I'm starting to think about my next bike, and I've always liked the denim paints offered by HD but I've been leery of going that route because I questioned the durability and how difficult it might be to care of it.

Those of you with denim paint, if you had to do it all over again, would you still choose denim? Or would you go with a standard offering?

Any tips or tricks you want to share (e.g., using Windex to remove water spots)?

 

I just traded my denim bike... I liked it.
I was looking at another denim bike, but for some reason a red hot sunglo was on my mind the day I bought.

I had it for three years, here are my observations.

Biggest pro:
Easy maintanance. Nice to be able to clean the chrome and paint both with a bottle of windex.

Biggest con:
Shiny spots on the paint.
It doesn't take much friction at all to put a gloss in this paint.
I had things tied to the seat that made spots on the saddle bag lids and read fender...
Not easy to see from a distance, but noticable up close.

Looks? I guess that is subjective. I like the look.
I had the blue denim, hoping it would fade.
If anything, the blue is darker now than it was when I got it.

 

3 years in and still love it. Easy to care for, I guess, I wash it at the car wash and use Eagle One Telfon spray on wipe off wax. Still looks great, doesn't show water spots, get swirl marks or catch fingerprints like my old (vivid black) bike did. Its a personal preference, I like the way it looks, some people hate it, to each his own. Not sure I'd buy another shiny bike.

 

I use dish washing liquid and a soft cloth to clean and use a Chamois to dry it. I don't have any problems with water spots. If it gets buggy, I use Windex to get the bulk then just wash it when I can.

I like it because I don't feel like it has to be spotless everytime I ride it. It doesn't seem to get as dirty of an appearance IMO. Mine is Black Denim though.

 

Easiest care paint I ever had! Cannot hide scratches though and that has been an issue, but like others said, it is a bike and I ride it. Just got caught in a huge downpour. After the bike cools in the garage, 2 rags, some denim paint cleaner and 15 minutes and it is a good as new! I have a little luster on mine after 2 years, but I think it gives it character...

 

The paint on the fuel tank and fenders is fine, seems heavy and resistant to scratches.

The paint on the oil tank and front fork covers sucks... very thin and easily scratched, they should have powder coated the fork covers, bugs and rocks will soon take their toll. As far as the oil tank, I scratched it putting on the exhaust, it's like they shot it with black primer and let it go, it doesn't have the same finish as the rest of the parts (it's thin, like the fork covers)

I'll likely swap the fork covers for glossy black (or get mine powder coated) when I swap out the fork lowers for black ones.



Overall I like the color, it's easy to clean (and even easier to let it get dirty) I just wish they would have put all the parts through the same paint process.

 

The denims are my favorite colors.

 

Easiest bike to clean I've ever had, never NEVER wax her, and besides...

It's a lot cheaper to customize using black paint (or whatever color you may prefer) from a rattle-can instead of buying chrome bling.

 

Had mine for 3 yrs. easy to care for like everyone else said. But some times I miss the shine. My next bike I'm goin shiny.

 

pewter denim is the easiest color to maintain, doesn't show anything. Damn shame they don't offer it anymore.