anyone detailed a sportbike?

N

noxen

New member
what should i do? what products do you recommend? i plan on using qew due to the weather



got s100, s100 sepc...what else?



also have ckvm and ckcm





but should i absolutely not use trim shine, dressings etc? what do you do with the tires? any areas to avoid getting water? what about the seats?
 
I don't think there's any reason to worry. Most of the current products you have will work fine.



My (limited) experience with cycles has been that their paint is softer than car paint, so use mild polishes. The S100 products should work great. Test them first to be sure. Also consider using a glaze if you find the SEPC is too aggressive.



Clean the tires with an all purpose cleaner. Most riders do not use tire dressings so be careful with that. Focus on cleaning the wheels and hub areas, esp the rear as it gets quite grimey.



Keep dressings off of seats and grips, for obvious reasons.



Water should not be an issue but use common sense. Remember cycles are exposed to the elements, get ridden in rain, and don't have problems. Cycle mfrs test in extremely wet conditions when they design the bikes to ensure reliability so a little water from a hose isn't going to hurt anything.



The few times I've detailed bikes have reminded me that they need a lot of focused hand work to get looking really good. They always take more time to detail than I thought. You'll probably notice where you are deficient in supplies and technique. Bring along more cleaners, pads, towels, etc than waxes and paint polishes.
 
awesome! thanks, i cant wait to do it anyhow



so you think somethin like Swirl free polish would be too aggressive? goin to pick up that s100 motorcycle wash today.



do you think dressing the wheel wells is a bit much?
 
noxen said:
awesome! thanks, i cant wait to do it anyhow



so you think somethin like Swirl free polish would be too aggressive? goin to pick up that s100 motorcycle wash today.



do you think dressing the wheel wells is a bit much?
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If you have SFP give it a spin. The last two bikes I detailed showed a little marring with light polishes so all I used was a glaze topped with wax. Experiment a little and see what works.



If you can reach into the fenders, just clean them by hand. Dressing them won't make much diff, I don't think. Frankly, dressings and motorcycles do not mix well. About the only thing I've ever dressed on a bike were leather saddle bags.
 
noxen said:
any areas to avoid getting water?
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There's some old threads that talk about sportbike detailing, one just the other day,here.



Don't use a power washer, a hose at the most. I use a spray bottle that has P21S wash/water to be insanely safe. Don't shoot water straight into the air intake(s) and avoid spraying the instrument cluster (plastic bag over it is a good idea). Better yet, take the fairings off of the bike and spray em all you want.

For the seat don't apply anything that will make the surface slippery.



if the bike is a Ducati sportbike....water is bad BAD, really bad. Fairings off, and a spray bottle for non-fairing areas.



With the tires, don't touch/apply em with anything but water & a brush if there's crap on the tires. Good luck and post some pics! :xyxthumbs
 
im going to do the detailing inside so i cant rinse, 10 deg out here :D so all im goin to have is probably a 5 gallon bucket of warm water. so what im really relying on for everything is the QEW wash.



also i checked out the s100 bike wash spray stuff...but it requires rinsing :(



should the qew be able to handle the wheel wells and the grimy stuff? what do you guys use for tar removal? i havent found a good one yet, although i did pick up that 3m wax/adhesive remover stuff.
 
I'm doing a yamaha sport bike on Saturday, I'm going to follow all of the advice. Most of the grime is coming off with either ONR and mitt, or APC + water in a sprayer the tires, etc.
 
i used onr (dp 4 in 1) on mine, then used clay bar on it. 3M rubbing compound and Megs Ultimate compound on isolated scratches, then Pinnacle xmt ultra fine swirl remover, then megs new car glaze just to try it out, then two coats wolfgang fuzion.



I am going to do it again when the warmer weather gets here and probably the intermediate or ultra fine swirl remover on my 4" white pads on the fairings and see what happens.



I didn't have the 4" pads at the time, just the LC 5.5" pads and didnt really do much on the smaller areas. So I did it mostly by hand
 
I detailed a few bikes last year. My own - an 01 Honda Shadow, a 96 Honda CBR600 and a 97 Honda Valkyrie). Just to give you an idea of the variety.



I used the same approach, a little more gingerly on the CBR 600 due to the extensive plastics. I used a lot of degreaser and all purpose in the dicey areas you expect to use them. I love the use of my Tornador to reach the inner areas and allow the chems to sit and work. Then I blast the crud out with water and sometimes do it again. Looks like total hell for a while but what doesn't when you're in the middle of a detail.



I did notice that when a little overspray of all purpose or degreaser got on the plasitc and decals it spotted them up even after I dried them really well and I about *&%# myself. I didn't even realize I oversprayed. I thought I ruined both, but after I carnauba'd everything, it all came back to life and I could breath again and it looked awesome. I even went as far as to use the Magic eraser on the white plastic "but NOT on the decals". The plastic was not painted, it was white molded. May make some detailers cringe, but it worked well. May be some better ways.



As much as the dressings make car tires look finished and beautiful, you won't get the closure you want with bikes. I was depressed myself when I couldn't do it bc it looks so good. You just have to let it go...



Hope it helps
 
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