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Tank Bra dulls tank paint?

horizonchaser

horizonchaser

Senior Member
Contributor
I ordered a tank bra earlier in the week to hopefully prevent any dings and nicks in my gas tank. It seems every bike that I have ever owned, and I've had 5 in my life, always had some dent, ping or scrape in it. I have noticed at times that my keys can sometimes hit the gas tank so i thought I might try the tank bra like my buddy has. I like the way it looks and it is functional. But he tells me that it will dull the paint over time. I believe him and wanted to take some precaution to prevent that from happening to my tank. Is there anything that you could recommend that would stop that from happening?
 
I dont understand how a tank bra can dull the paint...If aneything the sun can dull a finish..If it was me Id move your keys to a safe place..:bigsmiley23:
 
Over time the underside of the bra rubs against the clear coat due to vibration, dust and grit getting trapped etc. and yes, it will put micro scratches in the clear coat and dull it after a while.

You could try keeping a good coat of wax to see if that helps but if I were you, I would go not put a bra on it.

Sometimes dings happen but if you ding it hard enough, the tank will dent even with a bra.

I just keep a good coat of wax on mine, use a little care and enjoy the shiny paint job cause the factory finish is pretty tough as is.
 
As others have said, it does not dull the paint nearly as much as putting microscuff marks on the clear coat, which does make it "appear" to dull the paint.

On my Sportbikes I rode with a tank bag...it had a foam rubber base, nonetheless it dulls the clear coat...no matter how careful and diligent you are.

But then I really liked to have a tank bag that I could support my upper torso and keep pressure off my upper arms and wrists. So fit and convenience trumps a bit of clear coat scuffing, with a bit of elbow grease, polish/wax and doing it often.
 
My vote is NO!!! It will dull the paint. What your trying to prevent is do to the fact that you ride your bike. Only use the bike key and leave your other keys in tour pack. They all get nicked up while riding. Its just that on the tank it is more noticeable.
 
The slightest of dust that works it's way under the bra will act as a fine sandpaper and put very very fine scratches which will result in a dulling of your finish - even if you keep a good coat of wax on it - it can't stop it - however, providing the scratches aren't to deep, they can be buffed out, but by doing this you also are taking off some clear, and this can only be done so many times - my partners own a custom motorcycle paint shop and have buffed several tanks due to fine scratches from paint bras, also if it gets wet or moisture gets under the bra it could cause similar problems, their advice is to keep a lot of wax on the paint and never wipe it dry which would do the same thing as the bra.
 
89 FXRS said:
The slightest of dust that works it's way under the bra will act as a fine sandpaper and put very very fine scratches which will result in a dulling of your finish - even if you keep a good coat of wax on it - it can't stop it - however, providing the scratches aren't to deep, they can be buffed out, but by doing this you also are taking off some clear, and this can only be done so many times - my partners own a custom motorcycle paint shop and have buffed several tanks due to fine scratches from paint bras, also if it gets wet or moisture gets under the bra it could cause similar problems, their advice is to keep a lot of wax on the paint and never wipe it dry which would do the same thing as the bra.
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So the consensus seems to be to not put a bra on the bike. I wish I would have posted this before I bought the bra. I suppose I could opt out of purchasing it by canceling the order when I get to the HD dealer ship or I can do as you suggest and that is put a good layer of wax on the tank before putting the bar on. Thanks for the input.
 
No amount of wax under your bra will prevent dulling of the paint. If you put the bra on, you'll just have to get used to leaving it on forever.
 
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