2012 Red Ducati Diavel - advice needed

[imported_Brock]

After a few years without riding I picked up a motorcycle again. :D Weather has been crappy so I figured I`d get the paint all polished and ready to go.



Problem - heavy swirl marks and random scratches on rear seat cowl. Tank is not as bad, just a few random scratches (and now swirls from polishing).

I have a 7424 - started with Optimum Hyper Spray polish and a blue lake country smart pad. Several passes improved gloss and reduced some of the swirls in the cowl but left polishing swirls on the tank (cowl is so bad you can`t tell what swirls are what). Pad was thoroughly cleaned and primed.

Already discovered the paint is soft when finger swipe on clean paint scratched...



I also tried Optimum Polish on a white smart pad - not much change. Poli-Seal helped the gloss a bit but did not remove the previous polishing marks.



Before I drive myself nuts I thought I`d ask for advice.

I also have Optimum Hyper compound and a variety of pads... not sure I want to take the chance of adding more swirl marks to the bike though.

Any other product that might remove marks and finish clean? Or possibly something I`m doing wrong with the spray polish? I`ve used it successfully on several different cars... maybe I`m getting dust on the pad?



p.s. I apologize if this should go in the motorcycle forum. I didn`t realize we had one until now. :D

[TheConnection]

I`ve done a lot of bikes and I have found that the paint is softer and will mar very easily if you`re not careful. My admiral blue Honda was tough but then I got my hands on a yellow Ducati and a black Victory at the same time to work on. After a lot of heartache I found what worked for me, but I warn you it`s a lot of work. I used Meguier`s paint cleaner and then a super soft finish polish with this trick...put the DA down, gotta do it by hand with a CRAP LOAD of microfibers. I used the paint cleaner (which is a light grade polish with a grit bonder so that it pulls micro particles up and out) in a circular motion to knock down the swirls. The I move to the polish with a sweeping motion. I can take a long time but the outcome is awesome!

[imported_Brock]

Thanks for the tip. I might have to get ambitious one Saturday and try that.

I did get the nasty scratches out of the rear cowl with hyper compound. Those scratches were visible under normal interior lights.

I even tried Meguiars DA MF system with their cleaner `polish`. All the way down to finishing pads with the Optimum Hyper Polish... still leaves micro marring.



I think you`re dead on, it`s just such soft paint it`s hard to get the correction but leave a clear finish.

[WD Pro]

If its that soft, and for the relatively small size, I would also go by hand. From my collection I would go with megs scratch x but there will be other better / cheaper / easier options available :D



WD :D

[imported_smprince1]

On bikes I find using smaller baking plates and pads (4 inch) are a must. With the smaller pads also finish with lighter pressure on the polisher. Good luck.