, and Souveran paste. He already keeps it very clean, so hopefully I can just use some PB's S&W over the entire bike. If not, more than likely DP's 4n1 rinseless.

Doing this bike, will also give me a really good reason to order some of the English Custom Metal polishes. I've been wanting to get my hand on these and now I can.

So, any other tips? O yes, I plan on ordering some of the Edge foam tips for the tight reach places.
 
Whitethunder46 said:
Well, I'm slowwwwwwly starting to get some interest. One of my friend's I work with is giving me 2 customers, I have this nasty truck I'm going to be doing soon, and yesterday my golf course Superintendant asked me to detail his Harley.

I'm not sure of the model or anything, but it's either an 05 or 04 and it has a black gas tank and a few other black pieces. The rest is alllllll chrome.

So, any tricks to doing this detail? I know not to use tire shine. I haven't looked at the bike close up, but I plan on using some WG Finger pockets and some of the XMT polishes to clean up the paint. Follow this with VM, RMG, and Souveran paste. He already keeps it very clean, so hopefully I can just use some PB's S&W over the entire bike. If not, more than likely DP's 4n1 rinseless.

Doing this bike, will also give me a really good reason to order some of the English Custom Metal polishes. I've been wanting to get my hand on these and now I can.

So, any other tips? O yes, I plan on ordering some of the Edge foam tips for the tight reach places.
Click to expand...


BE CAREFULL OF WATER IF USED........AND THE TIPS ARE GOOD.IF NO EDGE TIPS?? USE THE DOUBLED UP Q TIPS....

GOOD LUCK.........:cheers:
 
I forgot to mention, he already takes pretty good care of the bike. When he does his "full" detail he says it takes him 3 hours, but I'm sure that's with a beer or 2. I think he might be in for a surprise when I start educating him on proper detailing and quality supplies.
(He was telling me yesterday he thought my full details were high $150-$200). I told him some charge $350 for a car and get it all the time, lol.

Anyways, if this was a normal customer, what would you charge for a full detail? I told him I'll def cut him a break. I mean, he's basically a boss of mine and I told him I would want to use pictures of the bike on my website, he liked that idea!
 
Whitethunder46 said:
I forgot to mention, he already takes pretty good care of the bike. When he does his "full" detail he says it takes him 3 hours, but I'm sure that's with a beer or 2. I think he might be in for a surprise when I start educating him on proper detailing and quality supplies.
(He was telling me yesterday he thought my full details were high $150-$200). I told him some charge $350 for a car and get it all the time, lol.

Anyways, if this was a normal customer, what would you charge for a full detail? I told him I'll def cut him a break. I mean, he's basically a boss of mine and I told him I would want to use pictures of the bike on my website, he liked that idea!
Click to expand...
hey try going to a bike shop and pick up some (i think it is called s-1 or s-2) the stuff is amazing for use on bikes.i used it a long time ago and it is awesome stuff.
 
Black Harley paint is extremely soft... I doubt you'll need any metal polish if he takes good care of it. I just apply some wheel sealant on the chrome to clean it up a little and add a little protection. No tire shine... but you can use S&W to clean the tires, tread and all as well. There isn't anything in it that'll affect traction. So watch out for the soft paint, don't look at it wrong or it'll swirl... you may want to get a good glaze with a little filling ability to help with the swirls (the HD glaze is good on black for this)
 
I don't know anything here, but I want to wish you the best of luck. I bet it will turn out great. Be sure to share your photos!
Lauren
 
We use "tire shine" on every Harley that we detail. Normally the all weather product. Harley type tires have a wrapped tread ..if you get the sidewalls on the ground its to late anyway.
 
I'll ask him about tire shine, but I'm assuming none.

I definately want to order some English Custom Metal chrome polish. Right now I have Mother's, but this will give me a good reason for boutique.

Thanks for the tips on the black paint, i'll keep that in mind.
 
I did a big Honda recently that was also black and chrome. Much of the "chrome" was chrome plated plastic so be careful, it's easily scratched. Some real chrome had a little rust which I removed but I had to tap on every piece to see, uh hear, if it was metal or not. Taking a little steel wool to plastic is not good!
 
Anyone here ever use Hoosiers metal polish? A friend of mine had a bottle and showed me how good it works...it was far better than any other metal polish I had used before.
I used it on a bike I did and was very impressed on how easy it made polishing all that chrome.

Just thought I would throw that in there since we were talking about boutique.
 
RTexasF said:
I did a big Honda recently that was also black and chrome. Much of the "chrome" was chrome plated plastic so be careful, it's easily scratched. Some real chrome had a little rust which I removed but I had to tap on every piece to see, uh hear, if it was metal or not. Taking a little steel wool to plastic is not good!
Click to expand...
detailed my Lil' Brothers 06' Suzuki Boulevard and had the same issues with the chrome plated plastic(tap tap tap :D )
I'm not comfortable using tire shine on any motorcycle tires and using anything overly greasy on the seat
 
fusion orange said:
detailed my Lil' Brothers 06' Suzuki Boulevard and had the same issues with the chrome plated plastic(tap tap tap :D )
I'm not comfortable using tire shine on any motorcycle tires and using anything overly greasy on the seat
Click to expand...


I AGREE.....To risky for me......
 
Be careful with polish near the black crinkle of the fins on the jugs of the motor and other places. The HD crinkle is notorious for getting and holding on to white marks.
Harleys have little to no chrome plated plastic

Dont worry about water, they are pretty water resistant. Went for 2 1/2 hours in a downpour at 80 on my Dresser and never worried about the electrical. What a terror trip 30 bikes riding for 6+ hours with part of that in the rain including going through NYC on a highway in the rain. First time I ever had a rear tire on a bike hydroplane on me.

S100 is at the Harley dealerships and is a good general "wash" for a bike.

Harley paint is soft but corrects easily with hand applied products IMO.
 
Is there a trick to taking out light marring/scratches out of chrome? Can you use #0000 steel wool?
 
Ok, so I'm doing this either Thursday or Sat afternoon.

I just ordered some Poli Clay, Edge foam Tips, WG pocket foams, and some English Custom Metal Polishes from elsewhere.

This should be fun. I'm worried about alll the little crevices on the bike though.
 
For those of you reading:

Set up the appointment Sat afternoon. I'll be sure to post a ton of pics. The paint is actually very nice, not perfect, but the color scheme is nice. It's mostly a gorgeous pearl white with some black around the edges.

A LOT of chrome, the spoked wheels will be a PITA. It'll be fun, I'm expecting around 3-4 hours for this one.
 
Spokes are relatively easy with Luster Lace.
 
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