2017 Harley Davidson FLXHSE CVO Street Glide

[Lance Mark]

I just hit 68000 on the odometer and since I've last corrected and coated the bike I've been to all of these states:



Last time around I used CanCoat by Gyeon to seal it. It held up great for a about a year and a half, but 40k miles does a number on a bike.

This time around I did the following.

Typically before I do anything, I take off the seats and rear bags only and then wash the bike. If a bike is filthy, I don't even want to start touching it until it's washed. A bike is small, and it's about details. There is no need for a foam cannon, or power washer. Every piece gets cleaned by hand, with a two bucket method. I don't use mitts. I use big thick MF cloths. I never return a cloth to a bucket after i've used it on the bike. I go through about 2 dozen or so, 6 for the wash, 6 for the rinse gives me 24 passes with a wash and 24 for a rinse.

Once the bike is cleaner, i completely disassembled the bike to the frame, engine, wheels, and front fairing....the wheels are not big deal to take off, but when the bike is on the jack, it's easy to pull up a seat and roll em around for cleaning and sealing. Here's a shot of the bike about midway through the processes, only the rear fender reinstalled.



Before putting on the lift for cleaning, I spent about two hours on the undercarriage with an APC, rags, a tooth brush, and eventually q-tips. Then it went on the jack. I had some nice weather so I'd lower it work on it in the drive from time to time, but most of the work was done in the garage.

Before addressing the removed parts, i cleaned the frame, inner fairing, engine, under the side covers, and under the seat above the battery.....as well, i cleaned the forks and wheels.

i used Reset by CarPro on the frame and wheels. When detailing wiring, plastic parts, electronics, amplifiers, GPS modues, i just used a damp rag and qtips with a bit of water on them. Once the wheels and frame were cleaned, I did a light hand polish with Wolfgang Finishing Glaze on everything that is powdercoated black, the frame, swing arm, engine protection bars, rocker covers, primary cover, etc. After that I used Gyeon Prep and then coated them in Angel Polish Primer, two coats of Angel Polish Cosmic V2 glass coat, and 2 coats of Angel Polish High Gloss.

There were several parts on the bike that got machine polished. The black fork covers are custom painted in Arctic Black as well as the inner fairing which is also painted to match with a CVO applique specific to the model bike. Those areas were hand cleaned with Reset by Carpro, Decontaminated with Gyeon Iron, and Chem Guys bug and tar, i then clay barred them with Wolfgang clay, and Chem Guys Clay lube, both were polished with a Griot G9, orange boss pads, and Wolfgang Total Swirl remover. Then a second step with a black finish pad and Wolfgang Finishing Glaze. Then I cleaned it up with Gyeon Prep. Then I applied by machine, Angel Polish Primer. That product is amazing. It creates the perfect surface for the Glass Coat. Once the primer goes on, it gets buffed to a shine, then the first coat of AP Cosmic V2. Wait one hour, then buff off the excess. Wait two hours minimum, and reapply. Wait one hour and buff off the second coat. Immediately following, I applied two coats of Polish Angel High Gloss.

As well, i polished the chrome and left most of it unsealed with NevrDull and a buff with a clean mf rag.

Once the bike was ready for me to reassemble. Each piece got cleaned, decontaminated, clay barred, corrected and then finished with PA Primer, Glass Coat, and High Gloss.

Here is the outcome. I'm thrilled.

[PaulMys]

Awesome job!!

That is some tedious work, Lance.

[Sizzle Chest]

Wow! Looks great!!! And that's awesome with the map of all the states you've ridden!

[luckydawg]

Man bikes are a PITA to detail. When I had mine I would rather detail my full size truck twice than my Ness jackpot once

[Lance Mark]

Man bikes are a PITA to detail. When I had mine I would rather detail my full size truck twice than my Ness jackpot once

Splattering a wrinkle black finned air cooled engine with compound from a wheel is a two hour clean up. The big difference with bikes is that if you want to do a part like a tour pack properly, you should take it off the bike...and you can't polish the most visible part, the top, without removing the luggage rack. If you're going to go through the trouble of removing the luggage rack, you may as well remove the docking hardware on the bottom. Then you make all three parts as good as you can and you have to reassemble.

I took off

Front fender
Rear Fender
Fuel Tank
Lower fairing
Outer upper faring
seats
tour pak
hard bags
side covers
rear fender extension and gap filler
front turn signals
front fork skirt
coolant system cover
rider and passenger running boards and foot controls

[2black1s]

I just detailed my bike about a week ago (2019 Harley Ultra Limited) following a 6,000 mile trip. I spent about 25 hours or so and its good enough for me. Last year, I documented my process in this thread After the Road Trip. This year's process was essentially the same so I didn't think another thread was warranted.

Not nearly the amount of disassembly that you did, but enough that I could do a reasonably good job.

How many hours did you put into yours? I can certainly appreciate your effort.

[Lance Mark]

60 hrs from start to finish, but i did stuff that most folks think would be silly

I wasn't looking to waste time, and much of what I did will never be seen and really won't matter, but doing work like this for me is a great feeling

what some may see as tedium for me was a joy....to just relax, listen to some great tunes and take my time, not making it perfect, but arguably close

i've offered to do this for free for friends.....$100 to cover my chemical expenses and have had not one taker in years of offering

i did my brother's 99 shadow, and my son's 14 Lowrider....other than that, there don't seem to be a whole lot of bikers who care to do more than lather it up on s100, rinse it off, and wipe it down with lemon pledge