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