Protecting Your Custom Investment

One thing is for certain if you own a Harley… you can spend a lot of hard-earned money (and time!) customizing it. And once you start customizing your motorcycle, it’s hard to stop. The best thing you can do to protect your investment is to protect custom parts. Wear and tear are inevitable, so having a plan for aftermarket parts care is essential. Let’s talk about how you can take care of your custom parts and create a motorcycle maintenance schedule.

Why Maintenance is Crucial for Custom Parts

When you think about “maintenance” on your motorcycle, you probably think about things related to the operation of your bike, like changing the oil and filters and keeping the proper fluid levels and air pressure in your tires. But your custom parts need tender loving care as well. It takes some time and elbow grease, but it will be worth it in the long run.

Reducing Wear and Tear – Rather than Prevent.

It’s almost impossible to prevent wear and tear on a motorcycle. It’s subject to all the elements, from road debris and bugs to weather, mud and grime. The best thing you can do is to keep your bike as clean as possible and store it in a garage, shed, or use a motorcycle cover.

Even riding on a clear sunny day will leave some residual dust and dirt on the surface of your bike. Wipe it down after every ride and wash the entire bike with soap and water regularly. This will prevent any build up and reduce scratches in the clear coat. Be sure and use some kind of wet/moist application when wiping your bike’s surfaces. More on this later. The bottom line is that a clean bike is a happy bike.

Maintaining Visual Appeal

Besides reducing wear and tear, another great benefit of keeping your motorcycle clean is that it will look awesome the next time you take it for a ride. You’re not customizing your bike to keep it in the garage and out of sight, right? Maintaining the visual appeal of your Harley is an unspoken responsibility all Harley owners have, not to mention that it’s good for your soul. Here are some tips to help you keep your bike looking its best, turning heads, and maintaining the Harley mystique.

Maintenance Tips for Common Custom Accessories

Every surface on your motorcycle needs to be cleaned and occasionally polished and waxed. This includes painted parts chrome, and fabric (leather, suede, and synthetic leather products). All the painted parts, including both factory and aftermarket, have a clear-coat finish. That means you’re not cleaning the paint; you’re cleaning the clear-coat finish. If you have a chip or scratch all the way through the clear coat and paint, we recommend you take your bike to a Harley dealer for repairs. But you can handle cleaning your bike in all other ways. Let’s start with painted parts.

Cleaning and Polishing Painted Parts

Again, it’s a good idea to clean your bike after every ride. Just hose your bike down to get the dust off from a short ride (if you have water-sensitive components, be careful!). Use a soap that’s designed for clear coat. If getting out the hose is too much of a hassle, you can also use a waterless wash product, which is a light lubricant, and apply it with a microfiber cloth.

If you’ve been on a long summer ride and you have bugs and lots of grime, you’ll need a full on water bath. Do it by hand with clear coat soap and a sponge, or you can also use a power washer IF it’s specific to motorcycles – 800psi or less.

When it comes to polishing your painted parts, remember that you do not need to polish new painted parts from Advanblack. But if you have had the part a while, your bike probably has some light surface scratches in the clear coat. Start by washing your bike so there’s no dirt or grime that you’ll just be rubbing into the clear coat.

Once your bike is clean, apply a light polishing product that has polymers that can remove micro scratches and really make your paint shine. If you have more residue on your bike, like bugs, start with a clay polishing bar. If you follow the directions, you’ll end up with a smooth, clean paint surface that’s ready for polishing.

When you apply polish you’ll use a circular motion, let it dry, then wipe it off in long, straight motions. Always use microfiber towels. Never wash or polish your bike in the direct sunlight. It can create water spots and make the polish clump up and kind of cake on.

If you wax your bike, we recommend liquid over paste. If you’ve used clay or properly polished your bike, you won’t need paste wax. For waxing, straight lines are best. Then when you’re ready to wipe it off, give it a quick finger swipe. If it smears, it’s not ready. Let it sit for a while longer.

The combination of washing and occasional polishing and waxing will keep your painted parts looking new and protect the clear coat.

