Kawasaki is getting ready to release their newest motocycles, the H2 and H2R. These motorcycles are special not only because they’re some of the fastest bikes on the market, but because they come with a brand new, super glossy paint finish. Kawasaki named this paint Silver Mirror. Shortly after their demo motorcycle traveled the country to be on television and trade shows, they realized how important it was going to be for the owner to protect the paint. That’s when they reached out to us at Dr. Beasley’s.
About Kawasaki’s Silver Mirror Paint:
Kawasaki’s Silver Mirror Paint is by far the glossiest paint provided by any vehicle manufacturer. It’s over 100% more glossy than any other car we’ve seen, according to our gloss meter. One of the main differences in this paint is that instead of using aluminum flakes in the paint to create a shine, Kawasaki uses silver flakes. The paint itself basically works like a mirror with the amount of reflectiveness it provides. The problem with a paint finish that is so glossy is that it shows imperfections that much more. Much like a black car shows marring and light imperfections much easier than a white car, this silver paint shows imperfections that much more than black paint. The way that the surface shows these imperfections doesn’t have to do with durability; the paint itself is just as durable as any other color or style. The issue lies in the reflective nature of the paint. Such glossy surfaces require light to be reflected as perfectly as possible. Even light imperfections in the paint will force the light to be reflected non-uniformly. This change in light reflection is how we see the scratches.
How Dr. Beasley’s Gets Involved:
Dr. Beasley’s got involved because as Kawasaki was looking for a way to fix imperfections in the paint, they were also looking for ways to prevent these scratches from showing in the first place. They caught wind of the idea of “nano-coatings” in the industry and decided to try our Nano-Resin, among others. With the efforts of their testing in Japan and ours in Chicago, they came to the conclusion that Nano-Resin is the best product for this paint finish. Nano-Resin is designed to be user friendly, so every customer of these bikes will get our kit that includes Nano-Resin and the necessary accessories they need.
So that’s reason number one – the customers can do it themselves. The second reason is that Nano-Resin has been shown through testing to improve the gloss of the paint by 20-30% and resist scratches by 80-90%. And finally the third reason was why they ultimately chose Nano-Resin over anything else – its flexibility. Nano-Resin has the ability to flex with the surface. Other “hard” coatings that measure the hardness of their coating as a benefit fail to realize that the metal and plastic on cars and motorcycles flex with the change in temperature due to the climate and while it heats up while driving. T
his flexing causes coatings that are measurably too hard to crack and lose effectiveness. Nano-Resin’s elasticity allows it to flex with the surface it’s on to maintain even coverage around the motorcycle. It’s flexibility is also a benefit when it comes to scratch resistance because when a scratch does cut into the coating, its elastic ability will heal over the scratch until the surface is perfect again.
How to Care for the Kawasaki Silver Mirror Paint:
As any experienced detailer or enthusiast knows, it doesn’t take much to mar the paint or see small scratches under the right light. That’s why even the dealerships are going to get a supply of The Final Finish and some 400 gsm microfiber towels. The high lubricity formula of The Final Finish will get the bike safely clean and ready for the showroom and their customers. Once the customers get their bikes, they’ll be instructed to immediately apply Nano-Resin. Once the surface is clean, they’ll take the bottle of Nano-Resin and saturate the brown suede cloth wrapped around the black applicator. Then they’ll wipe in straight lines in one direction around the finish of the bike. Then they will immediately go back and do straight lines in a perpendicular direction creating a “cross-hatch” pattern, re-saturating the applicator as needed.
This pattern will insure complete and even coverage around the bike. Once the bike is coated, it will need to sit for 10-30 minutes before it is wiped off. This will give it time to adhere to the paint and flash off any excess. Once Nano-Resin has flashed, a microfiber towel is used to flatten the high spots and remove any excess from the finish. Then there is a wait time of one hour before the process is repeated for the second layer . After this, the application of Nano-Resin is complete. It’ll take about one hour before the bike can be used or exposed to moisture, however, it’ll take roughly 48 hours for it to fully cure. Once this process is complete, the paint will be protected for 2-3 years. For best performance, reapplication may occur every year.
We produce Nano-Resin ourselves in Chicago, IL USA and are hands on in the production, R&D, and testing of these products. That’s why we know what these types of finishes need and how to make products for them if they don’t already exist.