Ceramic Coating My Paint

[DK Custom Products]

I've been wanting to do this for a while.

We did Marys' F150 back in August and the results have been as good as advertised, which is to say, pretty amazing.

There is a fair amount of prep before the ceramic coating can be applied.

Gotta pull off as much as possible to get to the paint. Started-



Both saddle bags removed, passenger seat, rear luggage rack and both back rests removed.

Ack, it is horribly dirty!



Removed the front fender.



Time to wash it. Ideally I would remove the rear fender and the tank. But I don't want to do it that badly. lol



All done with the initial prep, which is removing all dirt....everything, and all wax, taking it down to the clear coat.



Next step, (which will be one evening this next week, or next weekend) is to use the McKee's 37 Coating Prep Polish. For that step I will remove the tank console and the riders seat. The Prep Polish makes sure there is absolutely nothing on top of the clear coat, and gives it as bright a shine as possible.

This will probably take an hour or two, I already did a pretty good initial prep today. After the Prep Polish it is probably only 30 minutes or so to apply the actual Ceramic Coating. After the coating is done, bike needs to sit for a few days to let the ceramic harden

Pretty stoked to finally be doing this. Looking forward to having a glass like finish!

If this turns out as good as Mary's truck, I will be to tackling the Trike next!

Kevin

[bikerbillone]

Cool Kevin, I know there will be pics.

[DK Custom Products]

Cool Kevin, I know there will be pics.

Yep, hope they're good ones!

Kevin

[MDO]

Great thread Kevin, I'm considering doing this to my bare aluminum wheels.

[BillR]

If this turns out as good as Mary's truck, I will be to tackling the Trike next!

Kevin

Post some pix of the truck.

[DK Custom Products]

Great thread Kevin, I'm considering doing this to my bare aluminum wheels.

Not sure how it works on bare aluminum...would be great if it did. I did a spray on clear coat on my bare aluminum wheels...held up really good for a couple of years. After that spot started showing up here and there. Of course, the ceramic is only good for a couple of years too.

Post some pix of the truck.

I don't know how those folks take photo's showing the wet glass look...the one below shows it, just on the rear panel in the photo, but the entire truck looks like that, just had a hard time capturing it with my phone camera.



This truck has been "washed" once in the last 6 months (12,000 miles). The washing consisted of hosing it down and then wiping it with a micro fiber. That was about 1,000 miles before this photo was taken.

In addition it was hosed off about 10,000 miles ago, but not even wiped down after that.

It has been some pretty amazing stuff so far. This truck get driven in some dirty nasty conditions, and since the ceramic coat has never had any soap or cleaner on it.

If I get a fraction of this benefit on the bikes, I will be very pleased.

Kevin

[MDO]

The truck looks great! I backed off the clear coating because time after time people stated it looks great at 1st. then starts to peel off in spots, and the fix is stripping & starting over. The newer spray on ceramic coatings are stating 9-12 months stay time, then do it again. I could live with that.

[peteg59]

Is the benefit simply less washing and no waxing?

(thinking out loud here: Not to discourage you/anyone from the process, but if it needs to be redone in only 1 year or less as Michael alludes, is it worth the effort?)

The truck looks nice Kevin.

[MDO]

Is the benefit simply less washing and no waxing?

(thinking out loud here: Not to discourage you/anyone from the process, but if it needs to be redone in only 1 year or less as Michael alludes, is it worth the effort?)

The truck looks nice Kevin.

I was talking about applying it to the uncoated, bare aluminum wheels on my Freewheeler.

Once a year would be fine with me as far as the wheels go, the brake dust is corrosive.

[DK Custom Products]

The truck looks great! I backed off the clear coating because time after time people stated it looks great at 1st. then starts to peel off in spots, and the fix is stripping & starting over. The newer spray on ceramic coatings are stating 9-12 months stay time, then do it again. I could live with that.

Yeah, that has been my experience with clear coating the wheels...but it did last far more than a year before starting to show imperfections.

