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About 2-3 months ago, I started to ask about taking better care of my bike. Eagle answered.
A few weeks back I started one of the biggest undertakings I've tried in a while. Most of the bike came apart, and as each piece was completed, I slowly reassemble the bike. I feel like it really turned out great.
I'll start with a pic of the bike as it stands right now. This is a 2017 Harley Davidson CVO Street Glide with the standard features that come with a CVO including an extended rear fender extension, various chrome trim and accents, CVO tank console, hidden gas cap, Airflow controls and running boards, stretched hard bags, CVO exclusive custom paint, painted inner fairing with CVO inlay, Boom GT 6.5 Infotainment head unit, cruise control, ABS, Link Brakes, and the upgraded OEM rear suspension.
A few extras that I've added:
I removed the OEM amps and speakers in the bags and fairings and replaced with aftermarket equipment. I had a pro outfit reprogram the head unit. We replaced the rear Boom 5x7 speakers in the rear with 6x9 DB Drives. Using adapters we were able to keep the original cutout look on top of the bags and preserve the auto lock features. Aftermarket kits usually nix any auto locks on hard bags. We replaced the Boom speakers in the fairing with Audio Dynamics component speakers. We floated the tweeter in the grill of the new 6.5s in the fairing. We eliminated both HD amps and replaced with one Arc Audio Moto 600.4 hidden in the fairing. It sounds incredible.
I had the 114" replaced with a 117". You'll see the 114" markings in the pics following, but she's got the big bore kit and a new cam. After tuning the HP went from about 85 to 115 and the TQ went from about 90 to 126. It starts pulling pretty hard at about 2500 RPMs and I really don't lose much before the rev limiter kicks in.
For security, I installed the INNOVV K2 dual channel camera. It starts recording the minute I turn the bike on and stops about 10-15 seconds after I shut it off. It has a GPS, and as it records, the video displays speed and location. Both front and rear camera record to a looping DVR which rewrites after about 20 hrs of video. Video is 1080p and is easy to pull via WiFi or by physically pulling the chip.
I added the matching Arctic Black and Dark Slate Candy tour pack with a chrome luggage rack and the CVO passenger backrest. Every once in a while someone comments that the pack looks set back. I added an aftermarket extension kit to give me and my wife a bit more room as we ride two up quite a bit. We are headed for Rushmore in a few weeks.
Here is the list of products I used:
Reset Intensive Car Wash Gyeon Iron Wolfgang Clay and Lube Chemical Guys Lube Wolfgang Uber Compound Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover Wolfgang Finishing Glaze Gyeon Prep Gyeon CanCoat Nevr-Dull Sonax Total Wheel Cleaner
Griot's G8 Various 2" and 3" pads
I started by taking the bike apart. I removed the front fairing, windshield, seats, tour pack, bags, side covers, front fender, rear fender extensions, fuel tank, fork cover, and oil cooler cover.
I started with the wheels. I really had to work to get them clean. I used Sonax and a microfiber mitt and covered every bit. After they were clean, I used Gyeon Iron and then clay barred the entire wheel including the hub assembly. After clay barring, I hand polished the painted surfaces with Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover and the chrome with Nevr-Dull. The wheels were then wiped down thoroughly with Gyeon Prep and then sealed with Gyeon CanCoat.
Before and after:
I took the lower fairings apart and removed the top fairing cap. The fairings were cleaned front and back, inside and out and then clay barred, hand polished, and sealed. I machine polished the caps before reinstalling those. As well, the entire crash bar was cleaned, clayed, hand polished, and sealed.
I took the rear fender apart, including the extension. I was able to machine polish the lower portion of the extension but did had to hand polish the side fillers. I spent quite a bit of time on the rear fender. The rear fender was why I decided to try Wolfgang's Uber Compound. I needed a heavy hitter with a hard cutting pad for some really bad areas on the fender. While polishing other parts of the bike I used Griot's hard white 2" pad and Wolfgang's Uber compound as the first step followed by Total Swirl Remover and Finishing Glaze. I regret not doing a better job of photographing some of the deep scratches on the rear fender. I was not able to make the fender perfect, but once it was reassembled, it turned out amazing.
Here are some before and after photos of the fender:
While things were opened up and off the bike, I did some things that won't ever be seen. You'll see a before and after of the right side battery access area where I cleaned up some wiring. I also included a pic of the inside of the faring which I cleaned and dusted. Before reassembling the bike, I went through it from tip to stern and made sure every surface got some attention. Wires were carefully dusted and cleaned. I carefully cleaned the entire frame, polished it, and sealed it. The electrical bus under the tank was left shut, but the outside was cleaned and sealed as well. Behind the fairing and fork skirt were parts of the fork assemble that got cleaned as well. I polished and sealed the center painted portion of the fork assemble and simply cleaned and polished the two steel portions of the fork behind the fairing.
