Motorcycle Detailing Thread

[Prith]

But Pinaki ji, how would you strip the old wax coat off which would have formed multiple layers by now and would not allow collinite to bond with the surface. Rubbing compounds sole purpose is to damage the top layer so that an overcoat can be applied. Running a orbital with rubbing compound was never my thought, unless I want to destroy someone's bike so badly.

Lets take an hypothetical situation, I have been using crap Turtle wax for say 2 years and now I want to switch to collinite. The ideal way to do this would be to

1. Wash and prep surface.
2. Wipe with 2K rubbing compound to remove the old layers of waxes below.
3. Wash again.
4. Apply a thin coat of Collinite and allow it to haze
5. Use a soft cloth to spread it.
6. Again apply a thick coat of wax with wet cloth and then buff with a buffing pad on orbital
7. Wipe it with soft cotton cloth.

Even professional detailers do this. I'm not sure if cloth washing detergent has enough power to remove the old layer of waxes cause degreasing/dewaxing properties of household cloth powder is much lower when compared to auto detergents cause their pH is much lower.

[MoonLight]

Rubbing compounds sole purpose is to damage the top layer so that an overcoat can be applied.

Bang on !!! Rubbing compounds sole purpose is to remove some microns of top layer, be it wax or clear coat paint... When using rubbing compound we are not sure how much wax layer ( if any ) would be present on surface. So we MIGHT remove clear coat paint from our bikes/cars over period of time.

Rubbing compounds are normally used by professional detailers/denters to remove clear coat scratches/other vehicles paints/make surface shiny( ofcourse they are removing some of clear coat paint to do so) . Pinaki Ji is very right, we should not even buy rubbing compounds. We are good enough washing and waxing our rides. Wax previously applied get removed due to environmental conditions our rides are subjected to.

[Prith]

Nope... not convincing enough Moonlight. If you don't remove the old wax coat, there is absolutely no use using a costly product on top of it. It's totally against all forms of logic. Rubbing compounds are not as bad as you think. If you are rubbing it with all your might, then destruction is possible. The main aim here is switch over. Just washing and waxing is good for people who are already in the know that their wax is more than enough to protect their bike surface, what about those who are going for a product switch?

If you want your costly product to work, you need to remove traces of old to get value, else investment is down the drain. My suggestion still stands. Gloss and depth will only be obtained if the old surface is removed. I use a cloth base tank cover, it rubs my tank due to turbulence there by causing minor spider webs on current wax layer, and oxidation due to moisture. If I go by your suggestion of washing and waxing only, my tank color will change from jet black to matt finish . If not for rubbing compound, how can I ever remove the oxidation and spider webs and bring that lustre back?

Just like ad on TV. "Rubbing Compound Ache hain".

[MoonLight]

Nope... not convincing enough Moonlight. If you don't remove the old wax coat, there is absolutely no use using a costly product on top of it. It's totally against all forms of logic. Rubbing compounds are not as bad as you think. If you are rubbing it with all your might, then destruction is possible. The main aim here is switch over. Just washing and waxing is good for people who are already in the know that their wax is more than enough to protect their bike surface, what about those who are going for a product switch?

If you want your costly product to work, you need to remove traces of old to get value, else investment is down the drain. My suggestion still stands. Gloss and depth will only be obtained if the old surface is removed. I use a cloth base tank cover, it rubs my tank due to turbulence there by causing minor spider webs on current wax layer, and oxidation due to moisture. If I go by your suggestion of washing and waxing only, my tank color will change from jet black to matt finish . If not for rubbing compound, how can I ever remove the oxidation and spider webs and bring that lustre back?

Just like ad on TV. "Rubbing Compound Ache hain".

Well, if you are familiar with using rubbing compounds and getting good results with it there is nothing wrong in it !! We all having same motto.... keep our rides shiny and new

[Pinaki]

The princple with wax is "wax on , wax off" . You have to buff out almost all the wax that is applied everytime . So every waxing also has a cleaning action . Once you change your wax brand/type it shall clear out and replace the tiny tiny layer of earlier waxes in 1-2 applications .
Save the jhanjhat and just shift directly to the wax you got now - no problem .

@ Prith - if your wax is building up like that , so that it is visible , you are not buffing it hard enough . And everytime you are using a rubbing compound , you are removing a tiny tiny layer of paint too - previous wax does not prevent that .

[Prith]

Moonlight : No problem dude.. no two bikers are same.. every one has his own thought and ideas.

