[xlr8tn]

Hey Everyone,
Today was such a nice day up in Northern Virginia, I decided to roll the bike out of the garage and get some fresh gas in the tank. I noticed a bunch of scratches on my tank that must have happened over the winter even though I had a cover over my bike. Have any of you had to work on some pretty deep scratches? Can you give the low-down on what products I will need for this kind of paint job to get these scratches out as I can feel them with my finger and they seem deep. I have a bunch of Meguiar's polish from cut to deep shine as well as a buffer.

Thanks,
Brent

 

[120CCPM]

It seems you already have what you need... start with a light polish and see what happens, then move to more abrasive compounds if the results are not satisfactory. You know well you cannot expect miracles... if the scratches are too deep and the paint is gone, you can polish as much as you want but the scratches will not go away.

 

[sdg24]

I ageee with 120CCPM. Start with a light polish and see. The 899 has no clear coat so don’t be alarmed when your polish pad turns red. The good part about this is you will easily be able to restore gloss to those scratches which will make them less visible. Since you can feel them with your fingernail it’s unlikely you’ll be able to remove them all.

when you are done, consider a ceramic coating for even more shine and some added protection.

 

[xlr8tn]

I started with 1000 grit wet sand and eventually got all the scratches out.

 

[120CCPM]

I started with 1000 grit wet sand and eventually got all the scratches out.

Not sure I would have started with 1000 grit sandpaper, but I'm glad it worked. If you want, look into adding some paint protection film to our tank... I use 3M Scotchgard PPF (the Pro version, which is a bit thicker) on mountain bikes, it's barely visible and can be found on eBay by the foot at reasonable prices.