Painting my 450

So, rumour has it I will get some time on the bike on Saturday. An even flimsier rumour is that it will be sunny.

To be honest I can't see me getting much time, but I might be able to start wet sanding at least.

I'd actually rather wait until the following Saturday because I could probably get a lot more time but that's how it goes.

The reason I'd rather wait is I was having trouble finding 6" foam pads that tie on to the backing plate. My house mate was off work today and had to go to a couple of hardware stores so he looked while he was there and no joy.

Anyway, tonight he mentioned he was sure there was a velcro one there too, so when I was down earlier I looked again...



Now if I could find some pads locally I'd be laughing... everything I've seen so far has been wool which is useless. The Meguiar's glaze explicitly says use a foam pad, although the fine cut doesn't say what to use.

At this stage I expect I'll get the fine cut and glaze from the auto shop up the road and I suspect I'll be getting the hand applicator pads to go with them for the moment.

If I do that, I reserve the right to get polishing pads and go at it with some RPM's later on

That would work, but be careful..you have to move the part so be very conscious of the direction the pad is spinning. You want the pad to travel off the edges of the parts, not into it and grabbing it and/or burning through suddenly. Static mounted drills or buffers also make it easy to push the part into the pad too hard. You're not polishing a fork leg, remember..

I've always held fenders between my knees and using a drill with pads. That way you can hold it, move it, or flip it around, and still have a gentle touch with the buffer.

Ok cool, that all makes sense and is something I didn't think of at all! I definitely don't want to burn through it after all that effort...

No connection to the site, and no recommendation of it intended...the link is merely to point out the random orbital I purchased and like.

http://www.autogeek.net/poca746varap.html

That does look like a handy tool to have!

It seems from what I've found so far that random orbital is definitely the way to go, but there's no way I'm going to be able to get one at the moment. I have the backing pad for the drill so all I need is polish and pads, which is relatively easy on the budget.

Buying a random orbital polisher will impact my budget a little too much this close to Christmas...

No connection to the site, and no recommendation of it intended...the link is merely to point out the random orbital I purchased and like.

http://www.autogeek.net/poca746varap.html

[nvr2old]

Actually, for the guards and seat trim it would be easier to use the bench mount for the drill and move the pieces rather than the other way around... after all there's one there!

That would work, but be careful..you have to move the part so be very conscious of the direction the pad is spinning. You want the pad to travel off the edges of the parts, not into it and grabbing it and/or burning through suddenly. Static mounted drills or buffers also make it easy to push the part into the pad too hard. You're not polishing a fork leg, remember..

I've always held fenders between my knees and using a drill with pads. That way you can hold it, move it, or flip it around, and still have a gentle touch with the buffer.

Actually, for the guards and seat trim it would be easier to use the bench mount for the drill and move the pieces rather than the other way around... after all there's one there!

I sand a polish by hand... Too easy to screw it up on our small parts with the power tools!

I have contemplated this closely but...

A trick I learned a number of years back was to mount all the pieces to the bike before you start polishing. That holds the parts for you. To keep the bike clean, drape a thin plastic drop cloth over the frame before you mount them. You can hand polish, but it takes foe EVER , and it still won't bring the shine a buffer will.

This is *exactly* what I thought of about 5 minutes before logging on and I was going to ask if it was a stupid idea

It'll work for the tank, seat trim, and tail piece at least but the guards I'm going to have to do differently and support them somehow.

Thanks again

And yes, I am going to make this baby shine...

[nvr2old]

A trick I learned a number of years back was to mount all the pieces to the bike before you start polishing. That holds the parts for you. To keep the bike clean, drape a thin plastic drop cloth over the frame before you mount them. You can hand polish, but it takes foe EVER , and it still won't bring the shine a buffer will.

[salty_monk]

I sand a polish by hand... Too easy to screw it up on our small parts with the power tools!

I'm sure those polishers are needed,for a car.I'm sure they will work on a bike to.Pete you've done all the sanding by hand,polishing it by hand will be a doddle for you.

Cheers Greg, I shall see how it pans out... and yes, definitely will be sanding by hand...

I'm sure those polishers are needed,for a car.I'm sure they will work on a bike to.Pete you've done all the sanding by hand,polishing it by hand will be a doddle for you.

So I finally dug out the house mate's polishing stuff tonight. He had a couple of pads that are now in the bin as they're quite perished and dodgy.

However, he does have this:



5 inch backing pad plus a couple of brackets to turn a drill into a polisher.

Looks like that's the way forward for me, just need some polishing pads and polishing and I'll be all set after sanding.

Looks like there's both wool and felt pads available and probably lots of others also. Any tips on which material is better? Same for all polishes or is it like metal polishing where some materials work better with some compounds?

We'll be there .

That pipe looks the gear . Veery nice . (You're gonna have to make a reallly smick bracket for it) .

You know , if you got your arse into gear , ......................
January .......
The Island she come ..................................................

Cheers , Simon .

Yeah I still find myself staring at that pipe... and yep it has a bracket, just gave it a nice shiny black coat of POR 15 Blackcote

While the bike's on track so far, I still won't be able to make to the island, but definitely keen to say g'day on the way through and maybe add some km's with you on the way through depending on what's going on. That would be a blast for sure

I will definitely have to start working on the next island trip though...

Porter Cable random orbital polisher. Were we a bit closer, you be welcome to borrow mine. Bit pricey, but oh so effective.

Here's the back of a bass I refinished last year. I used the PC orbital to polish it up.

Mate that's a nice effort! Very shiny I got looking at orbitals today but they're a tad pricey...

i've got a random orbital, they are safer to use than a rotary polisher, i use one for detailing, mines abit bulky though. I also have a random orbital sander with a variable speed on it which i am looking for pads to fit it to try that out instead.

Hmmmm everything I've found so far says random orbital is good, but the price is the issue at the moment... I've still gotta get tyres, a headlight, do something about the seat, and rego. so expensive tools at this stage are going to put big dents in the budget...

Just in case you forgot, Pete..
Reminisce here

Oh and don't think those turd polishing digs will be forgotten..

Thanks for the reminder Leigh, I definitely will get there one day! Wish it was this time but it just ain't gonna happen... I am keen though

And I'm sure once you get the fat girl cafe'd she'll be all pretty and totally un-turd like

You know , if you got your arse into gear , ......................
January .......
The Island she come ..................................................

Cheers , Simon .

Just in case you forgot, Pete..
Reminisce here


Oh and don't think those turd polishing digs will be forgotten..

i've got a random orbital, they are safer to use than a rotary polisher, i use one for detailing, mines abit bulky though. I also have a random orbital sander with a variable speed on it which i am looking for pads to fit it to try that out instead.

Porter Cable random orbital polisher. Were we a bit closer, you be welcome to borrow mine. Bit pricey, but oh so effective.

Here's the back of a bass I refinished last year. I used the PC orbital to polish it up.