Powdercoat? Clear coat? or polish? **PICS**

[WILLIAMS37]

The 2008 season left my yz450f frame looking pretty beat. I tried to get the scratches out and regain some of the original "grainy" look in the aluminum like when I bought the bike. I apparently exposed the aluminum to oxygen because it looks horrible now. My question is should what should I do to keep my frame looking good without a ton of upkeep. Here's what it looks like.

[valli858]

I think powdercoat is easyest to maintain....

but a polished frame is the sweetest!

[ozonefirefighter]

Dude seriously? I mean I can appreciate a nice looking bike but it really dosnt look that bad. I would kill to have that bike. Looks a hell of a lot better than the old yz400

[WILLIAMS37]

Dude seriously? I mean I can appreciate a nice looking bike but it really dosnt look that bad. I would kill to have that bike. Looks a hell of a lot better than the old yz400

Thanks but I paid a lot of money for the bike and I don't think its to ridiculous of an idea to try and keep it looking new. Its already a year old, just trying to prolong the time before its just another ragged out bike at the track.

[motomanmike26]

Powder coats the easiest. Polish is a lot of keep up if you want it to look nice.

I honeslty don't think it looks that bad. Its probably worse in real life though.

If your into keeping it nice then If I were you i'd just polish it. Yamahas look sick with polished frames.

[WILLIAMS37]

Powder coats the easiest. Polish is a lot of keep up if you want it to look nice.

I honeslty don't think it looks that bad. Its probably worse in real life though.

If your into keeping it nice then If I were you i'd just polish it. Yamahas look sick with polished frames.

It definitely turned out nicer on camera. It was hard to get a good pic with it being so bright out. Is there a way to clearcoat the frame after its been polished? or is re-polishing the only way to keep that look?

[mc1hd]

I stripped and polished a 426 swing arm along time ago, worst mistake I did to that bike. Looked trick when freshly polished, too much time and effort to keep it that way. Seriously your bike looks better than my one and a half month old scooter, just ride it and enjoy it's only a dirt bike.

[husqy360]

dude your bike look great!

i use heavy duty degreaser to get FRAME clean, it work preety good, but still dosnt look new:thumbsdn: .

i care for my bike alot but i will not paint it for a better look, waste of time and money if you ask me.(unless u got lots of both)

especialy when your bike still look preety much brand new!

you can buy this frame guards from lighthspeed, or any other company for about 50 bucks with a sexy carbon look.

my baby

?

[WILLIAMS37]

dude your bike look great!

i use heavy duty degreaser to get FRAME clean, it work preety good, but still dosnt look new:thumbsdn: .

i care for my bike alot but i will not paint it for a better look, waste of time and money if you ask me.(unless u got lots of both)

especialy when your bike still look preety much brand new!

you can buy this frame guards from lighthspeed, or any other company for about 50 bucks with a sexy carbon look.

my baby

Yeah, Right after posting this I started to realize that I was making way to big a deal of the frame. There is other things I should be doing with my time than worrying about that (Practicing whoops) lol. Thanks though, and Nice bike?

[Wes Woodin]

https://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=739716&highlight=wes+woodin

Scroll down and look at the frame I polished.?

[WILLIAMS37]

https://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=739716&highlight=wes+woodin

Scroll down and look at the frame I polished.?

I remember drooling over that frame when I first joined this forum. Extremely nice work man it looks great. How does it look now? Does that bike see a lot of dirt?

[yzinger6]

Go for powdercoating, if anything. Being a powder coater myself, I can tell you nothing stands up to abuse quite like a nice powder coating. Everything on my superbike is powdercoated and I have dropped it on several occasions and not scratched/blemished anything.

[oeder8140j]

I powder coated my frame with a clear coat and couldn't ask for anything more! 10 seconds held to a wire wheel only scratched off the clear coat! Worth all $250.

[Kasjok]

I just use scotchbrite sometimes when I have boot marks or something on the frame. Makes it a bit cleaner.

[witdogg]

Powder coating would be the hardest to do but the easiest to maintain.

Polishing would be the easiest to do but the hardest to maintain.

[oeder8140j]

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww356/oeder8140j/powdercoat.jpg

<a href="http://s735.photobucket.com/albums/ww356/oeder8140j/?action=view&current=powdercoat.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww356/oeder8140j/powdercoat.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

steel frame but still looks great

[swatdoc]

Powdercoated mine a semi gloss black - turned out real nice I think. With your color scheme, I think a black frame would look really good as well.

[Joe_Jet]

that is the sweetest looking yamaha ever!

too much maintenance for me though.

use a scotchbrite pad and WD-40, not degreaser. it works way better than degreaser and does not stain the Al. it actually starts to pollish after the first time. And, you dont have to tear your bike down and send it to some powdercoater or polisher along with big $.

[JYZ566]

Polish is a lot of work initially, but takes me about 15 min to keep it up after I wash it. Looks beautiful. Anyway, if you're not into that, a quick way is to use scotch brite to get the frame back to normal. Then spray some WD40 on it and wipe off the residue. Good as new.

[426 NOOB]

powder coat. Looks great and is tough