polishing a tank on a bike?

[Mrnewgui]

i have a cyclo polisher with a bunch of different pads and gloss-it products. I have detailed a couple cars now and feel i have a semi good grip on product pad usage but i have a buddy that wants me to get the scratches out of his fuel tank on his Victory motorcycle? im curious are bike clear coats any different than cars clear coats? any help would be great! thanks!
bee

[etml12]

They can often be softer. However, the general process is the same as auto paint. Start with the least aggressive and work your way up. Also, the cyclo is fairly bulky so you may need to do much of your work by hand.

[MuttGrunt]

for the bike i polished, it had been resprayed and the clear was super stupid soft. Just as cars - different clears are different hardnesses I'm sure

[BlackSunshine]

I spent the $75 for the 3" random orbital Griot's offers. It's perfect for polishing a motorcycle.

[Danase]

All of my bikes had hard factory clear. I'd say it would be tough to do with a Cyclo, especially if the tank is on the bike. I use a PC or Rotary with a 4" pad. Sometimes I'll use a large pad to reach into areas I can not get into with a smaller pad because the machine gets in the way. I just find my Cyclo does not work well on bikes because of the contours and lack of space to work.

[efnfast]

Stupid question, but arn't tanks on bikes usually some form of metal?

[Premium]

Originally Posted by etml12

They can often be softer. However, the general process is the same as auto paint. Start with the least aggressive and work your way up. Also, the cyclo is fairly bulky so you may need to do much of your work by hand.

+1. I just use my G110 and hand polish on bikes.

[REVNU]

The clear on my Suzuki is pretty hard. I had to use M105 and 3.5" PFW to get any sort of correction using my G110. Like others have said, polishing a motorcycle is the same process as on a car for the most part.