Motorcycle Detailing Thread

[mayank.travadi]

@To All (esp Prith and Mayank): Guys save yourself some energy - use any one of the products. No point in spending extra time in 'over' buffing and keeping your ride glossy.
Some riders:
> Most effort -- Best 'Protection' -- Great gloss -- Orange Waxpol Tin
> Medium Effort -- Great Gloss-- Medium Protection -- Waxpol Silicone polish
> Least effort (just wipe off, no need to buff) -- good gloss -- Least Protection -- 3M liquid wax.

well its more of a passion than spending time...i like my ride looking smooth and clean and glossy...hence the discussion...

but yes nice gist of the products

[Pinaki]

the hard wax is bad for plastics and stickers right?

i guess i'll stick with hard wax....now one last thing...u said silicone polish is good for everything..an all rounder...but now that i have decided to use hard wax...what would u suggest for plastics,side panels wheels chain covers which always have oily stains how much so ever i scrub with car shampoo,tyre huggers,rims,etc?

PS i have seen many tyre foam products...necessary?if yes which do u recommend

PPS just a thought...how about using silicone polish getting an extra shine...and now since u wipe it i suppose there is no kerosene like solvent material and then we can use wax on it to give protection...so there we have..shine and wax both...can that routine work?

so simply putting it if applying polish over wax removes the wax can we apply polish which after drying and buffing essentially just is the shiny layer on ur bike u can use wax then to protect the shiny silicone shine?

No , the wax is not harmful to anything . It's a natural wax from a palm tree leaf found in south america . You can use it - only remember that it's not very useful or even necessary on plastics and polymers etc . You can do a 2-polish routine , wax on painted metal + silicone liquid everywhere else . I used to do that and it worked fabulously , but have discarded it since in favour of the one-stroke-for-all liquid (you know why) . I use the wax once twice a year before/during monsoons only . Wax was much more relevant when layers of enamel paint was the norm in the automotive industry . With modern clear top-coated y2k type paints additional protection is hardly necessary .
As I said , the liquid polish makes the surface slippery - pass a finger on it to feel it and you'll see (feels oily) . So wax won't stick well to it immedately .
I have one bottle of waxpol tyre shine . It worked very nicely and tyres indeed looks fabulous after use , but tyres soon gets dirty again on our city roads . I have got to use it a total of 2 times in the last 2 years . So you have to judge if it's worth the 200 bucks .
Yes , Mayank , you are right . Washing & waxing your bike regularly is a nice way to familiarize yourself with your bike and notice any faulty parts in time to take corrective action . I enjoy doing it and try to make some time for it every weekend .

Hello guys ..I regularly clean and wax my CBZ Xtreme (sept 2012) using Waxpol Scooter polish....

Bt the problem arises that under sunlight the black tank appears to be faded into color of grey...Although it is little bit and patchy..
What can be done to ensure complete protection of paint..
( PS : I am a student so money is a big issue here )...

Did you , by any chance have had your bike "teflon coated" when new ?
Don't worry too much about protecting the paint , all the necessary protection is already on it from the factory in the way of a tough clear-coat . Despite all effort it'll scratch up thru the years and wear out a bit . All you can do is keep it as clean as possible and be regular with a pleasant-to-follow cleaning routine and avoid abuse and accidents . Apply non-abrasive wax or polish to keep up the shine . Touch up any accidental scratches and paint loss patches with ordinary paint and fine brush . Lubricate moving parts . Thats it for me at least .
Your can of wax is genuine . Hold the can with a plier on the kitchen flame carefully (when none is around) and melt the wax and let it cool and set .

[mayank.travadi]

No , the wax is not harmful to anything . It's a natural wax from a palm tree leaf found in south america . You can use it - only remember that it's not very useful or even necessary on plastics and polymers etc . You can do a 2-polish routine , wax on painted metal + silicone liquid everywhere else . I used to do that and it worked fabulously , but have discarded it since in favour of the one-stroke-for-all liquid (you know why) . I use the wax once twice a year before/during monsoons only . Wax was much more relevant when layers of enamel paint was the norm in the automotive industry . With modern clear top-coated y2k type paints additional protection is hardly necessary .
As I said , the liquid polish makes the surface slippery - pass a finger on it to feel it and you'll see (feels oily) . So wax won't stick well to it immedately .
I have one bottle of waxpol tyre shine . It worked very nicely and tyres indeed looks fabulous after use , but tyres soon gets dirty again on our city roads . I have got to use it a total of 2 times in the last 2 years . So you have to judge if it's worth the 200 bucks .
Yes , Mayank , you are right . Washing & waxing your bike regularly is a nice way to familiarize yourself with your bike and notice any faulty parts in time to take corrective action . I enjoy doing it and try to make some time for it every weekend .

