VFR Detail

Here are some random before and afters of a 98 VFR I detailed in the fall for a friend of mine.
This was a tedious detail as the bike was Nasty by my standards but it does have about 80,000 on the clock and is ridden hard.
any questions about the process or products used feel free to ask.

 

Wow That waas a messss

 

Great job, nice pictures! Nothing better than a clean, organized garage with VFR's!

 

Very nice work! Guess I should at least wash mine again; it's been about a year now.

Care to share the products you use on the various finishes? And what is best to use to get all the nasty spooge off the chain guard and surrounding area? Thanks!

 

+1

I hit mine with the hose once since I bought it mid autumn. It's probably seen a washing once in it's life (when it arrived at the dealership to be sold). I'd love to know what got rid of chain spooge! :lol:

 

Thanks for the compliments yes the bike was nasty, but as stated it's riden hard in all weather conditions.
The process:
Cleaning

- Spray down bottom half of bike with diluted All Purpose Cleaner (APC). I use Poorboys APC
- Pour some Bug and Tar Remover on a Microfiber and lay over the bugs. I use Poorboys Bug Squash
- Wash entire bike with auto shampoo using the two bucket method. Any car wash soap will do fine I use Super slick and Suds
- Clay bar entire bike using spray detail spray for clay lube.
- Wash entire bike again using two bucket method.

Polishing

- For this application I removed the exhaust and rear wheel I then polished the exhaust with metal polish.
- Both wheels had two be cleaned again using a soft brush and APC full Strength (Be Carefull as some APC's can ruin paint.)
- Started polishing with a fairly agressive polish(Menzerna SIP followed by IP) with a light cutting pad
- Started my finishing polish with a polishing pad and some Poorboys SSR2.0 followed by SSR1

Now for protection
- 2 coats of Menzerna Full Molecular Jacket Sealant
- 2 coats of Poorboys Natty's Red Wax
- Poorboys wheel sealant over the polished rims for protection

As for the chain crud I use APC or WD40 on a soft bristle brush. This application was tough and I used a lot of WD40 followed by a Quick Detail Spray
Hope this helps someone and as I am sure you can tell I like the products that I use.
And yes the silver 08 is mine

Jason

 

did you remove the fairings?

 

No I did not as I was able to wash behind them pretty well with my foam gun and water.

 

If you ride it here from CA, and leave it for a couple of days than sure:biggrin:

 

Excellent work. I wish I was that good to my bikes!

 

Nice work! I'm curious if there were there any notable scratches in the fairings that needed to be buffed out? I'm trying to fix some light "dropped" marks on a 99 I just bought, but am wary of how aggressive I can be on bike plastics. Any insights or tips? Thanks!

 

Nice job. I'm perplexed why some find it well not necessary to clean up thy machine. I mean it's easy, simple, doesn't take much effort and your bike will look great at every outing. So whats ya waiting for, clean your VFR!!!

 

Jeeters79,
There where some scratches on the fairings especially towards the bottom of the bike. What combination of products are you going to use? What kind of Polisher do you have and what Pads? or are you going to try to remove these scratches by hand? As a general rule of thumb if the scratch catches your fingernail than it is going to be difficult if not impossible to get out. In essence what you are doing is leveling the clear coat or paint around the scratch, not removing the scratch itself. I would start with the least agressive product/ pad combo and work your way up. then you are going to have to finish with a non agressive polish to bring back the shine and remove any swirl marks. Two other options that you have are Wet Sanding and or using a Glaze/filler that will hide the scratch.

There are two different kinds of polishes on the market:

1. Abrasive- which actually levels the paint.
2. Chemical- which hides imperfections.

Each has their place but I tend to shy away from Chemical Polishes because the imperfection will appear after a few washings.

If you take some close-up pictures I may be able to give you a better idea of which way to go.

 

I use a combo of Meguiars and Mothers products. My more abrasive product is Meguiar's DiamondCut 2.0, and my main polish is Mothers Sealer and Glaze. I have both wool and foam pads, and use a Makita variable speed buffer. I have some detailing experience, but I never did bikes. Hand application has been sufficient until now with these scratches. (I have a bad feeling 2 of these scratches WILL need to be wet sanded out)
Again, THANKS for the input. PS my fairings are all off, too

 

I am going to assume that the Makita is a Rotary Polisher? If so I would be careful not to burn through the paint as Fairings are thin and will get hot fairly quickly. Having said that I would try a polishing pad and the least abrasive Polish that you have. Do a couple of passes making sure that the polish breaks down completely before moving on to something more agressive. The next step would be a light cutting pad with the same product then possibly a more abrasive polish if necessay. Follow up with a polishing pad and finishing polish followed by wax or sealant. I would shy away from the wool pads for this application as they are for severe Marring/ Scratches, and could do more harm than good.

Also stay away from edges as the paint is really thin.

Jason

 

:biggrin1:Sweet! Thanks for the tips - I'll post up pics when I'm done

 

Nice work.
How long did the job take altogether?

 

It took about 8 Hours start to finish.
I look forward to the pics and if you have anymore questions don't hesitate to ask.

 

I am guessing you are either not married or you have been married for a looooong time! LOL!