Hey all!!

So I'm sure this has been touched upon about a million times - but I'd like a clear and up to date idea of what to expect... I've got an FXD in vivid black, and the black is no longer quite as "vivd" I guess you could say. Lots of small nips and dings and accidental scratches in the clear coat, in the worst cases right thru to the bare metal. What can I say, she gets a lot of usage! And I definitely expect that to happen. So, I know these can be seen as "character" and battle scars and the like, but in my opinion they bring down the glory of the bike ever so slightly, more so now than in past years. I'm wondering what I can expect for a touch up job on all 3 tins. Yunno, strip em off the bike, probably sand down and reapply clear coat, at the same time fill in all the nicks and holes that will eventually (and already have) lead to rust.

I was also toying with the idea of converting it to a more matte black, which I believe could be achieved with an eggshell-style clear coat stage. I don't know I could be wrong there. Any of you paint guys have suggestions?

I'm not interested in doing this job myself even though I do all my own work on my bike, cosmetics and detail things like this I'd rather leave to folks that know wtf they're doing.

 

I'm not sure exactly what you are asking but a complete respray of all the painted parts is the best choice once they get to the point that you can't take the look any more. Touch up paint is ok to prevent rust in nicks but to make nicks look really good is painstaking work involving filling slightly above chip, wet sanding to level and buffing. If it were mine, I'd most likely try out the John Dear matte paint that is close to the Harley color. I had to fix a rust bubble on my 09 SG Custom that has 2 tone metallic paint. I repainted the whole rear fender which was a bit of a project. The one color Matte black would be fairly simple. Either gloss with clear coat or matte black, a complete respray is probably the easiest way to go.

 

Thanks for the info!!

I think I wasn't clear about something though - when I said touch-up - I meant exactly what you said, filling slightly above chip and leveling out... across the board. So yes, it would definitely involve some work involving good skill, which is why I don't think I should attempt it on my own. Also - I didn't mention there's a Harley decal on the tank that I'd like to preserve. So right there that eliminates using matte paint unless I attempt to find identical decals... then they need to clear coated over obviously, so I can't really do the black. But funny you mention the John Deere paint... it's called Blitz Black, and it's rather uncanny how close it is to that Harley Denim black they have. AND it's tough as nails - I used it on my fender strut covers, my chainguard and my front and rear directionals. It looks perfect really, I'd actually love to have that color across the bike! And like I said, its really tough unlike a lot of matte paints, it's very difficult to scratch. Not as difficult as gloss, but close! Great to get that "hot rod" look.

Just to confirm - there IS such a thing as an matte clear coat... right?