Motorex Bike Shine

[LazyTrailRider]

What would the difference be between these 2 :

 

Gold Class Clear Coat Liquid Wax 473ml

http://www.meguiars.co.za/site/ProdCat.asp?productview=12611&catalog=17268

 

Motorcycle Liquid Wax Wet Look 177ml

http://www.meguiars.co.za/site/ProdCat.asp?productview=13018&catalog=17271

 

Apart from the fact that the bike stuff is double the price , I've spoken to the PPG paint rep before and he said most of the polishing products are pure duplication to cater to niche markets , ie bike guy wants his "special" polish , car guy wants his "special" polish to , but they are all the same basic formula & surface treatments with maybe subtle additives or optical enhancers (wet look) but the bulk of the ingredients will be identical: a very light abrasive cut with an optical enhancer (gloss enhancer) and some UV protectors/paint conditioner.

 

You're on the right track, most polishes are similar, and most waxes are similar, although there is (like with most things) a certain quality scale at play. OK, so it might now become obvious that I'm a bit of a detailing geek. Feel free to judge...

 

The motorcycle stuff you've listed here is what's referred to as a "cleaner wax", meaning it's a combo polish/wax, where Gold Class is purely a wax. The motorcycle wax has a micro-abrasive compound in it in addition to the pure wax component, hence the "cleaner" part. Cleaner waxes are designed to be quicker to use, because not everyone wants to spend half a day getting the perfect shine. Without going into too much detail, concours finish is achieved through three major steps:

 

1) Removal of all residual wax and surface contaminants. This basically is about stripping away everything but the clear coat. I usually do this by washing with Sunlight liquid and then using a clay bar to get rid of any tree sap, little splatters of all sorts of crap, and engrained dirt.

 

2) Polishing. Once the surface is perfectly clean, a polish (micro-abrasive) is used to get the clear coat as even as possible. It's all about smoothing out any imperfections so that the surface is perfectly flat; this is one of the most important enablers of crystal-like light reflection.

 

3) Waxing. Once the surface is perfectly smooth, waxing basically does two things: 1) Adds another layour of transparent coat, because the thicker the clear coat (whether the cloar-coat itself or augmented by wax), the "wetter" the look, and 2) Adds a layour of protection from contaminants and UV.

 

Most people refer to "polishing" when in fact they're just waxing. Waxing over a surface with imperfections is a fruitless excercise, which is why if you want perfection you have to spend time on the first two points before you start waxing. You should feel a bonnet that's just been stripped, claybarred and waxed. It's unbelievably smooth and slippery, quite a weird feeling!

 

OK, enough rambling for now

Edited April 9, 2011 by Martin Hattingh

[patches]

Our local Pick 'n Pay sells something called Duster Plus. Basically cheap Mr. Min. Works a charm. Why would you want to bling up a rotor anyway?

 

http://www.multimerja.co.za/images/products029.jpg

 

Only picture I could find.

 

haha! it was just a joke! A friend of mine used to work in a bike shop, and when customers were brought their bikes in and were rude to the owner (his mom) he would then be kind enough to give them 'a free bike bling'... this involved Mr Min-ing the rims (for road bikes and V brakes) or rotors for discs... kinda his little way of getting his own back at snotty customers

[Skylark]

You're on the right track, most polishes are similar, and most waxes are similar, although there is (like with most things) a certain quality scale at play. OK, so it might now become obvious that I'm a bit of a detailing geek. Feel free to judge...

 

The motorcycle stuff you've listed here is what's referred to as a "cleaner wax", meaning it's a combo polish/wax, where Gold Class is purely a wax. The motorcycle wax has a micro-abrasive compound in it in addition to the pure wax component, hence the "cleaner" part. Cleaner waxes are designed to be quicker to use, because not everyone wants to spend half a day getting the perfect shine. Without going into too much detail, concours finish is achieved through three major steps:

 

1) Removal of all residual wax and surface contaminants. This basically is about stripping away everything but the clear coat. I usually do this by washing with Sunlight liquid and then using a clay bar to get rid of any tree sap, little splatters of all sorts of crap, and engrained dirt.

 

2) Polishing. Once the surface is perfectly clean, a polish (micro-abrasive) is used to get the clear coat as even as possible. It's all about smoothing out any imperfections so that the surface is perfectly flat; this is one of the most important enablers of crystal-like light reflection.

 

3) Waxing. Once the surface is perfectly smooth, waxing basically does two things: 1) Adds another layour of transparent coat, because the thicker the clear coat (whether the cloar-coat itself or augmented by wax), the "wetter" the look, and 2) Adds a layour of protection from contaminants and UV.

 

Most people refer to "polishing" when in fact they're just waxing. Waxing over a surface with imperfections is a fruitless excercise, which is why if you want perfection you have to spend time on the first two points before you start waxing. You should feel a bonnet that's just been stripped, claybarred and waxed. It's unbelievably smooth and slippery, quite a weird feeling!

 

OK, enough rambling for now

 

What exactly is a clay bar?

What is it exactly (what chemical/forumala is it) , what does it do , how do you use it?

I have heard alot about it - is it basically a safe way to remove all contamination from the paint surface before the polishing where contamination may add particles to the micro-abrasion formula that will cut to deep/scratch or add hard to remove swirls?

[LazyTrailRider]

What exactly is a clay bar?

What is it exactly (what chemical/forumala is it) , what does it do , how do you use it?

I have heard alot about it - is it basically a safe way to remove all contamination from the paint surface before the polishing where contamination may add particles to the micro-abrasion formula that will cut to deep/scratch or add hard to remove swirls?

 

Yep, it's the best way (and sometimes the only way) to remove contamination. If you run your hand over the paint and it feels even remotely grainy, it could do with claying. Trust me, you can polish/wax all you want, and you won't get rid of the grain/roughness without clay. I even bought a DA (polishing machine) and used it for an hour on my roof when I started out, guess what, still felt rough...

 

I don't know the exact chemical formulation of a clay bar, in practice the closest thing to it most people would know is Prestik. It basically feels like a hard piece of prestik, and you use it in "rub" your paint like you would with an eraser. All the dirt sticks to the clay in the process. Because it's sticky, you need to use a lubricant with it, usually one of these "quick-detailer" spray bottles works best. Water doesn't work.

[Skylark]

And how do you know when its used up?

Does it wear down like an pencil eraser , or when its saturated with contamination you chuck it away?

[LazyTrailRider]

It starts out white, and then gradually picks up dirt (depending obviously on how dirty your surface is). You just keep folding it over onto itself to get a clean bit to use, until you can't anymore; then you chuck it away.

[Skylark]

What Meguirs products is the easiest for getting the Maximum gloss ASAP - not worried about the long term damage to my paintwork (ie abrasive that's to aggressive/too much paint removal) , I just want dull/scratched to glossy asap!

What can do that?

Is ScratchX + Gold Class Clear Coat Liquid Wax the best option for that? (Would prefer a wax that gives that amazing wet look , does Gold class do that?)

I would imagine the separation of the abrasive from the wax means I can use the wax only if cut is not needed , how would that combo compare to Motorcycle Liquid Wax Wet Look?

Edited April 10, 2011 by SkyLark