I went to this office this morning with a bike in mint condition and found it with two parallel scratches on the tank this evening. Was it the guy taking care of the garbage or a jealous bastard who would deserve to be beheaded? it does not really matter now. I am so upset. I am almost sure my insurance will not cover the dammage as they will say I might have done it myself. I am not the handy kind of guy, so I don't know if it is possible for me to take care of it or if I have to go and see a professional. Any ideas, help, suggestions?
Take it to a good body shop which specializes in Porsches and the like and see whether they can gently rub it out. If not, there are car specialists who can spot in damaged paint on used cars for dealers. The only issue there might be the mica metallic of the Silver Ice.
Good Luck! Maybe find a more secure place to park or ride your "rat" bike to work which won't inspire envy... Think I'd utilize a more painful punishment personally...
Going by the picture It dosent look like the scratches are to deep , If that's the case some 1200 wet and dry and a good rubbing compound would take care of It .
It doesn't look too bad. It really looks like it could be waxed out honestly with a powerball or something.
I dropped my seat and cowling while working on my bike (matte black) and it immediately scraped it down to the plastic. I know your pain my friend. Hope it works out.
Lambroving has the good advice here. Find a decent detailer in your area who is skilled with a polisher. Then PPF wrap it. My kit should be available next week.
First, stay completely away from rubbing compound. That is big no no. From the pics ,the scratches do not look that deep and look like something dragged across the top of the tank versus someone intentionally damaging your tank. I know how upset you are but it can all be fixed to look like it never happened. Always keep that in mind. These scuff marks look like they can be buffed out by a professional. My recommendation is to first try a store bought product like Meguiars Scratch X. Clean the surface with some detail spray or light soap and water and then put a small dab on a wet terry cloth towel or wax applicator. Rub in a circular motion over the scuffs with light pressure. Let the product do the work. Buff lightly with a micro fiber towel. Repeat as necessary until the scratches are gone. Follow with some automotive wax like Meguiars #26 liquid or paste wax. If the scratches do not come out with this product, take the bike to a professional detail shop in your area and see if they can buff the scratches out with a rotary buffer. Do not attempt this yourself. These guys have the correct compounds and knowledge to do it right. Believe me when I tell you this. i would not think it would cost you more than $50 - $75 to have the scratches buffed out professionally. Paint is your last option but by the looks or things, i do not think it is necessary. I used to work in an automotive detail shop back in HS an college and have over 30 years experience detailing cars. Good luck with it.
Thank you all for your replies and advice, I kinda feel now that it is possible to solve this and will therefore have a better weekend. Help a lot too to get grounds to believe in the accident and not in the intentinal damage.
Rafar.....Fine rubbing compound Is your best friend dont be afraid to use It , you are working on the clear coat not the base coat so unless you are really heavy handed you will not hurt the paint . DO NOT use a circular motion ( Thats how you get swirls in the clear ) a detail shop will use the same product so why pay them to do It . If you have no success then try a good body shop .
Shame your not local you could bring It down to my shop .
Rafar.....Fine rubbing compound Is your best friend dont be afraid to use It , you are working on the clear coat not the base coat so unless you are really heavy handed you will not hurt the paint . DO NOT use a circular motion ( Thats how you get swirls in the clear ) a detail shop will use the same product so why pay them to do It . If you have no success then try a good body shop .
Shame your not local you could bring It down to my shop .
No offense but what action do you think an electric polisher has? All polishers rotate in a circular motion. Random orbitals produce less hologramming but you can achieve swirl free results with a rotary.
As others have mentioned, those scratches aren't very deep and can easily be polished out.. any decent body shop can take care of it or there's some good advice on how you can do it yourself. You could probably take out 90 percent of the scratches with some cleaner wax and a microfiber towel.
Be careful which polish/compounds you use. Some of the long chain polymers that many use as "filler" aren't actually paintable. This is why Maguiar's "Mirror Glaze" line exists - it the brand and line that most paint shops use because they are paintable compounds. That said, even a good paint shop won't be able to make them disappear completely without respraying the tank. You will always be able to see them because you know they are there and know where and how to look at them.
The easy answer is learning how to do the Maguiars Three Step, something I learned years ago when I had a Miata that I liked to treat like a show car. Essentially you polish, glaze, then wax. Don't pay attention to the product number, but rather - look at the yellow bar on the bottle. The lower the number on the scale, the finer the polish. The glaze and wax layers are both a 0 on the scale, and the #205 formula "Ultra Finishing Polish" are where I would start. If the 205 (rated a 4 on the scale) doesn't get them out, then step up to something like Fine Cut Cleaner (scale: 5) or Medium Cut Cleaner (scale 7). Once you even them out, move down the scale through the lower numbers until you get to the Glaze, and then finally the High Tech Yellow Wax, which is a pure Carnuba wax.
And remember - polishing, even with a terry cloth towel and wax, is still making ever finer scratches, but scratching all the same, just like sharpening a knife does. You can only polish down to the coarseness of your roughest item. So get the softest cotton cloth you can find, wash it twice with liquid fabric softener in the washer and softener sheet the dryer. The best I've found are a cotton polishing cloth akin to diaper cloth at Baxter's Auto. I think a bag of 10 was around $12. You may find the Meguiars products there, or Napa had the full line of them the last time I was in.
No no no! Mix up some tooth paste and some acetone in a glass and drink it. It won't remove the scratches but you'll probably forget about them for a while. Might clear up any epilepsy if you are prone to having fits.
Thanks alot for your feedbacks,
I passed by a body shop on Saturday, the guy told me there was no other solution than to pain it. Would cost me around 250 bucks, he would paint just half the tank..., the guy seemed friendly and knowledgeable but I will try another one to compare opinions and then try the 3 steps polish, glaze, then wax to see how I manage to attenuate the thing, and then I will see if i have to consider the re painting or not
If the scratches are through the clear into the base coat or down to metal, no other choice but to paint it. As I said earlier, take it to a professional detail shop. They are in the business to repair and fix paint defects. Body shops are in the business to repair body work and do paint work. If you have to paint the tank, I would recommend having both halves of the tank painted, not just half the tank; this way their is less likelihood you will be able to see any color difference. That paint is high metal flake content and getting that right on a paint blend will be difficult.
If the marks are simple scuff marks on the surface, a professional at an auto detail shop with a rotary buffer and the right compounds can make them disappear in a matter of minutes. Do a search in your area for Auto Detailers. A great source of information, videos, and all the products and materials you need to do it yourself can be located on autogeek.net. The days of rubbing down your ride with cotton diapers has been over for decades. Good luck with it.
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