Motorcycle polish and scratch removal

rotts4u

rotts4u

Member
I have a Bright Red Honda Goldwing of mine that I want to polish with my PC-DA but I dont want to mess anything up. I tried to buff my red Dodge truck last year and ended up adding as many scratchs/ spider webs as I removed. So I have been doing my own cars by hand lately.



Maybe I am just too new to do a good job yet. I have some Meguires fine cut and swirl remover as well as some regular cleaner wax which I think is only a chemical paint cleaner not mechanical. Plus I have the meguires pure polish. I have 3 different pads one for cutting from topi care orange yellow and black foam.



I want to try this on the wing but am affraid to. Can someone give me some specific tips on ehat pad and product to use where to get it defect free? None of the scratches are deep so there has to be a way.



Thanks
 
Bikes are a bit tricky as there are a lot of curves. My advice is to practice more on your truck. Once you've learned the technique, then move onto your bike.



If you want to stick with Meguiar's products, #80 Speed Glaze and #83 DACP are good to use on a W8006 polishing pad.



Or you could get some Menzerna Intensive Polish and Final Polish II.
 
I would start with something much more mild than any of the Meguiars professional 8X series products. The paint on the Goldwing is rather soft. I would start out with Meguiars Swirl Remover #9 by PC. I have had great luck with Honda motorcycle paint using pretty mild compounds. Remember the old addage, "always start out with the least agressive product possible and work up from there". It is a lot easier to move up to a more agressive product than it is to repaint the bike if you burn through the paint. :D



Do you have a Porter Cable polisher or one of those waxomatic Sears orbitals? If you want to use a machine I would highly suggest the Porter Cable (PC).



http://www.properautocare.com/74uldema.html



You can also get a 3.5" backing plate and 4" pads that will make polishing the small surfaces and curves of a bike much easier.



http://www.properautocare.com/4inspotreppa.html



I have the Meguiars G100 which is a relabeled version of the Porter Cable. You can see the 3.5" backing plate.



2760meguiarspc.jpg




Would love to see some before and afters of your Wing. I currently have a 1997 Honda VFR750 but, the last bike was a 1996 Goldwing Aspencade.



2760mywing1.jpg
 
I taped off half of one of the rear farings and using my PC-DA buffer and started with an orange pad (tropicare) and #9 meguiars and taking my time and moving slowly until nearly dry I could not see much of a difference at all. Then I stepped up to the FINECUT #5 on the cut scale I did the same after lceaning the pad and noticed a slight hAZE COMPARED TO THE PAINT UNDER THE TAPE.



So I then removed that haze with some straight polish and a foam black pad and now it looks like the haze is gone but I still see all the micro spider web like swirls. Its not really any better than it was in the beginning.



Do I need more or less cut to the product and pad? I am missing something because I see all these impressive photos before and after and I am just not seeing it.



Thanks
 
The Fine Cut cleaner leaving a bit of haze is nothing to be worried about. Depending on the polish/paint/pad you might get haze regardless of your technique. You want to follow up with a milder polish, such as #80 Speed Glaze on a polishing pad, to remove the haze.



The pure polish you used is hiding defects. Try cleaning it off with some diluted isopropyl alcohol so that you can then assess the paint condition.
 
Actually Meguiars #9 Swirl Remover is NOT a pure polish, it is a cleaner polish with chemical and abrassive cleaners in it. #9 is a 3 on Meguiars abrassiveness scale whereas #80 is only one notch above at a 4. As I stated earlier though, it is always best to start out less agressive and work your way up as needed.



What speed are you running the PC at??? I generally run mine at 4-5 and work #9 for a while. I generally work #9 until it is almost dry. I then go back with a quick detailer and a soft microfiber and wipe it off. #9 is a mild compound and it may take repeated applications.



#9 really should be able to at least make a dent in those swirls in my experience with 4 different Honda motorcycles of my own including the Goldwing and I have lost track of how many others belonging to friends I have worked on.



By the way rotts4u, where are you located???
 
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