You can do that too if you have the money and time. Ed is a wicked ass painter and once you have your paint that smooth it is a hell of alot easier to keep it that way. Unless you ride daily and put alot of wear and tear on your paint then, at some point, your going to need a little more information than just which wax, sealer e.t.c to use.
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So what then would be the answer for the "Daily Rider" as you describe as the best way to stay on top of it with the least work and time without giving up the quality-I understand that these are kind of opposite ideals. However, I am new at this and I am just trying to cut down to the bottom line answers.
I for one thank you very much for the time that you have taken to help others take care of their bikes with the benefit of your experience.
Thanks "T"
Is there an acceptable and relatively inexpensive low level power tool that can be (safely) used with the "polishing" or is "wax on wax off" the best way to "Stay"? I know it is perhaps not the brightest question here so far, but if I don't ask I will not hear anyone's opinion. I do not have the experience to make an informed decision for myself so I appreciate the help of those who do (have the experience).
Thanks, "T"
Okay guys first thing is make sure you have followed ALL the advice earlier in this thread. Once you have that covered then you can start maintaining your paint more easily.
Now as a daily rider I am in lline with Skulz. Its not likely your going to keep that "Show Sign" simply because the very nature of the bike traveling through the ether, I know but I don't have a better way to describe, wind, sun, sand blown up off the road e.t.c., is going to keep the light scratches in your paint. I have buffed out my pant to a mirror shine with no swirls, ride to a show, and boom theres the fine scratches again. Its just the nature of the beast. However, having a good hard shell on top of your GOOD clear coat is your first saviour because it is far easier to get those fine swirl marks out of YOUR appllied hard shell, which is actually softer than your Clear Coat, than it is to actually buff them out of the clear coat. The cool thing is once I get to the show I take out my "Scratch Out" go over the paint once, lightly remember pressure is the name of the game when going for a smooth polished finish, and I have that "Show Shine" back again.
Okay so you have some light scratches that are killing your elbows from rubbing. Well you don't want to spend the rest of your life getting your "Show Shine" so your going to need a little mechanical help. Especially if you have done some wet sandiing as described earlier in this thread. A rotary buffer, with adjustable speed and a very SOFT Bonnet, is your ticket. Working in the area of 1500 to 2100 rpm. This is a bit messy because I use the scratch out to get my gloss finish back and liquids never work real well with a rotary because the rotary likes to fling the liquid so cover all exposed areas of your ride that you won't be buffing or you'll be cleaning that part of your bike as well and we don't want that. Now when your applying the scratch out initially keep the buffer down to around 1000 rpm, that will reduce the flinging, then as the liquid becomes creamy and sticky gradually increase the buffers speed up to around 2100 and work the buffer until the gloss starts to come up. At this pont you can start pressing a little harder on the buffer to start working any finite scratches out but be careful at edges as these tend to be thinner than falt areas and you can easily burn through the paint if your not careful. When your done buffing then reapply your Liquid Glass but keep the pressure light. Liquid Glass does not need to be "Rubbed" in to the paint. It only needs to applied gently in a back and forth direction and then allowed to bake in the sun.
As far as day to day, use a good waterless cleaner, Bug Slip is being touted but I haven't received mine yet so I don't have personal experience with it, and 100% cotton. If you wrags have tags on them then remove the tags before using them. Don't just tear the tag off either because some of the tag can get left under the stitching and it can leave scratches when your buffing.