stumbled upon a good trick

[Djunior]

I am not a pro detailer, just a guy who wants to keep his Harley looking nice.

So I had a problem which is why I sought out this forum. The bike has chrome parts on the engine, and it has black parts. The black parts are a real rough textured flat black.

There are places where chrome parts bolt on to black parts. You don`t want to spread chrome plish onto the black parts. I had this happen and tried to wipe it off. I thought I had it off, but it only thinned it and what was left was invisible until it dried. Anyway, I didn`t know this was happenning and rode the bike and got it hot so the white residue basically baked onto the black finish on the engine part.

Tooth brush and various liquid cleaners were useless. I thought it was permanent until I had this brain flash. Why not try one of those magic erasers my wife keeps around the house?

It worked! Perfectly. There are probably other detailing application these little abrasive sponges are good for. Anyway, thought I would share that for anyone else who smears white polish onto their rough black engine parts.
Djunior

[tuscarora dave]

What I know of these black crinkle finish Harleys is that the engine parts are powder coating but the oil tank is painted crinkle paint. I applied PB Bold & Bright tire shine on a 2009 soft tail black crinkle painted oil tank and the next morning the paint had lifted Just a fyi

[Djunior]

Jeez. Thanks for the tip Dave.

[tuscarora dave]

Jeez. Thanks for the tip Dave.

You are quite welcome, I don`t want to see anyone else make that same mistake. For the record, PB Bold & Bright is a wonderful product as a tire shine and an engine dressing and I use it on all the Harleys that I detail. It is safe on normal types of paints but it tends to soften and condition rubber and I believe that the paint on those oil tanks contains rubber to make it crinkle like it does so I just stay away from any crinkle paint with it. I use it more for the shine up of the frame and other hard to polish areas. By the Way, Welcome to DC

[Mr. Clean]

Well Dave, I`ll have to take your word for that usage tip of BnB. I am very familiar with its use on rubber/plastic wheel liners but clueless on using it on powder coated painted surfaces. Thanks for the input!

[tuscarora dave]

Well Dave, I`ll have to take your word for that usage tip of BnB. I am very familiar with its use on rubber/plastic wheel liners but clueless on using it on powder coated painted surfaces. Thanks for the input!

The B&B is fine on powder coated painted surfaces. On the bike that I am speaking of has black crinkle powder coated engine and transmissionand the B&B is fine on that "BUT" the oil tank is a separate unit that for some reason is just painted with a black crinkle paint that is soft unlike the engine and tranny. This paint I believe has rubber in it and is adversely affected by the B&B.

To the OP, thanks for the tip about the magic eraser. Sorry if I highjacked your thread.

[Mindflux]

Be careful with those magic erasers. They`re made of melamine foam. It`s actually ABRASIVE and enough use on textured pieces will start to `knock down` the texture.

Melamine foam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[black bart]

WOW When I read the title stumbled upon a good trick I thought this was going to be about something other than detailing.

[JohnHenry]

Have you guys walked through a Harley shop lately? Half the bikes have some kind of flat or textured finish. I don`t know of a good product to treat this stuff.

[Poorboy]

Have you guys walked through a Harley shop lately? Half the bikes have some kind of flat or textured finish. I don`t know of a good product to treat this stuff.

I usually just clean it with either Spray and Wipe or Spray & Gloss .. then leave it alone

[Beemerboy]

On the bikes that I`ve done recently when I get some polish on the black textured area. I use PB TR on a small clean tooth brush then dab the areas with a MFT to pickup the residue.

Just like TR takes wax buildup from plastic trim on a car, it has the same effect on the matted finish of the bike

[hd-nut]

peanut butter works well too.......the oil lifts wax off

[Merlin]

What I know of these black crinkle finish Harleys is that the engine parts are powder coating but the oil tank is painted crinkle paint. I applied PB Bold & Bright tire shine on a 2009 soft tail black crinkle painted oil tank and the next morning the paint had lifted Just a fyi

OUCH!

Thanks for the info!

[Beemerboy]

Speaking from experience having worked on many crinkle finish bikes this last summer. For removal of wax or polish on that finish, I used a tooth brush and PB TR works like a charm and makes the finish look good. Now for the rest of the bikes crinkle finish CD2 engine detailer is the best I`ve seen. Every customer that I did this last year was impressed with the look of the bike when I finished. Second was Harley has a "pig spit" its about the same as Stoners trim shine which also works well. All three of these will burn off with in a few minutes after starting the bike, but still even after a few rides have evidence of its effects on the finish...even on the hotter parts

My .02

[Beemerboy]

Speaking from experience having worked on many crinkle finish bikes this last summer. For removal of wax or polish on that finish, I used a tooth brush and PB TR works like a charm and makes the finish look good. Now for the rest of the bikes crinkle finish CD2 engine detailer is the best I`ve seen. Every customer that I did this last year was impressed with the look of the bike when I finished. Second was Harley has a "pig spit" its about the same as Stoners trim shine which also works well. All three of these will burn off with in a few minutes after starting the bike, but still even after a few rides have evidence of its effects on the finish...even on the hotter parts

My .02

Here is a pic of the last detail that I did about a month ago..this was done with the CD2 Engine detailer...I get mine at Kragens Auto Parts, its in the degreaser and engine cleaners area, same place they have spark plug and brake cleaners