I have no idea how long the ceramic would last, or how it would look.

Is the benefit simply less washing and no waxing?

(thinking out loud here: Not to discourage you/anyone from the process, but if it needs to be redone in only 1 year or less as Michael alludes, is it worth the effort?)

The truck looks nice Kevin.

For me the benefits are-

Even with the best wax I've ever seen, you don't get the wet glass look like on the ceramic. Since I spent $ and time getting a special paint job on the Softail, getting the best look out of it is icing on the cake.

We have a lot of bugs and road grime from when it rains...also tar sticking to the paint from road work. With the ceramic there is no scrubbing. Literally just hoses off.

I don't mess with the truck, but when washing the bike, it is not unusual for me to spend 30-45 minutes just getting dead bugs and tar unstuck from the paint. If that goes away like it has on the truck, that is big!!!

All of this is new to me. I don't know anyone else that has ceramic coated their truck OR motorcycle. Don't know how long it will last, don't know what it will look like when it begins to deteriorate.

We only have our 6 months experience with the truck...and if I can replicate that experience with the bikes, then it is worth it for the improvement in the look and the time savings in keeping it clean.

Time will tell.

Gonna be doing it tomorrow!

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

All these pics are inside, under florescent lighting, so they don't look so great. In a few days I will get it out in the sunshine (raining today) and see how it turned out.

First thing I did was pull the console-



Before the ceramic coating goes on, need to do the prep polish. That went pretty quickly, got all three pieces done in about 1 hour. I used the McKee's 37 prep polish which is supposed to get all material off the clear to give the ceramic coating a good surface to stick to.

If I was going full bore, for the best possible end result, I would have buffed out all the micro scratches in the clear that have accumulated over the last 6 years. I did not do that. Simply got the big stuff cleaned up and then the surface prepped.

Here's the tank prepped, but not coated yet.



Here's the front fender coated...until it dries/cures and I get it in the sunlight, not really possible to tell how it turned out. Probably will be a week before I get the fender back on the bike.



After the front fender, I did the tank and the rear fender...about an hour to do all the coating.



After getting all the paint done, I did 4 test spots-

1. A little section of the front wheel, right next to the valve stem-



2. I did the entire Air Cleaner Cover, it is polished aluminum. Bad photo, but we'll see how it turns out after it cures and then goes thru some riding and washing.



3. I did a small section, down low on the primary. Will be interesting to see how it holds up to the heat.



4. I did a small section of heat-shield on the end of the rear header. Highly doubt that it will hold up under the heat. We'll see.



This is the bottle of coating I used. It is still half full after the F150 (8 foot bed) and the Softail.



Later this week I am gong to get some sunlight on the Softail....I'm hoping it will be as glassy looking as the truck.

Kevin

[MDO]

Kevin, that will be a great test for durability.

I'm curious , when you said polished aluminum, is it coated or just bare polished?

I'm thinking about doing the wheels.

[DK Custom Products]

Kevin, that will be a great test for durability.

I'm curious , when you said polished aluminum, is it coated or just bare polished?

I'm thinking about doing the wheels.

It is bare polished...gonna be interesting to see how the nano ceramic works on it.

Kevin

[TWISTED1]

Yeah, that has been my experience with clear coating the wheels...but it did last far more than a year before starting to show imperfections.

I have no idea how long the ceramic would last, or how it would look.

For me the benefits are-

Even with the best wax I've ever seen, you don't get the wet glass look like on the ceramic. Since I spent $ and time getting a special paint job on the Softail, getting the best look out of it is icing on the cake.

We have a lot of bugs and road grime from when it rains...also tar sticking to the paint from road work. With the ceramic there is no scrubbing. Literally just hoses off.

I don't mess with the truck, but when washing the bike, it is not unusual for me to spend 30-45 minutes just getting dead bugs and tar unstuck from the paint. If that goes away like it has on the truck, that is big!!!

All of this is new to me. I don't know anyone else that has ceramic coated their truck OR motorcycle. Don't know how long it will last, don't know what it will look like when it begins to deteriorate.