Pinaki ji : Correct.. I too wouldn't and did not recommend/suggest for rubbing compound everytime. It will be attrocious . I recommended it this time since the query was that costly product was not upto its mark when applied over the previous coat. But I have a doubt here. What happens if this is done over sealant?

[mayank.travadi]

So here is my experience of todays washing and polishing...
I used this bottle of silicone waxpol polish....i didnt find it extraordinary and the shine was just regular...may be i didnt do it right...i dunno...it was easy t apply(with a polyster non absorbent cloth) and could be buffed easily too...but the surface wasnt as glossy after buffing as i expected and as ws discussed on the thread a few pages ago...and yes it is easy to apply waxpol hard wax on the freshly polished paint by silicone polish..i tried it and it worked...however as usual hard to buff...

after 1-2 weeks will see if the paint(which had a 1 month old wax coating and was then treated with silicone polish) still beads water and offers protection

also will see how the painted surface behaves which was initially waxed(1 month old)..then polished with silicone polish and then was again waxed..

I felt the waxed surfaces look more glossy and shiny..compared to the silicone polished surface..

So i'll probably finish this 300ml bottle and stick to hard wax by waxpol...which i believe is right now the mother of all products...works better than all other products i have used till now

PS: while using the polish there was a very little black colour on the cloth...my activa is black...is there any chance the polish is abrasive?

[princesirohi]

Waxpol Polishes, Cleaners etc

Recently i have also developed interest in this field called as polishing and shining, earlier i was content with whatever my mechanic used to offer.

So i tried a few polishes and some time ago purchased "waxpol car vinyl, leather & dashboard polish" for polishing black plastic parts coz they have started to appear little bit grey now and wanted to turn them black again.

waxpol has a large number of polishes available, and all seems to do the same basic thing- polish and shine.... so how to select the best one or most suitable for the job.

i have prepared a list of all the polishes available in waxpol range.

Pinaki ji tell us which polish to use and why, and also why not other polishes. we basically have 3 kind of surfaces-- (1) painted metal or plastic (2) unpainted black plastic (3) Nickel/Stainless Steel/Chrome Steel.

plz tell us the polish required for each of these surfaces.






also tell us if wind shield cleaner can be used on helmet visor, with any significant benefits.

and if any one car shampoo out of these three can be used for bikes, with any significant benefits.

[mayank.travadi]

Use any car shampoo..more or les they are the same...i use motomax shampoo and it is good..u can find a very good cheaper one at MARUTI ASC...some 100 bucks for a 500ml shampoo
amway shampoo are good too

Nice to know u are in hunt for desi products and not international ones like turtle and F1

THE BEST WAX is WAXPOL AUTO POLISH / SCOOTER POLISH

gives excellent protection and water beading and the surface shines like a mirror...i bought a 50g scooter polish tin and it cost me 48 rupees and that will last u more than 1-1.5 years

the protection easily lasts more than a month

The other option is WAXPOL SILICONE POLISH

i will recomend this becuase it can be used on any surface unlike dashboard polishes..and the plastics do look shiny and black and this can be used on chrome parts and metal too...

not much of a protection but shine is good...might last a week or 2...

there is another product motomax protectant spray to protect plastic parts..u cud see that too...

I am sure pinaki ji will recommend the same too

[princesirohi]

^^ thanks but i want a detailed reply, why a particular polish is recommended and why a particular polish is not recommended.

[MoonLight]

^^ thanks but i want a detailed reply, why a particular polish is recommended and why a particular polish is not recommended.

For regular use,you can choose any car wax that has no abhrasives in it. Abhrasives tend to remove tiny scratches and bring more shine but they do so by removing fine layer of clear coat paint on surface. Best wax to apply on car/bike is carnauba wax as it quite hard and does not go away from surface for long time thus protect it. There are some companies that make carnauba wax having no abhrasives. Turtle wax is one I was aware of initially, but Pinaki Ji enlightened us and let us know that Waxpol auto polish ( orange tub ) is also pure carnauba wax with no abhrasives. So you can see turtle wax, waxpol auto polish etc etc..

[mayank.travadi]

^^ thanks but i want a detailed reply, why a particular polish is recommended and why a particular polish is not recommended.

