Motorcycle detail?

I

imported_n1976jmk

New member
what is the average price to charge for detailing Harley's?



I have never done them before. I have one guy with a 03' softail deuce anveresery edition and another one with an 03' fatboy both stock with stock amount of chrome.



I assume everything must be done by hand and no PC.



Also, can it be washed like a car with a hose and wash mitt, the rinsed, then leaf blower dried?



Both seem to have marks from boots on the exhaust pipes, when it got hot think a little melted on, will some detail clay get that off?



thanks in advance,

Jon
 
Most everything on a bike is done by hand. Average detail on a bike is about 3.5-4 hours and at $40-$45 per hour it turns out to be around $130-$160 for a full detail. I wash the bike like I would a car, use an air hose to clear the water from tight places, then onto a quick towel dry with a mf. Using spotfree water is very helpful on bikes as it's hard to dry every area of the bike, thus waterspots will not appear on those areas. For the rubber on the exhaust pipes, try using a bit of oven cleaner...should do the trick. But be careful not to get the oc on any other part aside from the chrome as it could stain other surfaces. Good Luck.



Matt
 
I did my first motorcycle two weeks ago ('91 Harley with a fair amount of chrome) and it came out great. I didn't wash the bike, but I used something similar to QEW on the painted surfaces and Meguiar's Final Inspection as lubricant on the chrome. Polishing the chrome was a hassle because I didn't have any #0000 steel wool to remove spots and other stuff, but it eventually came out mint and I polished with Flint Metal Polish (don't have a link handy, but this is amazing stuff) and sealed open, easy to reach areas of chrome with Klasse SG, buffing off with a cheap random orbital and a microfiber bonnet.



On the painted surfaces, I clayed, added one layer of 3M Hand Glaze and topped with S100. I also of course cleaned the mirrors and instrument panel and wheels/tires. The tires were hit with a very heavily dilluted solution of Simple Green and water, and the wheels were cleaned with cleaner wax.



All in all the detail only took me a little over two hours to complete. I only charged the guy $80 though, because he works in the shop I rent too. The shop I used to work at charges between $95 and $300 for full motorcycle details.
 
When I do motorcycle details I use my mini Wen orbital to polish. First, however, the tires, wheels, and engine/tranny need to be cleaned. If the bike has white walls, it is a PITA because you have to keep moving the bike to get the whole tire/whitewall. I use an APC for the engine/tranny area and a variety of brushes. I wash a bike just like I wash a car; using my natural sea sponge. To dry, I use my Metro Air Force dryer which works excellent in this situation. Just remember not to put any slick dressing on the rubber pedals or on the leather seat. You would not want your customer to slip off his bike:) Oh yea, charge at least $100 dollars; more if you are going to hand polish all the chrome.
 
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