clear coats!!!

[hue]

since i started pollishing my bike i have always wondered what to do when im done to protect it....since the ive read many of these post and have gotten a couple of differt conclusions.....my friend recently finshed his bike the clear coated it with just a cheap can of clear from checkers it didnt look that great from 2 ft. away it didnt even look polished.....what im getting at is, to coat or not to coat? is it realy a must?

[mcaswell]

It's a must if you:

1. Don't want to electroplate your aluminum.
2. Don't want to anodize your aluminum.
3. Don't want to polish your aluminum every week.

See http://www.caswellplating.com/vht/vhtclear.htm

[hue]

yes to all three but will the coat coat look bad or can u not tell a differnce. also did my friends look bad because the quality of the paint or is that how they all look

[mcaswell]

It will certainly look different, think of a clearcoat on a car. It has a glossy, wet finish to it. It shouldn't look bad if you use the right paint and apply it correctly.

[marsfrogie]

The clear coat shouldn't necessarily take away from the shine. It will diffract the image though.

[hue]

thxs for your help, i think ill just polish it when need be.....hopefully it doesnt get old...when and if it does ill look in to maybe getting that vht clear from ya

[txturbo]

Go to the POR-15 site. Buy some Glisten PC. Its made for exactly what your doing.

[kiwigips]

all bikes that you buy new have clear coats, look at an old rice bike, youll see yellow on the casings, thats the clear coat. but when its new you cant even tell there is a clear coat.
about that POR-15 stuff is it realy that good? will it affect the shinnynes of the finish?
thanks
k