ya know, i'm sorry about your paint, but throwing a number like $25,000 in 4 years around don't really mean squat. a lot of people spend a whole lot more than that. hell, i don't even consider myself a big spender, but i've got over $100,000 in 6 years.

basically, you said you've bought a bike once in 4 years. big whoop....

 

well sir
thank you for pointing out that you have spent more and totally missing the point of my post , this Leeds me to be leave that you are one of the employees that don't really care about the customer service that the company has. It really shouldn't matter that i only spent 25,000 even tho i have two more yrs to pay on this bike or if i spent a mere 50.00 on a bike made by an (American manufacture). the paint problem should be taken care of .
and i case you missed this also the new employee i had talked to cared about my problem , the others followed Harley standards on the conversation . (ignore him he will go away ).

 

first, i am not an employee, and i didn't miss the point of your thread. you obviously missed mine though.

you seem to have crappy dealers. i bought my wife a sportster back in 03. found a thumbprint in the paint on the bottom of the fuel tank. couldn't see it unless you were on the ground looking up. dealer replaced it no problem.

 

I would think those who bought a Harley with denim paint would like the fact that their paint is peeling. Didn't you choose this paint because it had that "rat bike" look to it?

 

LoL! My denim is on it's way to being a rat bike already.

Not so much of the denim paint itself, but the forks are bubbling up underneath and are now chipping out.

Reported it to the dealer and they were all for replacement as there are large areas that are bubbling, but haven't chipped off yet. They took pics, sent em to the MOCO, and set aside the replacement forks to toss on as soon as the go ahead came through.

MOCO came back and said that I was at fault for not doing "maintenance on it before the problem became worse" and instructed the dealer to not replace them.

Now, I notice that part of the hub of my front tire is starting to bubble.....

Fun stuff!

 

Zombie thread. Denim paint here, 27K since June '11, thru rain, sand, sleet, bugs, snot- well, OK, no snot. No bubbling or peeling, scratches real easy, no way to buff out, little WD-40 seems to help. Yeah, rat bike look, almost like ya built it in gayrage yerself. Best part: slap rattle can paint, Plasti-dip, 3m vehicle wrap, whatever, long as it's black, on assorted parts, don't look too bad, kinda goes with the rat bike look. Sure as helll can't get away with that kinda ***** on glossy paint chromed bike. Looks OK dirty, cleans up in a jiffy.

 

this is not a break fluid problem if you look at the pic you can see that i would have had to paint the whole fender with it . .i ask this question to all responders to this thread . Have you taken your fender off your bike and looked at all of it? Harley told me that they will not fix ,repaint or do anything about the problem . yes i did buy this paint because it looked like it does ,but think about what you are saying , does it give Harley to produce a paint that peals ,bubbles and shows bare medal. My lowers and front fender also pealed ,but i got the dealer to replace them the second fender started to do the same ,so i bought another fender and sprayed it with primer from the dollar store cost ONE DOLLAR. it matches the rest of the paint and is lasting great . I have spilled gas and have even had dot 4 brake fluid drip on my tank and have know problem at all with it .

 

Harley doesn't make paint. Denims we originally introduced as custom paints. Custom paints are designed to look cool in some way, with no regard for their ability to withstand weather or abuse - the assumption being, custom vehicles are not exposed to weather and abuse.

The paints that meet the auto manufacturer's specifications - you know, the shiny basecoat/clearcoat stuff - are subjected to some brutal testing in order to meet those specs. There's not a denim on the market, or a flat clear, that comes anywhere near being able to meet those specs.

 

This thread is almost 3 years old, did the OP ever respond after his initial post?


MidnitEvil,
So that is very interesting information, I read your responses through this old thread, very cool man.
What about powder coating flat black or satin, will that hold up better to every day weather and normal riding unlike the denims with the inferior clear coat?
Have these issues been addressed or corrected at this point with the denim paints or is it still iffy and maybe better to avoid them for a bike you intend to ride in weather?

Lump

 

After reading a lot more of this thread I am thinking it sounds like those in the industry are quite aware that the denim paint is problematic and that should be passed on to the customer when they are buying to know that the denim paint might not stand up liek the gloss due to the clear coat protection factors and you migth want to re-consider if you plan to leave your bike outside or ride through all kind of weather and dont want to clean nd dry your bike often.

I would be pissed if I bought a new bike and they wouldn't do anything about a serious paint issue like these guys are having.
I can see from a financial standpoint why they would not want to start repairing them all, it would be like a recall on every denim painted bike sold, the cost would be huge, and if you start repairing some how can you justify not repairing them all?

Anyway I sympathize with anyone having these issues, I really like the look of the denim paint and was planning on doing a flat/gloss black and chrome combo, I might just go powder coat flat on all the metal, bars, forks, lamps, etc.. and gloss on all the tins and reverse my original plans to avoid this stuff.

Lump