Inside of faring before and after:
Right battery access area before and after:
Fork assembly under fairing before and after:
The tank turned out really great. It was already in good shape and I only used the Uber Compound on it in one spot. I removed the center console and polished the entire tank top to bottom. The groove underneath got cleaned, hand polished, and sealed. The center console got cleaned and sealed inside and out and then reinstalled. I did not get before pics of the tank after I washed and decontaminated. I only have the finish shots to share here:
The engine has painted heads, some wrinkle style paint, and a bit of chrome. The entire engine was washed with Reset and immediately dried. Reset left the surface of the wrinkle paint clean and bright. I did nothing else to that. All painted and chrome parts got cleaned, and polished. I sealed the painted parts of the engine and transmission after hand polishing.
Here's a before and after of the engine after cleaning:
Bags and side covers came really great as well as the side covers. The project took a bit longer than I was expecting and in my haste to finish the last bit, I forget to get pics of the bags, tour pack, and fairing before correction. There were some light boot scuffs on the bags. The side covers were trashed and needed a lot of correcting. The tour pack was near factory condition. I polished it with a finishing glaze and it looks better than new.
The finished fairing:
The finished hard bags and a side cover:
Here is the finished front fender which was removed and cleaned, polished, and sealed on a bench as well:
I've had her out a few times since. She just drips, she looks so good. I'm pretty new at this so next time, I'll do better.
Cheers all!!!
Last edited by CaffeineBuzz; May 6, 2021 at 03:52 PM.
Great job and right up! Spent some coin on the products for sure. Hope they lived up to the hype I gave them
Including all the potions and lotions, various tools, a big collection of cloths and towels, and the cart to keep it in, I spent about $1,800.00. It adds up quick. You need combinations and multiples of pads alone....and in each size.
It was money well spent. I'm already set up to do it again next time and I have some buddies that have asked for some help with their bikes.
Every bit of advice you gave was spot on. Your reputation as the resident HD detailing expert is well deserved.
The products you recommended and the Griot buffer were perfect for the job.....i wouldn't say I got the level of excellence I could have gotten had I simply used Lemon Pledge and Windex....but the outcome was adequate.
Including all the potions and lotions, various tools, a big collection of cloths and towels, and the cart to keep it in, I spent about $1,800.00. It adds up quick. You need combinations and multiples of pads alone....and in each size.
It was money well spent. I'm already set up to do it again next time and I have some buddies that have asked for some help with their bikes.
Every bit of advice you gave was spot on. Your reputation as the resident HD detailing expert is well deserved.
The products you recommended and the Griot buffer were perfect for the job.....i wouldn't say I got the level of excellence I could have gotten had I simply used Lemon Pledge and Windex....but the outcome was adequate.
Right on! Now ride that bike and enjoy your hard work
Great job on your bike. I need to hit mine a bit harder!! What did you use under the side covers to clean those areas? They look good!! I want to clean mine up, but am afraid to spray anything on that would require hosing off and I don't care to hand wipe each wire and connector and use a couple boxes of q-tips for everything else!!!
Great job on your bike. I need to hit mine a bit harder!! What did you use under the side covers to clean those areas? They look good!! I want to clean mine up, but am afraid to spray anything on that would require hosing off and I don't care to hand wipe each wire and connector and use a couple boxes of q-tips for everything else!!!
I washed the side panels inside and out with Reset Intensive Car Wash.
I then sprayed them down with Gyeon Iron which dissolves microscopic deposits of embedded ferrous material.
After that I used Wolfgang Clay and Wolfgang Clay Lube and clayed both panels.
My side panels were in pretty rough shape and while I didn't go this extreme on every part of my bike, I started the correction with a hard cutting white foam pad and Wolfgang's Uber compound. My wife held the panels in place on a table while I wheeled it out. Those panels are light and if you try to wheel them without securing them, you'll jet one across the room. Once I was able to get the rough spots with the Uber Compound, I then followed with a less aggressive pad and Wolfgang's Total Swirl Remover. After that, I finished with a perfecting pad and Wolfgang's Finishing Glaze.
Once I finished correcting the panels, I cleaned the panels once more using Gyeon Prep. I then sealed the insides, let them dry and then sealed the outer parts of the panels using Gyeon CanCoat which is a pretty stout ceramic sealant. I've put some miles on it since i've completed it and since have tried and really liked a detailer and rinseless wash by CarPro called ECH2O. Cleans and enhances the gloss just a bit.
Not sure how far you are from Eastpointe, but if the two panels are all you'd like to address, come on by one evening and we'll get it sorted out.
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I washed my bike.