What i meant was i guess i read somewhere it is hard to buff from plastics...didnt mean bad like it will damage plastic...i used a small 15rupee pouch of dashboard polish by waxpol and it gave a good deep black shine...but i guess u gotta use it regularly to keep the color looking black...dust easily settles...

i guess i'll get silicone polish itself for plastics...god to have a all in one universal product than buy individual stuff for each part...

thanks

and i guess i might later on experiment with polish and wax....read at many places u always polish the car and then wax it...but their polish meant an abrasiv polish which removes a minor clear coat layer to give excellent shine so we need wax to protect the paint..

[RohIIT]

Did you , by any chance have had your bike "teflon coated" when new ?

Don't worry too much about protecting the paint , all the necessary protection is already on it from the factory in the way of a tough clear-coat . Despite all effort it'll scratch up thru the years and wear out a bit . All you can do is keep it as clean as possible and be regular with a pleasant-to-follow cleaning routine and avoid abuse and accidents . Apply non-abrasive wax or polish to keep up the shine . Touch up any accidental scratches and paint loss patches with ordinary paint and fine brush . Lubricate moving parts . Thats it for me at least .
Your can of wax is genuine . Hold the can with a plier on the kitchen flame carefully (when none is around) and melt the wax and let it cool and set .

No sir , I kept going on reading ownership thread before buying my bike, There many people discussed that TEFLON COATING IS A FAKE , therefore i stayed away from it...

Yes i managed to melt the wax ( Had to sneak in kitchen during night to get jobb done ) Now i applied it on my bike..Should do fine for some weeks...

[Pinaki]

Then you are good - the minor colour fade you mentioned isn't from these gastly "teflon" things . Paint colour can fade a bit from exposure to natural elements - which is quite normal . Even we ourselves are not able to avoid the ravages of time .
Apply the wax very sparingly with a piece of damp terrycloth(flanel) and spread it very thinly . Buff in a few minutes , before the wax dries up completely . Buff hard with a soft cotton cloth (old baniyan) and turn over the cloth frequently while buffing . The princlple with any wax polish is "wax on , wax off" - i.e you have to take off almost all the wax you had applied by buffing . Do this work in shade and away from too much airborne dust . It shall last you more than a month . When it gets dirty inbetween , just wash with plain water and soft cloth .

[paul.1911]

I also use waxpol scooter polish, and there is no doubt that its PERFECT!
For plastic surfaces i use Waxpol dashboard polish, which gives a brilliant shine. But it attracts dust a lot. Not UV protected also its wash off in a second if it comes in touch with water.
Used waxpol tire shine, which is same as its dashboard polish, but a bit lighter, gives a very nice shine, but shine doen't remain intact for two days as dust attracts as it does with any oil.
Used Waxpol metal polish in nickel surfaces, but didn't find anything impressive.

Have not used motomax dashboard polish, they come with UV protection, gives better shine, can't say about dust, so if anyone has use please share something.

[Pinaki]

Same problem with motomax dashboard polish - it's oily , attracts dust and doesn't stay on long . Threw it away . Waxpol silicone polish works fine on plastics and chrome . It works very good on helmet visors even - gives a clear view and reduces light scattering - try it , I am using it for everything now . Less stuff = less jhanjhat, nahi ?

[Shibadip]

. Buff in a few minutes , before the wax dries up completely . Buff hard with a soft cotton cloth (old baniyan) and turn over the cloth frequently while buffing . The princlple with any wax polish is "wax on , wax off" - i.e you have to take off almost all the wax you had applied by buffing . Do this work in shade and away from too much airborne dust . It shall last you more than a month . When it gets dirty inbetween , just wash with plain water and soft cloth .

Pinaki Da -
Want to know the reasons of the above two "In Bold" sentences.

Just yesterday, i waxed up my car.. Applied the wax before lunch , and then buffed it up after lunch, and a good afternoon sleep (you must know yesterday's whether was too lovely to miss that nap )
Also read many times that not to wax under direct sunlight.. just want to know the reason behind it..

[aargee]

Same problem with motomax dashboard polish - it's oily , attracts dust and doesn't stay on long

Sir jee...not so with Finishkare (FK108AS)

[Prith]

The princlple with any wax polish is "wax on , wax off" .

