tips from a detailer

[Hoblick]

you want to know how to keep your bike looking great?

well ill give you a few tips!

this is a great way to start..

this will give you a clean slate to keeping her clean, and shiny.

part one: degrease

now i know how everyone hates chin lube being slung everywhere, and it plays hell on the swing arm, sprocket, and rear wheel.

i use a little kerosene on a microfiber towel to clean thigns up, wipes away very quickly. and if i do this i usually go ahead and clean the chain while im at it.

then i use meguairs all purpose cleaner, i spray liberally in areas that need to be degreased, oil pan, front of the motor, forks, wheels, i go over the swing arm, chain guard, rear shock, etc.

then let it sit for 15 min to do its work.

agitate with a brush if necessary

then get the hose out and spray everything down

part two: the wash

since we are basically going to be starting from scratch use this method only for the first time your going to be doing extensive work on the finish of your bike, all other times (after you have got it perfect and have a good sealer, use a nice mild car wash.. such as meguiars gold glass car wash, that wont eat the waxes, and sealants)

anywho this time we will use something that will help strip the wax and sealants down.

i usually use chemical guys citrus wash & clear, but for you guys that want to buy locally, just use some dawn dish soap.

i have a nozzle i can put some of the soap into and foam it out onto the bike. i let it soak so it can loosen any dirt grime

a good thing to have in your bucket is a grit guard, you can pick them up pretty cheap and it keeps your sponge or mit from touching the bottom of the bucket, where all the grime and rocks, debris will be.

i usually use a 2 bucket system. one with clean water, and one with my soapy mixture.

dip into the soapy mixture apply to your VFR, then rinse in clean water then back into your soap bucket.

i also use a seperate bucket/mit for the wheels, since they are dirtier i dont want to get any debris from them onto the fairings/tank/screen.

so do your washing, then rinse!

step three: dry it

every body loves the sham wow... but please dont use it. only a nice thick microfiber drying towel should be used, and i prefer using forced air, a leaf blower works great, and gets water out of every spot on the bike.

step four: clay

this is a crucial part to a clean finish

i use the zaino clay bar but if i need somethign on the spot i usually pick up clay magic.. can be picked up locally at autozone. youll receive a clay bar and lubricant.

work small sections at a time, mist the lubricant on to the area you are working with then slide the clay bar on that area. youll se it will pick up things out of the paint/plastic you never knew where there. if the clay gets dirty, roll it into a ball then flatten it back out and continue.

i use the clay on the windscreen as well. and headlights, tail light, turn signals.

after each spot you work on wipe down with a microfiber towel with some alcohol on it.

step five: polish

depending on how bad your paint condition is, will depend on what you start with. but for argument sake, lets say its swirled pretty good.

the right tools are needed for the job. although you can obtain some decent results by hand, you wont get a truly optimum clarity.

i use a porter cable buffer, and CCS pads.

to start with, for badly wirled surfaces (which include paint headlights, taillights, turn signals)

ill use a yellow CCS pad and some Meguiars #105

i set the porter cable to speed 5. work small areas at a time. make several passes till the polish is gone.

ill do this to every part of the bike that i am polishing.

after im down ill wipe down with a new microfiber towel and alcohol, and inspect. 99% of the swirls should be gone. if not ill make a few more passes.

i then move to a white CCS pad and some middle weight polish (either Meguaris #83, Meserna IP, or poor boys world polish)

same procedure as before

for our final pass ill use the Black CCS pad and the porter cable on speed 3, ill generally use Menzerna FP or Poorboys SSR3

on the last pass, i wont wipe down with alcohol, i just use a microfiber towel.

now one the wheels, i do the same process, only by hand.

Step six: wax that ass/ or seal it

now this is up to you..

on what you finish it with.

i can use many different thigns at different times, zaino z2 followed buy some z8. or a pinnacle wax followed my optiseal..

if buying stuff from auto zone use a combo of things. i like to start out with a nice coat of Meguiars #6 tech wax. key is thin coats. let it dry atleast 30 min before wiping down with a microfiber towel.

i usually do 2 coats of that, then move on to a sythetic poly wax such as meguiars NXT same process as the tech wax.

now if you wanna spring it, i highly recommend the optimum Opti seal. works great and is a very long lasting sealer. jsut mist and wipe in. this will go over top of your coats of wax.

these wax processes go the same for your screen, taillight, head light, turn signal, and wheels.

