Washed my new Slim today, as it was pretty grimy from riding alot so far this season. Gave the paint a good wax and figured I'd polish the engine/primary covers.

Well, polished and polished but everything looked the same. Water spots and just kinda dull looking. Rocker covers actually came out ok, but the primary , cam cover and clutch covers were crap. I've used blue magic and mothers polish, polishing untill cloth turns black, to no real avail.

This is my first bike with non chrome covers. I'm assuming they have a clear coat on them? (2013 Slim)

I guess I'm wondering if the clear coat is crap already, and I should just get them powder coated, or if I need to spend like an entire day polishing?

Thanks

 

If your rag is turning black there is no clearcoat or it's been polished off.Polished aluminum looks good if done right.Keep doing what your doing and they should shine up. The dirty rags actually work better.

 

Same kinda thing is going on with my wife's Slim. There are streaks that showed up that can't be scrubbed or polished away. My rag does't turn black though.

Its never been washed when the bike has been hot and I've never used any harsh chemicals on it. The streaks seem to be in the clear.

It must be an issue Harley is having with the clear. Maybe they'll have a some sort of recall/warranty if enough people complain.

 

The primary on my 2014 Slim is not clear coated. Are you using a metal polish or one for painted surfaces. Your rag should turn black as you polish un-coated aluminum. Try some Gords polish, great stuff in my opinion. gordsaluminumpolish.com

 

Man, I've used Mothers, Quick-Glo, Nevr-Dull and even two different grits of Meguiar's compound and the streaks are still there.

Her bike is a '16. So, I don't know if Harley had some customers complain about corrosion issues and decided to clear-coat the primary covers on later models, or what. And if they did, the clear they used is cheap and porous because it lets stuff in and stains.

The reason I think it's cleared is because after aggressively scrubbing (in a "The Incredible Hulk after 5 cups of coffee" sorta way) on the primary with the Meguiar's, if it wasn't cleared, the aluminum should have started to lose it's brush look and gotten shiny like polished aluminum. But, it didn't.

And, like I've said, my rag, the Nevr-Dull, none of it turned that trademark black that happens when polishing metal. At this point, I don't want to beat on it too much more because, if it is cleared, the clear is getting thin by now and if I cut through it, I'd have to strip the whole thing down and polish from there and I just don't wanna walk down that dark alley.

Besides, If the wife comes out in the shop and sees her primary cracked open and the cover on the bench, being stripped and polished, her **** is gonna hit the ceiling. Man, I've seen people who are protective of their bikes, but her little 5 foot-nothing a$$ gets all evil and scary.

 

Get a Mothers Power ball kit and go at it.

 

Back in the day i always used Semi Chrome on the alum finishes heads on the sportster. A pink cream, turns the rag black, but the heads always shined. Still available. And can be used on chrome, but it was the only thing at the time for the alum finish.

 

Mine looks almost identical to that, streaks and all. I've got a '13. Also have some streaks on the side tranny/clutch cover. Cam cover doesn't look to bad.

Thinking of trying maybe one of those mother's power ball, just don't know how it'd be to get in tight spaces.

 

It doesnt seem to work as good as it used to.I also used it on a sportster,my new '71 XLCH I polished everything including the alloy wheels.I currently think Mothers Mag & Alum polish is very good.I dont polish as much though as My Deluxe is chromey.

 

Semichrome is good stuff on aluminum. A dab of that with a dab of polish goes a long way.