Help!!! Did I ruin my daughter's Harley's paint job?????

Question

Okay, here is what happened. My daughter has a Harley she loves, and recently, while she was in the hosptial having surgery for her cancer, I drew the words "I love you" in the dust on the outside of her bike. Later, when she saw it she about came undone! She was so upset, telling me that I had ruined the custom paint job! She said that she tried "dusting" it off, and could still see the words, she even tried washing it off, and could still see the words. At first, I didn't believe her but later when I checked it out myself, sure enough... you can see the words if you look very closely! What happened here??? These aren't "scratches"... more like a "stain" on the surface. I licked my index finger while doing the words, to make the words stand out better (wiping the finger off between licks, of course!) so did that do it? Is there a way to get this out? I feel absolutely horrible about it! She has been through enough, and now her mom ruins her paint job on her bike. Help???

Answer 1

Vickie, I must admit I answered your follow up question before I saw this original one. IF you have damaged the paint job doing what you did then she should be pretty angry at the people who put sub standard paint and workmanship into the job. I would not stand for that kind of quality on a factory delivered paint job let alone a custom one which should be done by people who know what they are doing.

By the way not only am I a complete biking nut and more passionate about it than you can possibly ever imagine but I am also a cancer victim, though thank fully now in re-mission. It is tough to go through but let me tell you that it is a whole lot harder for the parents to go through as far as I am concerned.During my treatment sure I had to fight and endure the side effects etc BUT my Mum and Dad had to watch their son going through it all without being able to do anything at all, other than support. I became a Dad 11 months ago and it made me realise even more what it must have been like for my parents to see me at that time. You are just showing what a great Mum you are by worrying about this BUT you need to tell your daughter that whilst she genuinely does have my sympathy and wishes, she needs to start to get over it quickly and realise what the priorities in life really are.

I can talk about motorcycles with authority and in your situation I can also talk about the medical and psychological side through experience also.

Don't beat yourself up, you have done nothing wrong.

Best wishes to you and your daughter from Prague, Czech Republic

Answer 2

Well, saliva IS a corrosive substance. So is skin oil, that's why antique book sellers don't like people thumbing thru books. About the only thing you can do is get some rubbing compound to buff the paint a little and take off anything like that. Not sure if it damaged the paint, or just left a film behind, but usually a polishing compound made for oxidized paint will remove any stains. I'd make SURE you try it on an out-of-the-way , inconspicuous place, though, if you're not sure what kind of paint job she got. A clear coat / base coat paint will NOT take well to this, you'll peel the top clear coat off!
Don't take it too bad, it'll probably come off with a little elbow grease. If you're uneasy about doing it yourself, find someone who knows paint in the Harley fraternity, and have them do it for you and pay them. It'll be worth your piece of mind. :) Next time, don't lick your fingers. use a Q-tip to draw in the dust. LOL.

- The Gremlin Guy -

Answer 3

What actually happened was that when you wrote I Love You in the dust, the dust slightly polished the surface under your finger. The dust acted as an abrasive and slightly polished the surface, which is why the letters still show after it was "dusted off". What you can try is this... Use a buffing compound on the whole surface which should buff the rest of the finish on the surface and should clean up the lettering from the surface. Don't buff too hard. Then use a good body polish to put a protective coating on the surface.
Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Hi Vicki it shouldn't have stayed on the bike. The only thing I could think of is may you had a high acid amount in your mouth when you licked your finger. First just try calm your daughter down and then call a Harley Davidson shop and tell them what happened they might have a wax or somthing that will wash it clean, that shouldn't happen to a paint job, if the paint job wasn't done by a Harley Davidson place find out who did the paint job and ask them why the heck it happened. But just tell your daughter your working on getting it fixed there should be a warrenty time on the paint job and as rude as it might seem tell them exactly why your upset and your daughter is, also she might just be looking for something to yell about now that has nothing to do with her cancer and surgury. Oh good luck Vicki and let me know what they say it's really strange that that happened and no one would expect that. I'm sure they will fix it or tell you what to use to get it just right again. Pearl ....really hope this helps.

Answer 5

Personally I would leave it alone and if any thing maybe months down the road see can see that she has a mother that loves here ,and maybe you can have Them words blended in some hows from a very Professional custom painter /peace

Answer 6

tell her thts what a mother's love is, you can try to wipe it off all u want but it will still be there hidden unclearly sometimes ,

if not im sure a wax job wud just take it off!! its next to impossible for words written on the dust to stay permanently

Answer 7

A good high speed buffing with a swirl removing polish followed by a fresh waxing will leave it looking better than before.

You may want to leave the buffing part to someone expierenced if you've never done it. Its easy to hurt the paint worse if you aren't paying attention. Most auto detail places should be able to take care of it for you in a couple hours.

Answer 8

kb gave the answer that I was going to.
Bring the bike to a professional body shop (tell your daughter that you'll pay the bill).
They can buff that out in 10 minutes and make the tank look better than if it was just painted.
I've seen it done.

Answer 9

get someone experienced to buff and wax. take it to a harley dealer or a detailing place. do not try to do it yourself, because if you dont know what you are doing, you could burn the pain off, and end up costing you more in the long run.

Answer 10

a good wax and it should be fixed. what happened is your finger may have put micro-tiny scratches into the wax with the sawdust, leaving it slightly visable. Your hand oil/spit might also have had a very slight reaction with it.

just tell her to wax it. it should fix the problem.