Pinaki ji .. you are fast becoming Mr. Miyagi from Karate Kid for this detailing thread..

[siddharthsure]

Guys...Am Noob Here,So please help me.. collinite wax 845 (500 ml) with applicator costs 1.2K... i want to know How many times can i wax my R15 V2 with that 500 ml??? Please reply

And can anyone tell me how to use Microfiber cloth??? During normal Cleaning (daily cleaning) should it be wet or dry??? or i should do it wet first and then dry?

[Pinaki]

Pinaki Da -
Want to know the reasons of the above two "In Bold" sentences.
Just yesterday, i waxed up my car.. Applied the wax before lunch , and then buffed it up after lunch, and a good afternoon sleep (you must know yesterday's whether was too lovely to miss that nap )
Also read many times that not to wax under direct sunlight.. just want to know the reason behind it..

Sir jee...not so with Finishkare (FK108AS)

Since you like it it must be very good indeed . But now I have decided not to buy dashboard polish for bike since it doesn't have a dashboard to speak of . Seriously , it's so much easier just going over the bike with a ragful of the same stuff all over the bike at once ... even if the effect is not perfect , you'd rather avoid any more effort . My problem is that if a job is even a little tedious I tend to find excuses to avoid doing it . The trick with repititive work like this is to keep it pleasant so that I enjoy doing it - regularity is more important with maintenance, than being perfect at it - I feel now .

Pinaki ji .. you are fast becoming Mr. Miyagi from Karate Kid for this detailing thread..

Guys...Am Noob Here,So please help me.. collinite wax 845 (500 ml) with applicator costs 1.2K... i want to know How many times can i wax my R15 V2 with that 500 ml??? Please reply

And can anyone tell me how to use Microfiber cloth??? During normal Cleaning (daily cleaning) should it be wet or dry??? or i should do it wet first and then dry?

A lots of time ! Bikes have such little surface area and the Collinite 845 (sealant wax) being such a durable (one shine lasts months) and excellent polish I doubt you'll finish the bottle in 2-3 years of use .
I am against dry or wet mopping the bike daily - this causes the microscratches we euphemistically call "swirl marks" . This is because by wiping , you are essentially dragging dust particles on the paint surface - and dust (silicon) is a very hard substance .
Rather rinse gently with plain water weekly , when you are not waxing it . An underlying wax coat shall usually withstand a mild wash and still shine for months . After rinsing it's ok to gently pass your microfibre cloth once over to soak up the water droplets (and so avoid drying marks) . That is what microfibre and chamois is good at - gently & quickly soaking up liquids .

[Shibadip]

ok, got the reason.
But then coming to think of it, what happens if a car/bike is stranded under hot sun for long hours after waxing??
Doesn't the wax which is supposed to apply protection to the vehicle melts off??

If you allow that much time for waxpol wax after application, it tends to dry out and more difficult to buff off . Too dry , it may not want to come off at all (causing dried up whitish streaks of wax). In such a case just apply some fresh wax again on top of it and buff immediately . It'll go .

I use Formula 1 wax. The 1st time I used it, i buffed up the was as soon as i applied it. But then, it took me more time + harder buff to make the car shine.
Next time, I applied the wax all over the car & then started to buff it. By the time i finished waxing the last part, the first part which I waxed had already dried up. But surprisingly, I found buffing out the dried up wax to be easier!!
So last day, I finished waxing at about 12PM, and then post (lunch and nap), started Buffing at 4PM. Again, the buffing wasn't that much hard, considering that the wax had dried upto abt 4 hours.

You actually did the harder work post lunch ?? I start snoring near the end of sunday lunch

Hmmn, spoken like a true Bengali !!!

[aargee]

Guys...Am Noob Here,So please help me.. collinite wax 845 (500 ml) with applicator costs 1.2K... i want to know How many times can i wax my R15 V2 with that 500 ml??? Please reply

Till rapture!!! Use 2-3 times a month, it lasts for over 2+ years

My problem is that if a job is even a little tedious I tend to find excuses to avoid doing it

Even if it's like spray over a linen cloth & simply wipe it This is all it takes to apply FK108AS

The trick with repititive work like this is to keep it pleasant so that I enjoy doing it - regularity is more important with maintenance, than being perfect at it - I feel now

Has to start somewhere to get it repetitive

[siddharthsure]

Motorcycle Detailing Thread

Thanks... And I can use collinite 845 as wax right?? U mentioned it as sealant?? Or I should use only hard wax for waxing???