I just bought a Griots 3" RO and was going to polish my paint. Second guessing it now.

Paint is in GREAT shape. Haven't touched the black CVO Ultra Classic with anything but a microfiber and it looks good. Minimal swirling.

Would serious wax job with the 3" do the trick as far as covering those very lite swirls? Just a little reluctant to take even a VERY FINE abrasive to the paint unless I really need to.

 

My friends and I use Meguires ScratchX 2.0 and have excellent results with swirls and minor scratches. Usually only use buffer when hand-rubbing isn't enough.

We follow-up with a coat of wax using a buffer.

Sammi

 

Wax or other last step products like polymer sealers only protect the finish unless they are all in one products that include both a polish and a sealer.

If it were my bike and the surface is relatively good, I'd try hand polishing a small area (maybe under the seat?) to see if it took out what little surface imperfections you indicate you have. I would be surprised if machine polishing would be required.

If you wanted, you could try claying the surface before polishing. I did this to my bike and it seemed to help.

Once you finish polishing and the paint looks acceptable, then put on your wax to protect the finish.

Just my thoughts...

 

+1 on what Morris said. What polish do you have and what pads do you have available with your GG RO? I recommend Meguiars Mirror Glaze #205 Ultra Finishing Polish followed by a LSP (Wax). If you are comfortable using the Orbital I would not hesitate throwing it to the paint with polish using a good polishing pad (Lake Country for example). Afterwards take a spotlight or something similar and inspect I'd be willing to bet all the swirls would be gone (depending on severity).

Good luck and feel free to post us up some pics.

 

I bought the Griots polishing pads and their waxing pads. Also using their Best of Show Wax and their Ultra Fine Machine Polish 4 which according to their site is for "when you have nearly flawless paint with only light swirls and toweling marks".

I watched their video that came with the RO tool. He waxed the SNOT of that car on that video. Laid down one coat of wax and let it cure 3 hours, did NOT wipe it off, then laid down a 2ND coat of wax on top of that and let that cure for 3 hours, then, laid down a 3RD layer on top of that and let it cure on the vehicle all night! The next day he wiped it all off. Where it was a challenge wiping off he sprayed a little spray wax and wiped it all off. HARD CORE wax job.

 

From what I've read, there is some debate on whether or not layering wax in multiple coats really works or not. Some say that when you add the second coat all you're doing is re-emulsifying the first coat and that you aren't really making the coat of wax any thicker. Doing multiple coats probably won't hurt anything though.

I have heard that their Best of Show wax is a really good product.

I've been using a product line called Zaino for several years and found it to work well for me. It's not a wax but a type of polymer sealer.

I have heard that Best of Show wax makes the paint look different from sealer type LSP's so hopefully your bike will look the way you want when finished.

Good luck!