Appologies for that as being just a small 20 year old guy who recently started riding motorcycles..i do not have a vast experience with tons of products and hence cannot give u a detailed explanation

More or less most waxes fall into 2 categories

Paste wax like the motomax,Formula1,etc etc
Hard wax like turtle hard shell,waxpol auto polish/scooter polish (yes it is a wax and named as polish)

Paste wax are easier to apply and buff give good results and moderate protection
Hard wax are easy to apply but difficult to buff...give excellent results and nice shine with a glossy surface

now again waxes fall into other two categories which are imported products and desi products

general crowd prefer imported products due to obvious reasons...they are famous and reputed

the desi products are marketed well but this WAXPOL company has been here since a very long time and has decent products and give results at par with their imported counterparts at a fraction of the cost

NOW
imported products being costlier and more in demad there are chances of fakes....waxpol products are cheap and less in demand and hence no one bothers to make a fake one

so now u got the difference between different types of waxes

Now coming to Polish

there are again two types

one with abrasives and one without

basic work is to impart shine...the abrasive ones remove a micro layer of clear coat and gives u a fresh layer on the paint free of the dirt and swirl marks

the non abrasive ones is simply a liquid like...shoe polish(figuratively) which forms a coat over the product and gives shine...OK OK and not so long lasting result and very little protection

And again as same as waxes u have imported and desi products


Now these companies make tons of products each specialised for some work..like u have a tyre foam and then a dashboard polish for plastics and a polish cum cleaner, and a shampoo cum polish and what not..

From what i have learn from this thread we have 2 products(desi) which stood above from the rest

1. waxpol auto polish / scooter polish...its a hard wax...works on all metal painted or fibre painted parts...and i have no idea about plastic parts as i havent tried it on them

it gives me excellent shine and excellent protection at a very cheap cost(48 rupees for 50g tin) and i have used it twice on my activa and once on my pulsarNS and i can safely saw this wax will easily last me over1-1.5 years so u have a great product giving great results for cheap price


2. waxpol silcone polish

primary reason for suggesting this product is it is a general purpose products and can be applied on any surface(except tyres u dont want slippery tyres do you? )

u can use it on plastic,metal,fibre,chrome and what not

pinaki ji saw HERO ASC using it on bikes to be delivered and it gave great deep shine...so he has been using it from years

this product is easy to use and easy to buff..has no abrasives and gives a good shine and no protection...so basially it is a product to make ur bike look good...not for protection

it is good for weekly motorcycle detailing enthusiasts


For other products more experience people will comment and give their views and experience..provided they find time to look into this thread as it doesnt receive so many views...(few people into detailing and most into performance)

Hope it helps...
the post is a mini summary of my understanding of detailing products and my views and experience intermixed in it
i use the above two mentioned products which re easy on the pocket and do my job so didnt bother to dig further into the market for more products and why a certain one is better over the other..

[princesirohi]

thanks a lot, still waiting for pinaki ji's reply...

[MoonLight]

thanks a lot, still waiting for pinaki ji's reply...

I think pinaki ji is busy these days....really his posts are mines of knowledge.

[evyavan]

Hi all,


I own a bike which is just 2 months old. Already there are some marks on the sides of tank where I hug with my thighs. Also I see some scratch marks. Are these different from swirl marks? Will these marks go away once waxed?



If you look at the green arrow you can see a yellow spot which I think is rust. Also there is a yellow line from the tank top to bottom, indicated by red arrow. The 'stretch marks' are shown by black arrows. There are other scratches which I think were caused by my backpack when I went for a trek.

I asked at my svc for polishing and they said one polish would cost me Rs. 250. After reading this forum I've decided to try my hand on waxing.

I do use a hose which can give me a jet stream to wash my bike. I do wash it once in a fortnight or, if time allows, once a week using car shampoo.


I am thinking about polishing/waxing myself and after reading some posts in this thread am a bit confused.


Here are my queries.
1. Should I polish my bike or should I wax it or should I do both?
2. Can I use MF cloth to buff after appying wax or is it better to use cotton cloth?


I intend to use Waxpol auto polish to wax my bike.
Using Silicon polish on non metal parts seems to have served some people well.

motomax liquid polish has abrasives...if ur bike is new and paint is relatively good just wash and use wax...if its old full of bad swirl marks and stuff...and if u want to restore use a rubbing compound and then wax but i wouldnt advise that...too much rubbing compound and u could screw ur paint up...


u can however use the polish once in a while and do with the wash and wax routine...

Mayank, could you please elaborate on that last line?


And also could you please see if these are enough for the work?

MF gloves

ilicon liquid polish - for Non-metal parts

Waxpol Auto polish - for metal parts


Thanks in advance dear fellows.