Any tips on detailing a motorcycle for a client?

2wheelsx2 said:
Hmmm...maybe that's the difference. I never ride without a full leather suit. I have never worn textiles, even to this day. I'll have to take your word on it. I wax all painted surfaces of my bikes, even the frame and swingarm, and have not had any problems, even on the track. :nixweiss
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sorry for the off-topic post :). I wear textile pants over my jeans since I commute on my F4i pretty often. I'm still saving $$$ for a pair of Dainese leather pants :D.



Many of my friends that are AFMers use grip pads on the sides of the tank. Stompgrip will be coming out with sportbike grippads this year, previously it was available only for dirtbikes. It allows them to have plenty of grip when hanging off. In the end it all that matters is to use whatever works for you, right?

As for making sliding around in your seat easier, baby powder on the seat does the trick too :xyxthumbs.
 
gnahc79 brings up an interesting point...



Cruisers vs. Sportbikes:



Back to the question of waxing the side of the tank and why he wouldn't. This makes perfect sense for sport bikes where the rider "hangs off" the bike using his/her knees. I can see where a slippery surface could be a problem to the rider.



However, Robert is detailing a "cruiser" (yes, that photo IS exactly what you are going to detail when the weather permits). Most cruisers are not leaned like sport bikes and use of the knee to control the bike in turns is uncommon. The MSF recommends you bring the knees close to the tank when doing slow speed maneuvers.



So, IMHO, I would wax the heck out of the side of the tank for cruisers, but not necessarily for sport bikes.



On aluminum - again, there is usually not much aluminum on a cruiser versus a sport bike or dirt bike. For the clutch and a few small areas where there is aluminum, I reach for Mothers Alum. polish.



Boz
 
Just look out for the backside and the bottom of the exhaust. It can get nasty under there. I wouldn't put anything on the tires after cleaning them. Even though "cruiser" tires have somewhat of a sidewall on them, motorcycle tires are a different compound than car tires. I wouldn't risk accelerating the breakdown of the rubber. I could be crazy, but I just don't do it.



Make sure to get around the steering neck and the triple trees. I have missed those areas myself. It's a pain to get your hands in there.



Take the seats off and clean underneath. A lot of dirt and grit gets under there and it can take a toll on the paint.



Look out for dead bugs on the forks and the backs of the mirrors. Bugs also collect between the headlight and the bezel.



The radiator should have a black screen in front of it. I would remove it and clean it seperately.
 
So it's a cruiser. Good that you got the S100. You're going to need that and a small brush (maybe even a toothbrush) to get in and clean between the (cosmetic) fins on the engine.



Another place which gets a lot of grunge and is frequently visible to the owner is the underside of the rear fender. You might see if you can scrub up in there.



I concur on the tire dressing stuff. Just don't do it. You don't want a fall because the dressing flung off onto the tread.



If he has spoked wheels, you might have to invest in a spoke brush too.
 
gnahc79 said:
The trouble starts when you're going downhill and try to grip the sides of the tank :eek:. Wearing textile pants makes it even more slippery, trust me I know :D.
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no worries in this case. he's not riding a v-twin sportbike. if someone is able to rack themselves with the tank on that cruiser then they must be a master yogi. those tanks are super wide at the bottom.
 
also, personally i think you need to spend a lot of time on the gauges and around the tank filler and such. for some reason i'm much more aware of my bikes' controls and gauges than my cars. maybe because they're just hanging out there in the sun. but everything i see from a rider's perspective from the saddle is so much more significant on my bike than on my car for reasons i cannot explain.



oh, and in case it wasn't already obvious, try not to do anything too drastic to the brake rotors. someone at one of the messageboards i frequent couldn't figure out why his brakes were so ineffective until he mentioned he cleaned the rotors with wd-40! :rolleyes:
 
Well luckily, I already have quite a variety of brushes (normally for detailing cars), so I should be set as far as brushes go.



I'm feeling more confident after all of you guys giving tips and pointers. I appreciate it.



This may be a newbie question to the extreme (reguarding bikes) but...VegasShawn, will there be any trick to taking the seat off? Also, what are the triple trees? Like I've said, I've never even owned a bike before, let alone detailed one. :D



Thanks,



Robert
 
The best thing is to get the owner to show you. The seat on most bikes pop up and off when the ignition key is used on a lock under the seat. Then it just snaps back in. I bet that's how it works on that cruiser. On some bikes, the seats are hinged and are a hassle to remove, like on my BMW.



Triple tree or triple clamp, is where the forks clamp onto the handle bars (or on sport bikes, the clip-ons). So he just means the area where the bars join the forks. That area generally has lots of nooks and crannies and tend to get all grunged up.
 
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