Joe - owner/operator of Joes Performance Polishing

[joeyputt]

Hello, Just joined up! This is Joe I am the owner/operator of Joes Performance Polishing! we are a family owned business located on the AL./FL. state line between Marianna Fl. and Dothan AL. Any polishing questions out there...? Feel free to ask or if we are not on send us an email at joeyputt@yahoo.com we are open to talk to any riders or enthusiasts, american or import bikes! God Bless!

[dt]

Oh, hey Joe…thanks for introducing yourself and welcome to the forum.

Any polishing questions out there...? Feel free to ask or if we are not on send us an email at joeyputt@yahoo.com we are open to talk to any riders or enthusiasts, american or import bikes! God Bless!

Since you asked….

My Harley XR1200 has rough, textured-surface powdercoated cases, cylinder heads, swing arm and triple. After a year and a half, it’s acquiring a lot of blackish spots (almost looks like a mildew spots) and can’t clean it! I tried everything, including some S100 cleaning product that someone else recommended...and I can’t put anything on it other than the softest of brushes because it damages the actual powder coating. Anyway, is there some magical solution that you’re aware of that will clean textured powdercoating.

Here’s a photo, but you can’t see the mildewie looking marks unless you're right up close, but you can see how much of this thing is powdercoated.

[joeyputt]

Yeah, unfortunately and as much as I love them Harley has some of the worst casting in the business, if you ever want to sand them down slick and polish them be prepared for lots of pinholes. Kind of hard to diagnose what you have going on with your powdercoat without being able to see it but I am familiar with a similar problem in our local area and it is a mold type problem that we normally clean by diluting a very small amount of bleach with water and wiping it down and it usually disappears but I CAN NOT recommend it on powdercoat beacause I really do not know how it would react, I would guess it would probably be OK as we have used it on some soft surfaces but if you decide to try it at your own risk I would test a very small spot in an inconspicuous area in case it discolores, etc. Also a lot of people in our area really like simple green and even use it on atv's to get the tougher stuff off but again I have not used it myself.

[dt]

Thanks Joe. So you think that really may be a mold? Since it averages 75% humidity around here that’s probably what it is. I've got so much pc'd surface area, there are a lot of places to experiment. I’ll try the diluted bleach in a real “inconspicuous” spot and see what happens. Also, I’ll get some simple green and see how that works.

When I got home, I went out and took a photo. This one shows the spots the best. It's those spots that don't come out.

[joeyputt]

Yeah I can see it in that photo, powdercoat is not really our area of expertise , but yes we are in the panhandle area and have similar problems with humidity and dark/black spots but they normaly will wash off here with a good scrubbing or waxing if it is paint however I know you can not wax it due to its porousity and you said you can only scrub it so much without scratching it. Keep in touch and let us all know how you make out as I am sure many others are having the same issues. On another note, that is a great bike you have there, one of my favorite modern era harleys!

[dt]

On another note, that is a great bike you have there, one of my favorite modern era harleys!

Thank. Fun to ride, too!

[dcameras]

Joe, Welcome to the forum!!