Coatings question

[Cobia]

Hi,
I just stripped the clear coat off the lower part of my forks and polished them. My question is.... has anybody had any luck with a clear coat type spray? I don't want to have to polish these over and over again.
I'm thinking that a polyurathane clear coat dries hard and clear and should last a few years.
Any thoughts?
Thanks

[Crazcnuk]

So far no spray or brush on coating has been able to stand up.

The good news is, if you just do routine cleaning, you don't have to polish very often.

[tinman905]

I have found that over a short period of time the clear coat pits or chips off. I polished my forks ,they shine like chrome and it's really not much to keep them shining like chrome. Clear coat will dull the forks a bit after you polish them.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Cobia,

Check out this thread by Tod/Trbig in the Product review forum!
http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16235
YMMV!?
T.C.

However, I made some custom badges out of aluminum, and polished them up nicely, and then put some real clear coat with hardener on it, but it wouldn't stick to it, and peeled off!

[Cobia]

Thanks all of you,
Craz and Tinman, that's what I want to avoid. I want NO POLISHING!! Just washing and cleaning and waxing.
Thanks TC for the thread, I may try that clear from Duplicolor.
Was that paint you used, epoxy paint?

I'm doing a ground up resto on my G, as close to one short of pulling the engine. I'm painting the engine, touching up the frame where it needs it, greasing all the bearings, rear end, etc.. I expect it to come out real nice, and after all this work the last thing I want to do the following week is to go back and polish everything again..... if you catch my drift.
Gracias amigos

[Crazcnuk]

I didn't mean you have to POLISH, just use a good cleaner and it will stay shiny for a long time.

[Cobia]

Does anybody have experience with the 2-part urathane clear coat they use on cars?
I got an offer from my auto-body guy to spray it for me.
I guess that's as close to polyurathane as you get. Poly dries super hard and some are UV-resistant to prevent yellowing.
C'mon boys, all opnions are welcome.

[fredintoon]

Depends on the climate

Hi Cobia,
both Crazcnuk and I live in low humidity areas far from the ocean. While we can keep our aluminum parts looking OK with minimal effort (on his part, mine thrive on neglect), someone living in a high humidity area &/or near a seacoast may well find his unprotected aluminum parts growing a coat of white crystals without he takes Mother's polish or similar to them at frequent intervals.
2-part polyurethane clearcoat is about the best you can do unless you want to pony up for transparent powder coating. Or indeed, paint or powdercoat to match your bike's colour scheme?

[audijunky]

panit 'em a color, never have to worry about polishing again

I like flat black

[latexeses]

My question would be...Does his urathane clear coat hold up to the high heat of the engine??

[crazy steve]

Does anybody have experience with the 2-part urathane clear coat they use on cars?
I got an offer from my auto-body guy to spray it for me.
I guess that's as close to polyurathane as you get. Poly dries super hard and some are UV-resistant to prevent yellowing.
C'mon boys, all opnions are welcome.

You're not going to be happy with anything that sprays on. If you do a really nice polish, none of the paints will stick well. That's why the original OEM 'polish' still had 'texture' to it; to give the clear coat something to grip.

If you want bulletproof, go with a clear powdercoat. With a clean, grease/oil-free surface, this will stick to ANY metal.

But anything you use will tend to dull the polish, so that's the trade-off.

'78E original owner

[Crazcnuk]

Who me?

I wash mine once a year, whether it needs it or not!

Polishing is for trailer queens, isn't it?

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Cobia,

Yeah, my clearcoat was the 2 part type, mixed in the hardener, then had about 1 hour to spray several coats on my other painted parts before it hardened in the spray can. And it didn't stick to the polished badge!

Having a good lusterous polish job with the products listed ie. mother's and such helps seal the surface, so they don't get so grungy so fast when exposed to the elements. SO then a light/modest polish/cleaning is all that's usually needed to bring them back to that chrome like luster!

The forks are a low heat part, you might even be able to put a layer of wax polish on them to help repel water and keep them shiny longer?
T.C.

[Cobia]

2-part urathane clear coat

Well, I just got the fork lowers, the top section of the triple tree, and the handlebar clamp clear coated with this stuff ($20). They dried out in the sun for a few minutes between coats and definitely it took away some of the bright 'look' of the "brushed aluminium" sheen they had.
Yet, all the polishes I've used do the same thing. For some reason after I burnish off all the stains off the aluminium with a drill-driven bronze wire brush and light sanding which give it a very bright look..... when I polish it, the metal returns to a darker hue and the finish becomes duller????
Like I said.... and I agree with Craz's approach.... I want a low maintenance situation. Although I wash the bikes more than "once a year whether it needs it or not"...(lol) I'd rather spend my motorcycle time riding instead of polishing/cleaning (call it laziness or too many toys and hobbies).
I have a longer riding season, which actually requires that I have a daily rider available for short errands and speed fixes, and as such I'm looking for a bullet-proof solution.
So... enough of this oral gastrointeritis....
I'll keep you posted on the durability of this possilble solution to a non critical issue.

[81xsproject]

One thing I wanted to mention that I haven't heard on here yet comes from SWMBO. She is a jeweler by trade. I used to help her on some of her pieces and offered up some carnuba wax to seal up the polishing afterward. Not long after, she saw that the pieces had begun to oxidize (silver) and was pissed. She then proceeded to tell me what crap MY wax was. I asked her what she used normally (instantly thinking that whatever it was I would use on my bike), and she told me that at the studio, they used Tre-wax. It is a wood floor wax. She was right. It definitely seals it up and protects a lot longer than car wax.