We only have our 6 months experience with the truck...and if I can replicate that experience with the bikes, then it is worth it for the improvement in the look and the time savings in keeping it clean.

Time will tell.

Gonna be doing it tomorrow!

Kevin

I had a detail shop apply a ceramic coating to the TG paint and Bare wheels about a year and a half ago. I did have them apply a clear bra on the upper and lower fairings and front and rear fenders before applying the coating. The coating they applied to the paint and chrome is supposed to last 2 to 5 years. The coating they applied to the wheels is supposed to last 10 years.

This stuff is all new to me also so I am definitely not an expert. I just did a detailed washing and it still shines like a diamond in a goats backside. Seeing as how this is Oregon and raining a good part of the year we have our fair share of road grime also.

I am very pleased with the results so far.

How long it will really last I don't have a clue. I was told by the shop owner you can tell when it starts to deteriorate when it doesn't repel water as well and at that point a new coating needs to be applied.

[Burnerboy]

very interesting here: Looking forward to seeing the final results................

BUT

My problem is that I truely, "really truely" love to give my bike a wax job whenever it rains...In the garage it goes, on goes my headphones, turn up the led Zepplin tunes, and wax away...I'm totally oblivious to what's going on , as I'm inside my garage, with garage door closed, and not a care in the world.. It's just man and his bike Now "that's a beautiful thing!

"It doesn't get any better then that"

Ronnie

[MDO]

very interesting here: Looking forward to seeing the final results................

BUT

My problem is that I truely, "really truely" love to give my bike a wax job whenever it rains...In the garage it goes, on goes my headphones, turn up the led Zepplin tunes, and wax away...I'm totally oblivious to what's going on , as I'm inside my garage, with garage door closed, and not a care in the world.. It's just man and his bike Now "that's a beautiful thing!

"It doesn't get any better then that"

Ronnie

I know what you mean. I have been on the hunt for something to protect our bare aluminum wheels on the TG & Freewheeler. I have pretty much settled on a ceramic coating.

[DK Custom Products]

I had a detail shop apply a ceramic coating to the TG paint and Bare wheels about a year and a half ago. I did have them apply a clear bra on the upper and lower fairings and front and rear fenders before applying the coating. The coating they applied to the paint and chrome is supposed to last 2 to 5 years. The coating they applied to the wheels is supposed to last 10 years.

This stuff is all new to me also so I am definitely not an expert. I just did a detailed washing and it still shines like a diamond in a goats backside. Seeing as how this is Oregon and raining a good part of the year we have our fair share of road grime also.

I am very pleased with the results so far.

How long it will really last I don't have a clue. I was told by the shop owner you can tell when it starts to deteriorate when it doesn't repel water as well and at that point a new coating needs to be applied.

Thanks for sharing! First guy I've heard from that has done a ceramic coating on a bike. Good to hear your still happy with it 1.5 years in.

Two questions-

Did they do the chrome on the engine and exhaust also?

What coating did they do on the wheels?

Thanks,

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

very interesting here: Looking forward to seeing the final results................

BUT

My problem is that I truely, "really truely" love to give my bike a wax job whenever it rains...In the garage it goes, on goes my headphones, turn up the led Zepplin tunes, and wax away...I'm totally oblivious to what's going on , as I'm inside my garage, with garage door closed, and not a care in the world.. It's just man and his bike Now "that's a beautiful thing!

"It doesn't get any better then that"

Ronnie

I hear you! I remember those days fondly!!!

Seems there's less time and more bugs now days for me.

Kevin

[FuzzyWuzHe]

I've never been big on "waxing" ... more into riding ... having said that, I'm into protecting the paint. I'll be watching this Kevin ... I don't mind doing the work if it lasts awhile. I liked the ease of f11, but, not that it went away after one rain.

[Cainam]

+1 on the "Not big on waxing"... but I would love to have the shine and protection... I'm interested in how this works out for you Kevin.