[M.Peterson]

Hi everyone. I just bought my first Ducati. 2016 959. After doing some searching I see that there is no clearcoat. Is this true? Assuming that it is true can I or should I not use a dual action polisher on it? This Ducati is a little rough? Any recommendations on cleaning the wheels or more so advice on things to stay away from? All advice is very helpful and thank you very in advance.

 

[Dingo]

Hi everyone. I just bought my first Ducati. 2016 959. After doing some searching I see that there is no clearcoat. Is this true?

No, that's not true. The clear is a Matte clear cote.
There's a whole thread about cleaning these machines - I'll cut to the chase - buy some of this and never look back, use it on everything except the chain. Never use water again, clean the bike don't wash it!

 

[M.Peterson]

Thanks for the link. Zo just to be clear, the red 959 has a clearcoat?

 

[Dingo]

Yes the Red 959 has a gloss clear cote. It's only 1 or 2 layers, so it's very thin, but it is there. Not under any circumstances should someone use a machine to buff or polish the panels, it's easily done by hand without damaging the surface.
Happy cleaning!

 

[Forewarned]

No, there is no clear coat on a red 959. It absolutely is single stage paint. Easy way to tell if it is single stage is get some rubbing compound and give a spot on the tank a good rubdown. If the applicator turns pink it is single stage.

 

[Sdg24]

Agreed, no clear coat on red (or at least my red 899 didn't have it). When I've polished by hand my applicator was definitely red afterwards.

If you want to "fix" that, you can clay, then buff/polish by hand and apply a ceramic coating. After curing, simple 2 bucket wash method will keep the paint looking good for a long time.

Also, its worth noting that even brand new fairings come with a significant amount of marring and swirls from the factory. I had a fairing replaced and my new one looked worse than the old one with 12k miles on it.

For wheels you will want to stay away from doing anything that will inadvertently get on the rubber. Definitely no wheel/tire shine. If you decide to use a degreaser, kerosene, or WD40 for cleaning (all of which work fairly well)... then you'll want to apply it to a rag first, then wipe down the wheel. Rinse well afterward.

 

[M.Peterson]

Ok so I'm back to not knowing for sure if 2016 red 959 has it? Anyone else want to chime in.

I bought suggested cleaning but still haven't tried it out.

I see the paint on the white pad. I might just try that? Was that a 959 or 899 Ducati? Any tips on using a DA on single stage paint or any tips for that matter?

Thanks

 

[Forewarned]

Ok so I'm back to not knowing for sure if 2016 red 959 has it? Anyone else want to chime in.

I bought suggested cleaning but still haven't tried it out.

I see the paint on the white pad. I might just try that? Was that a 959 or 899 Ducati? Any tips on using a DA on single stage paint or any tips for that matter?

Thanks

It's a 959, you can use a DA (I did) just be careful. I accidentally polished the black anti-rust coating off the bolts.

 

[Sdg24]

If you are going to use a DA, you will probably be just fine with a black pad (finishing pad) and some finishing polish.

It does not take much effort to correct paint on these bikes. So start off as gentle as you can.

When I polished mine by hand I used a white pad with finishing polish then a black pad with finishing polish. Took no more than 10 minutes to do the tank.

 

[M.Peterson]

Thanks I really appreciate the info. I have micro scratches all over so I will see if I can get any correction by a hand pad then go from there. I will give an update. We are having a bit of a snowstorm right now but I'm very anxious to see what I can do

 

[Chris916]

I used a da with an orange cutting pad with
Wolfgang total swirl remover and coated my red 959 bike with cquartz with great results. Ps your pad will turn red from the single stage paint
But it does take well to buffing.