Polish Painted Surfaces?

[SoCal-Cruisin]

Guys,

my sporty's paint has some minor swirls and scuffs in the paint on the tank. Of course it is black so everything is magnified. What can I use to polish it up a bit? I use some real fine rubbing polish (liquid form) and hand polish my truck from time to time to get rid of scratches in the clearcoat. I don't need anything that intense for the sporty. I've got some Macguire's scratch and swirl remover. Will that do the trick. I've heard that motorcycle paint is not as durable as car paint jobs but the clearcoat on my bike looks more than heavy. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
W.

[bigdogbark]

I use Meguiar's clear coat paste because I am cheap. You can also get some good stuff from S100 but it co$t.

[collinsb]

Socal,
I had a similar issue on an older bike. I took it to a large professional body shop and asked for advice. They told me to use a "final finish" machine rubbing compound, but advised to only do it by hand. They advised to use a soft cotton applicator. Also never let the compound dry out but keep your work damp and slippery. He recommended a light back and forth action as opposed to swirling. The swirling you see could have been caused by someone wiping a dust cloth over a dry finish or just bad wiping habits and towels filled with dirt or dust. Waxing in the sun on a hot finish can cause grief. Shallow swirling can be removed, but realize you are cutting down into the clearcoat to smooth it out. Do several light applications to a fender first, checking the results. You will get the feel for it. Again - keep you r work damp - back and forth motion. Once you are satisfied, give it a wax job!
A washed and waxed black bike is beautiful, but it is unforgiving if a wax job goes bad. I hand rubbed mine and it turned out very nicely.
Billy

[Broncodog]

Meguiar's has good products. Just keep your rag clean

[whiffy]

I just used 'T-cut' to polish up the clear coat. Works well. Do keep the clean, cotton lint free rag damp....spit is good here if the rag gets dry. Spit and polish! Polish off with a soft rag that is clean too. I suggest you follow the advise above and keep the rubbing linear, not swirly, Follow the t-cut with a good polish to keep the finish once achieved.

Whiffy

[Darhawk]

Cloth baby diapers work best for polishing. Generally I use Maguiars but I also have been very happy with the HD products. Whatever, be very careful. The HD paint finish is not as durable as it should be.

[Broncodog]

Darhawk your right about the diapers and the brown wax takes out the swirls

[TiBaal89]

For some reason when I read the title of this thread in the forum I thought it was about painted surfaces from Poland. *smack* time for me to go to bed

[PlanB]

You must be getting a brain freeze from all that other studying you're doing over there, TiBaal89!