Scarpetta;
I went on a tour of the touring plant as well as the SE plant in York,PA. The tour guide took us through the entire assembly line and when we reached the paint section is when he told us about how the clearcoat is applied to all new bikes. I am unsure why he would have made this up. He stated that the clearcoat is not sprayed on and that it is a type of powder which is baked on.
It sounds like a similar process to powdercoating but he did not mention that it is attracted to the surface by an electrical charge like powdercoat.

Just my 2 cents

 

dont get me wrong I wasnt saying you were incorrect thats why I stated "correct me if I am wrong" its been years since I have been in the field so my knowledge is out dated and I have a 48 not a bagger so I have no clue as to what material is used on those lids. When you referred to powder and baking I assumed it was tins only since baking plastic sounds wrong to me but that doesn't mean it is. that's all. reading all the options givin here I personally would go the armor route, a co-worker has a similar product on his car and not a single rock chip... that stuff works. If you ever get to wanting to sell it I could see pealing it off and having the scratch fixed since as someone else stated clear coat nowadays is very thin so you can only repair ir so much till you have to re-clear it. that's just my 2 penny's though

 

ya well, I wouldn't buy a kit like this again. granted i might not have waited long enough for the clear to dry but the crap peeled right off in some places.

they DID however provide a decent compound and small sanding pads. 2400,3200 and ? grit.

I had to peel the clear coat off and wet sanded the whole top. it scared the crap out of me because it look like crap after that. I was able to bring back a shine with the compound and i think some of the smaller scratches are gone. there are still about a dozen deep ones but it looks much better then it did.

i'll have the local shop have a go at it down the road. but someone told me that a new lid goes for about 135. which surprised me. I might go that road too.

thanks guys.

 

Hey Scarpetta;
I thought it sounded kind of weird too when he said it. I thought about it a little more and said maybe it is better, no over spray and so on. No idea. I can say the tour was awesome. Supposedly the dealer we went with got us in to the SE factory which I was told you cannot go on that tour by yourself. If anyone ever has the chance to go to one of the plants it is well worth it.

 

I would like to go this summer since i am to close to have an excuse for not going yet

 

Agree w/others - take the lid off & get it to a detail/paint shop. Then get yourself some lid covers & you'll never have to worry again...

 

I would sand the lid with 1500 grit and reclear 600 is to course you might get away with 1500 and buffing but be careful to not burn the edges if you cut through the clear another coat of clear will probably lift the colorcoat if your not comfortable with any of these processes take it to a body shop no more than they are going to do it won't be to painful!!!!

 

iam a painter go to a body shop supply and buy a ultra fine 3m scuff pad they are gray in color. get some comet and water and scuff the lid till it dull with the scuff pad take it to a body shop and have them clear coat it. it is very reasonable price if u water sand it yourself and polish it with compound u will screw it if u dont know what your doing. if u go thru the clear coat then u got trouble. it will be cheaper just to clear coat it. just thought u might wanna know good luck.