I made a boo-boo

[nomadpilot]

While going through some riding stuff yesterday, I ran across a mini tankbag. So I decided to see if it would work on my 2010 Nomad. It fit, sort of, but when I removed it from the tank, I discoverd that the thing had left a couple inch-long scratches in the black paint on the top of the gas tank!! Man, that hurt. The white primer under the paint now shows. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what paint to use to fill in the scratches and how to do it? I would surely appreciate it.

My beautiful new Nomad, and I wounded it. Bad on me for not checking bottom of that tankbag before sticking it on the bike. It is a magnetic tankbag, and I'd like to use it, but not if the the paint on the bike is that tender. Thanx in advance.

[bigdave]

You can get touchup paint from colorrite

www.colorrite.com

[cnc]

Boy you must have really scratched it to go through the clear coat, the color coat and down to the primer. Is it really that deep from just putting a tank bag on?, carefully run your finger nail 90 degrees to the scratch. Can you feel any depression?
Often times a scratch in the clear coat will appear whitish. Try buffing by hand the scratches with a gentle compound first, you may be surprised. If that does not work, then a clear coat/ base coat touch up pen would be my next suggestion.

[nomadpilot]

Originally Posted by cnc

Boy you must have really scratched it to go through the clear coat, the color coat and down to the primer. Is it really that deep from just putting a tank bag on?, carefully run your finger nail 90 degrees to the scratch. Can you feel any depression?
Often times a scratch in the clear coat will appear whitish. Try buffing by hand the scratches with a gentle compound first, you may be surprised. If that does not work, then a clear coat/ base coat touch up pen would be my next suggestion.

I'll try that. Yes, I did the "scratch" test, and you can feel it with the fingenail. I've got some rubbing/polish compound and I'll give that a try. Sure hurt to see that blemish appear. Nearly cried, but I said a "naughty" word instead. It was more "manly" that way. LOL

The tankbag I have is a small, magnetic bag and has been shored on a shelf for some time, so I didn't check the bottom of it for anything. Turns out there was some tiny grit clinging to the underside, which is normally a rubber-like surface and shouldn't cause any scratches. Whatever it was, it was hard enough that when I moved the bag for positioning, it caused the scrates. I'll be more careful next time, and I think I'll apply some of that 3M clear film to the top and sides of the tank to prevent that from happening again.

[tomdez]

I was also planning on using a magnetic tank bag, until I saw how easily the black paint scuffs. Just placing a clean tankbag left scuffs that need to be buffed out. No way I would ride with this tankbag. I have pretty deep swirls on the side of the tank where my jeans rub. This is by far the "softest" paint I have seen. It is going to be very difficult to keep this finish looking good for long.

[cnc]

My 2008 has a fairly soft clear coat as well. The down side is it does mark easy, but swirl marks and light scratches buff out quite easy as well.

[Jared]

Cover it up with a nice tank bib.

[nomadpilot]

I don't know if there is one for the new Nomad. The nose of the seat comes up so far on the tank that there doesn't look like there's any place to put one. The scratch is on the left side of the tank, just to the left of the speedometer housing. I don't think a tank bib would cover it. Oh well. I got some paint and used a toothpick to apply it. It's not perfect, but at least that scratch doesnt' jump out at you.