Taking Care of Chrome

Any chrome on your bike should be polished regularly, such as the exhaust pipes, wheels/spokes, handlebars and crash bars, and various accessories, like mirrors, chrome plating, gas caps, luggage rack… you get the idea. There are multiple chrome cleaning products on the market. Just be sure and use a polish specifically made for chrome and stick with the microfiber towels.

Caring for Leather Seats and Saddlebag Liners

Leather, synthetic leather, and suede endure the most wear and tear mother nature can dish out – from your tush. Fabric on your motorcycle needs just as much care, if not more care, than other surfaces on your bike. Many of you may not like the feel of your bike seat right after you clean or condition it, but trust us, do it regularly or be prepared to replace it. You aren’t in danger of surface scratches with fabric, so you can use a damp cloth to wipe your seat down after every ride. Saddle soap works well if you want to go the extra mile.

Next, you should condition the leather regularly. This will help it from cracking or peeling. There are many products on the market, so just look for something that has UV protection and is water resistant. Apply it with a microfiber towel in circular motions.

If you have saddlebag liners, the frequency of cleaning and conditioning depends on how you use them. For normal use, plan on cleaning and conditioning them once a year. But if you spill something in there or you get organic materials, like food, on the liners, you should remove them and give them a quick clean. We know it can be a hassle to remove the liners and put them back in, but once you do it a couple of times, it’s a breeze.

Protecting LED Lighting from Weather Damage

Any headlight you get from Advanblack will be completely sealed and water resistant. For maintenance just keep all your LED lights clean along with the rest of your bike. For sure headlights and other LED lights can cloud up and get yellow over the years. Any over-the-counter product can help restore your lights. Also, consider having a protective film or ceramic coating applied. However, this may require professional installation.

Recommended Maintenance Schedule

With a custom Harley maintenance plan, you’ll keep your bike looking its best all the time. You should have a maintenance schedule for your operational elements of your motorcycle, such as checking fluid levels, filters, lubrication, tire pressure and everything else you can think of. But go ahead and add a maintenance routine for your bike’s surfaces as well.

Clean your bike after every ride. A light waterless wash is generally okay. But again, if you’ve been on a long ride and there’s more debris caked on, spend the time to do a quick polish on your fairings and other places you can visually see more junk on your paint and chrome.

Polish your painted parts regularly. If you ride a lot, do this monthly. If you’re more of an occasional weekend rider, every couple of months is fine. Definitely give your bike a polish if you’ve been on a long, multi-day trip.

Do a full-body polish and wax annually. If you have saddlebags and a tour pack, remove them and get underneath and into the area between the saddlebags and the fender/body that you can’t normally reach.

Tools and Products to Use

Maintaining the surface area of your motorcycle means having the right tools and products. Here’s a short list of things you should need and some you might consider.

Tools

• Microfiber towels – Have plenty of them.
• Power washer – Harley Davidson sells one that’s great for cleaning cars too.
• Random orbital polisher/buffer – Worth every penny if you have more than one bike.
• Movers’ blankets – For laying out any parts you’ve removed for cleaning.

Products

• Clay bar polish
• Waterless wash
• Soap
• Liquid polish
• Detail spray
• Saddle soap
• Leather cream

We recommend Killerwaxx products. They have a variety of products to clean, polish, and wax all of the painted and chrome surfaces on your bike.

Keep Your Ride Looking and Performing Its Best

Owning a Harley is a responsibility and being part of a dedicated community. It’s also an investment you want to protect. Keep it in top condition with regular cleaning and proper care. Finally, here are some things you want to avoid when maintaining the exterior of your motorcycle.

Avoid high pressure (+800 psi) washers and steam cleaning

You can damage certain parts.

Never dry wipe your bike

Using a dry towel on clear coat is like using sandpaper. Don’t do it.

Ensure cloths and buffers are clean

When you are preparing to clean or buff out your bike, check that your micro fiber cloths and buffing pads are free of dirt, debris, or dried buffing compound to avoid inadvertently scratching your bike.

Do not clean your bike in direct sunlight

Or you may suffer with water stains and cakey polish.

Don’t neglect your bike

It’s too easy to park it and forget it. Give your bike the love it deserves!

If you follow these tips and use the right products, you’ll get the most mileage out of your custom parts and accessories, as well as keep your Harley Davidson looking proud and mighty whenever and wherever you ride.