plastic polish

[russ98atc]

Ok so i went to get a better shine out of my z so i bought some turtle wax hard shell car wax, and well i put a little bit on a small part of the plastics and well it actually dulled it pretty badly. Id like to know what you guys would do to make it shine again. Keep in mind this is a 2012 and well i dont want to be doing any wet sanding or spraying armor all on it.
feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Xowner]

Use the search button you will find a thread by MR.Clean

Good luck

[russ98atc]

May i get a link to this thread?
thanks

[El Camexican]

Do read the Mr. Clean posts, but I suspect the reason it went dull is that one of the cloths you rubbed it with was to "aggressive". I remember the first time I waxed my new Polisport plastic on my bike. It went from a mirror finish to dull instantly. If nothing else I'd get something soft like a diaper and rub (hard) a high end wax like Meguirss on the spot until it starts to shine. If your plastic is new in may not look the same again, but the rest of the plastic will lose that new shine soon enough. The nest time you want to try something like this test a spot under the seat or somewhere else that won’t matter if doesn’t work.

[russ98atc]

so pretty much im out of luck?

[atc007]

For a new machine,you wanted to use Plexus. Period. It was developed for fighter jet canopys! It works. It puts a protective layer over the plastic,and does not leave it static. Right now,1st,get a microfiber towel,imperative. Then like El said,a good wax and try to bring it back,I think it will. Pics would help, But if you were already concerned,your plastic was to the point of A,armor all,or B, Wetsanding and polishing. that's ultimately what you're gonna be doing to have eye popping mirror plastic. On this page or the next,look at Fire1's thread,finally got the plastics polished. If his 25 yo plastic looks like that,you can handle this!

[russ98atc]

i ordered some plexus hope it works. Thanks!

[atc007]

It will put a " layer" on your NEW plastics. And keep them Shiny and static free. It will NOT bring shine back to dull or faded. That's polishing. Plexus is horribly expensive ,but worth every cent on NEW bikes!

[zzmegad]

indeed Mr. Clean does an amazing job on honda plastics, I think for some reason yamaha plastics are not as easy to polish. I gave up on mine, probably to soon. There are a lot of threads on polishing plastic, but not to many with yammies, infact I don't think I have seen anyone polish black or any color yamaha plastic to a shine. Hopefully someone will see my post and prove me wrong


I think it's because the yamaha plastic is soft, I think your going to need a super soft buffer or by hand

[xcxtr3e]

Not to beat a dead horse, but if your goal is to actually 'remove' the dull spot, not just 'hide' it with wax, then you will need to get yourself some polishing compounds and the appropriate towel/polishing pad. I suspect, as El Camexian pointed out, your towel/rag was too 'rough' or 'agressive'. Following atc007's advice, the first thing to do is get a quality microfibre towel. When polishing, and sanding (same concept) you have to remember that this process consists of basically, putting finer and finer scratches into the surface. That 'shine' you see is just a result of some seriously small, micro-scratches. So, remember the two parts involved in conventional polishing - the polish/compound/wax/glaze itself, and the applicator (the towel/buffing pad). I recommend 3M products, if you go to their website, they actually have a very easy-to-understand pdf on polishing steps and the appropriate products to use (look for "collision repair"). Then, you can hop on amazon.com and find the same products for cheap! hope this helps, and anyone please feel free to correct me if I have given any incorrect info here.

[atc007]

indeed Mr. Clean does an amazing job on honda plastics, I think for some reason yamaha plastics are not as easy to polish. I gave up on mine, probably to soon. There are a lot of threads on polishing plastic, but not to many with yammies, infact I don't think I have seen anyone polish black or any color yamaha plastic to a shine. Hopefully someone will see my post and prove me wrong


I think it's because the yamaha plastic is soft, I think your going to need a super soft buffer or by hand

While I can't speak to " polishing" Yammie plastics. I will say,,they "white corrode" worse than anything on the market. And yes,they are definitely made from far different stuff than Hondas. But the satisfaction of taking either blue or yellow,from thick,rough white,back to color is amazing! It will polish,just differently.

[Jcormode]

Yea I agree with the boys on playing with new plastics. as mine had been painted and Ive now possibly spent way over 30 hrs wet sanding all the way thru the grades with worn through fingers!!! But let me tell you it's worth every single second as I'm coming to the end and they are looking Beutifull!!! Hope you get sorted.

[El Camexican]

You're looking at thirty year old "Yammi" plastic (with the exception of the headlight bezel) Granted it was not powder white when I started, but it was not shiny. I used 2000 wet paper on the really bad spots and then Maguires Plastic X followed by Maguires polish and finally wax. BUT I would never do this to new plastic. You can't duplicate the micro polished factory mold finish. I should add that someone once told me that Future floor wax makes plastic look great, but I've never tried it. Same for a heat gun, but I’d want to practice on some old plastics before I put the heat to my baby's finish.

[atc007]

My goodness El you know how to care for your stuff. I Love it ! What a pleasure.

[El Camexican]

My goodness El you know how to care for your stuff. I Love it ! What a pleasure.

Clean trikes are a side effect of a lack of use...