This time it's my HD (lots of pics)

[CLL]

After a long day yesterday detailing my F250, I wanted to take it easy and detail my bike. Well, I thought it was going to be easy. My bike is an 07 Harley Nightrain (I'm not one for chrome). The bike has a ton of swirls all over from when the dealer wiped it down while it was on the showroom floor. It also has a bunch of scratches on the rear fender from my wife when we ride two up. It turns out HD has some really soft clear that scratches easily. How do I know? I used XMT #3 on a fresh new orange pad to fix all the damage. Wrong move! That combo left bad swirls all over like I was using sand paper. I moved to the white pad and #1 to fix my mistake. I'm happy to say, it worked.

Here are a lot, maybe too many, pictures of the process and end result.

This is the rear fender, notice all the scratches. My wife liked to slide off the back instead of stepping off (notice the "liked").

Getting better.

All done and ready to go back on.

All done.

My hat goes off to you guys that have to detail black vehicles...what a pain.

Thanks for looking

-CLL

 

[Tonya]

WOW another great job!

 

[scottgt]

man...that looks really nice...do you take the block of wood with oyu everywhere u put the kick stand down...good idea if u do

 

[CLL]

Thanks complements.

man...that looks really nice...do you take the block of wood with oyu everywhere u put the kick stand down...good idea if u do

No, I only use the block of wood when I take pictures of it. I lowered the bike and the lean angle it a lot when the jiffy (kick) stand is down. I do carry a jiffy stand pad in the fork bag for when I park on asphalt.

 

[budman3]

HD clears are insanely soft. The tanks don't seem that bad but ferings, bags, tourpacks and fenders are insanely soft. SSR1 and a polishing pad even left some light marring ... where on any other surface it wouldn't leave a trace ... insane. The bike does look great though.

 

[CLL]

Thanks Budman3, I heard they where soft but I had no idea. I've been wanting to get a custom paint job on it with some hard clear to fix that problem. I've been blowing it dry every time I wash it because anything will scratch it.

 

[supercharged]

All I can say is WOW!

 

[AL417]

Nice reflections off the fenders sorry your cc is so soft. Bikes are a pita to detail completely. I feel your pain.

 

[Dust2Glory]

that's awesome!!! what can you tell a guy who's gotta detail a huge honda touring bike???

 

[king air pilot]

Beauty class act. I work at Harley and have seen some awfull scratches come in here. You should be proud.

Cheers
Mike

 

[CLL]

Thanks for all the complements guys. I was thinking about my bike's soft clear coat and thought about getting trying some new polishes. Is there a polish that is finer that what I've been using. I was also going to try my XMT#1 with the grey pad... How does that sound. The bike looks good but in the right light and looking real hard you can still see some swirls.