and your outcome should be something like this..

this is a friends VFR i did a while ago

same process, just on a newer vette.. black is purtty!!

for any of you guys looking to pick up some polishes/ waxes / sealants.. here is a nice list to choose from..

more severe scratches/swirls-

Megs 105

Menzerna powergloss

Poorboys SSR 3

medium polishing -

Menzerna IP

Zaino ZPC

Poorboys SSR 2.5

Megs 83

fine polish --

MEnzerna FP

Poorboys SSR1

Sealants -

Poorboys EX-P

Zaino z2

optimum optiseal

Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0

Wax-

poorboys Nattys blue or red

Meguiars #26 followed by Meguiars NXT

Pinnalce XMT 180 high gloss

[Hoblick]

here is a good pic of what a little polish will do..

before and after

[Hoblick]

before and after on a 79 ford truck

note this is only after the first stage of polishing.. as was the picture above

shiny gloss on the TL

and a great depth shot from a yamaha cruiser i did

[Hoblick]

shadow spirit got some love as well..

toyota supra gets some high gloss..

sorry for all the pics guys.. just looking through my photobucket and found alot of my detail work, figured id show what a little work can get you..

my old explorer after a long day of detailing

and my old ace after a detail

and a big dog mastiff i did last year

[Hoblick]

this can be be put in the how to section if anyone wants to move it there

[R1Limited]

How much do you charge to detail a car? or bike for that matter??

[Hoblick]

here is another shot of the land cruiser

you can see what i started out with lol..

this is after a few passes with a heavy orange pad on the PC and some Megs #105

before

[magley64]

Excellent work.

[Hoblick]

thank you

[Hoblick]

and here is a mustang GT i did..

more of the vette

[V4junkie]

Wooooow I love the color on that vette, it doesn't even look real.

+Rep for schooling us on how to get something REALLY clean.

[duc1098rdr]

Yes sir I am impressed!

[dustinsn3485]

That vette is amazing!!

[that dude]

you the man..the vette is fuckin ridic bro..i take it your a detailer?

[Hoblick]

  that dude said:

you the man..the vette is fuckin ridic bro..i take it your a detailer?

when im not working my full time job yes.

i do it on the side for a little extra income, plus i just enjoy doing it!

[that dude]

every buff out gelcoat on a boat? what do you charge per foot or do you survey the job first, or.......

[SuperHawk]

I can attest to Hoblick's skillz in detailing, he cleaned my bike up REAL nice, and if he wasn't so busy right now he'd be doing my cars as well, but his attention to detail is awesome.

[Hoblick]

  that dude said:

every buff out gelcoat on a boat? what do you charge per foot or do you survey the job first, or.......

i have done a sea doo jet boat once. what a PIA.. i will do them, but it cost! and yes i like to survey before i give a quote... dont want to under pay myself, nor do i want to overcharge the customer

[Hoblick]

  SuperHawk said:

I can attest to Hoblick's skillz in detailing, he cleaned my bike up REAL nice, and if he wasn't so busy right now he'd be doing my cars as well, but his attention to detail is awesome.

thanks!

when i get free ill give you a hollar

[Zorro]

  Hoblick said:

i have done a sea doo jet boat once. what a PIA.. i will do them, but it cost! and yes i like to survey before i give a quote... dont want to under pay myself, nor do i want to overcharge the customer

What's the range for a motorcycle? fairly clean..some swirls. Black. Half flat so that wouldnt need wax

I wont hold you to it...just looking for a range so I can decide if I'd want to do it.

[that dude]

  Hoblick said:

i have done a sea doo jet boat once. what a PIA.. i will do them, but it cost! and yes i like to survey before i give a quote... dont want to under pay myself, nor do i want to overcharge the customer

yea my rig is starting to looked a little chalky/sun faded in some spots, might get a hold of ya when i get my ass back to work!

[Hoblick]

  that dude said:

yea my rig is starting to looked a little chalky/sun faded in some spots, might get a hold of ya when i get my ass back to work!

yeah let me know

[thegame]

good job bro. nice work.

[EagleCock]

wow. amazing work. I will prob hit you up sometime to detail my wife's car when I'm looking to get a BJ or something out of her

will the same method work on rattle can? I've been scared to use honda polish or anything like that since I'm afraid it might not work the same on spray paint as it does on "real" paint

[swingset]

Nice work. Makes me glad I ride dual-sports, I don't have time to ride & clean.