I have an 11 streetglide merlot sunglo....and the factory paint appears to be orange peal....is this normal for factory paint? Would color sanding and buffing help?

 

I have a '11 Limited. The sides of my front fender have some pretty good orange peel but the rest of the bike is pretty good.

Sanding and polishing may help some but how much it helps depends on the texture of the orange peel. Generally, a "tighter" orange peel resulting from a lighter, drier paint application will sand and polish out smoother and flatter than a "heavy" orange peel that results from a thicker, wetter paint application.

 

My bike is the same way.

The sides of the front fender have a slight peel, but the top of the front fender and the rest of the bike are like glass.

 

I have seen this on so many of the newer dressers, the sides of the front fenders are horrible with orange peel.... I have fixed a few , get you a good , small,flat sanding block made specifically for wet sanding vehicles ....and depending on the severity of the peel you can start with 600 , but I start with 1000 and finish with 1500 grit wet sandpaper,,, sand only until the surface is dull all over when dry(shiny spots will still be low)... then buff out with your buffer , makes a world of difference....if you have a two tone with a dividing pinstripe , be very careful sanding over it , its the highest spot ....

 

I have to ask the question..... If you purchased your bike new why would you accept your 20+ thousand dollar investment with a paint problem?

Felix

 

I haven't noticed any, but it wouldn't surprise me. Thanks to the EPA, it's difficult to find a vehicle without it. I started noticing it, especially on black, around 1989.

 

Ditto on the front fender. Mine isn't bad, and yes like others, have seen it on many of the Touring bikes. I'm looking at other front fenders (the KW is really catching my eye) so that should get rid of that little problem.

 

Very good question, and I have a lame answer, at least for my recent experience. I took ownership of a 2011 FLHX Merlot, and that paint looks different from every angle you look at it, especially in the sun. Not to mention it was night and the lighting in the show room was not the greatest. Then you factor in the excitement of buying a new scoot and you may tend ot over look the front fender.

 

...makes me wonder how bad the "Tangerine" color is......

 

this is just plain sad to be reading about.......cant they even paint the damn things right?