Screamin' Eagle v. Finger Pain (56k gutting)

I

imported_animes2k

New member
A friend's father was looking to shine up his bike and sell it, as he's got a new soft tail deuce at the dealership getting accessories installed and can't really afford two Harleys at once...



Being out of metal polish and having had a few minutes with the bike to examine its state, little did I realize that I was in for HELL :) My fingers hurt, my hands hurt...



I started the day with a trip to Lowe's for solvent-resistant rubber gloves and #0000 steel wool (out of both), then to Pep Boys for a big can of Mother's Mag & Aluminum polish (which I haven't used in ages, but I was out of polish!). It was a hot day today and well... lemme get on with it...



Wash w/Foam gun, Duragloss car wash, Rinse, dry quickly (well water!)

Spot spray Meg's APC 1:1, scrub with wheel brush, wheel mitt, rinse and dry w/blower & MF



Paint:

Optimum Hyper, SFX1 spot pad, PC

106FF/RMG, SFX2 spot pad, PC

Klasse AIO



Chrome & Aluminum:

Mother's polish

NevrDull

Cheapo MF

lots of elbow grease. Ouch.



The rear wheel was particularly painful and probably accounted for about 1.5hrs all told.



Did I mention it was my first bike? I need tips! and badly!



I have mad respect for bike detailers :)



My Gear

gear.jpg




BEFORE

before01.jpg




DURING

engineHalf.jpg




Before/Afters

frontWheel.jpg




screaminEagle.jpg




tank.jpg




rearWheel1.jpg




rearWheel2.jpg
 
Damn you did a number on that bike. I have done many bikes (I ride a motorcycle myself, so I constantly have friends coming to me to "work my magic" on their bike). They're very tricky and time consuming. I almost always use S100 Total Cycle Cleaner, then dry with a leaf blower, clay, polish everything by hand, and seal everything, including the chrome. Chrome can be a major pain, especially the exhaust.



You did a great job on that Sportster.
 
AWESOME work! Bike detailing is no walk in the park. Here are a few tips for a quicker job:





- Use S100 Total Cycle Cleaner (you will be glad you did)

- Remove the bad grease with crappy MFs, then throw away. At the end, during the final wipedown, you will be happy you did

- Remove everything you can (seats, panels, etc)

- Buff the paint with a machine (I've rotaried a bike before), just be careful

- Try to find one product that works on the rest of the bike - IE Klasse AIO

- Use a really durable sealant as it will make for easier cleaning by the owner and consequently for you when you re-do it





I'm sure others can add more as I've only done about a half a dozen bikes.
 
Great Job.....kinda sounds like you were beating yourself up about the time? I do this daily and (considering they will pay) would figure that bike to be from 5 to 6 man hours.

Although a lot of riders love steel wool, for us it is a last resort....they are plenty of soft honeycomb type scrubbers available today or Heavy Metals green wadding type polish.

Luster Lace for spokes. Most chrome gets Prime-Acrylic...higher heat areas are better with Gords or Metal Gloss...straight pipes without heat shields are not going to retain anything.

Starting a bike from scratch we use EF Power Wash. After foaming we use a 5 bucket system....one bucket is for tire brushes...two rectangler buckets (wash and rinse) for the three EZ bike brushes..wheels, motor and frame....two 3 gallons buckets for paint using open mitt sheepskin...and a variety of animal hair paint brushes for hard to reach areas (controls on handbars and such).

A lot more to the process but you can see it is time consuming....!
 
Thanks for the tips and praise.



If I get into more bikes, I'll definitely pick up some S100 cleaner.



I was beating myself up a bit and think I could have saved a good amount of time with the right (safe) cleaners and detailing tools. I brought my (mechanics) tools along but didn't feel comfortable doing any disassembly on the bike, even though I probably should have (at least the seat).



The only place I used the steel wool was the rust on the inside dip of the front wheel, as my polishes just weren't cutting it at all.



I wasn't too worried about sealing the whole thing, as it's going to be sold soon so only the easy to get to paint (tank, frame) got the AIO.



Thanks again.
 
Really excellent! :drool:



I detail 4-5 Harley's a year and I agree with the other, S100 Total Cycle Cleaner is your friend. :)



That bike is basically an 883/Sportser, isn't it?
 
Good job! You might also look into S100 Polishing Soap. You can let it dry and wipe it off or you can rinse it off. Does an awesome job on metal bits.
 
Thanks, guys.



Scott: yes it's a sportster. Or as one of the guys on the S2000 forum said "only a sportster" :)



Spoiled: I've read mixed reviews of the polishing soap but I like the ability to wash it off instead of having to wipe every little last spot like I did with the Mother's (which I also pretty much polished and left whole areas while I moved on... it came off effortlessly later).



I still haven't gotten an email back from English Custom Polishes asking about a "starter kit" with polishes, compounds and buffing wheels... *shrug*
 
"Only" a Sportster? Slap him for me. I love 883s and Sportsters, very clean looking bikes, pretty small for a Harley. Detailed on a few months ago, one of my favorite Harley details. No saddle bags to remove either. ;)
 
Not to nitpick, but an 883 is a Sportster. There's an 883 and 1200 Sportster. There are roadsters, customs, and Low models of each kind of Sportster. They're really small bikes, but they're so cool because they're bare bones, vibrating engine, loud exhaust traditional Harley and they've been around since the '50's. Love 'em.
 
animes2k said:
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I still haven't gotten an email back from English Custom Polishes asking about a "starter kit" with polishes, compounds and buffing wheels... *shrug*
Click to expand...



That would be available from Top Of The Line if I am not mistaken.
 
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