[veerodder]

Aluminum care

I used a wipe or spray-on coating on mine in February. It is called Sharkhide, and they have a website by the same name. It was fairly easy to apply, did not change the finish (no one can tell it's there) and according to the sales rep should protect the bike for it's lifetime. It's about $35 for a quart, but thats enough to do the bike 5 or 6 times at least - and you should only have to do it once. I used it on the anodized and the wheels and it seems to be holding up great, I'm approaching 3,000 mi with no noticible difference.

 

[veerodder]

coating

Of course by "tank" I assume you mean airbox. The airbox, fenders, and radiator outer covers are anodized aluminum, the wheels are uncoated, untreated aluminum. Anodized alum. is actually very tough and corrosion resistant and really doesn't require any extra care other than a regular non-abrasive wax. The wheels on the other hand are very mainteance intensive and require constant care. Roadsalt, seasalt, acid rain and brakedust are probably the absolute worst thing for these wheels, but plain 'ol neglect is a no no too. If you are not going to clean the wheels very regularly (a couple of times a week), I would highly reccommend some sort of coating. Aluminium can be clearcoated, but it is usually etched first (no shiny appearance like the V-Rod's). The clearcoating would eventually yellow and flake on the VR's wheels. The only surfaces on the bike I'm not sure about are the battery and coolant resivoir cover and the mirror back & stalk. Also as an aside, be careful about what you leave hanging from your key switch. I left my key fob for the alarm on the keyring and the black started to rub off on the frame. It cleaned off, but I believe there is no clearcoat on the satin finish frame, probably took some paint off too.

 

[veerodder]

hey! check out www.v-rodcolors.com - extremely cool, now if I just had 2 g's layin' around.....