Tank protection on my new black GSX-R750

[Kaiser Soze]

Damn this black and maroon paint job is sweet... and damn, this black and maroon paint job is touchy. Wow.

After putting barely 100km on the new bike, I noticed quite a bit of faint scratching on the tank, basically from just above where it meets the seat, to just under the fill hole (obviously, as most people's are).

I cleaned it up well last night, removed all the decals (Goof Off and a hairdryer made that super easy), and put one of these tank protectors:



The dealer had a few used bikes in the shop with these, and the tanks all looked great. Didn't think much of it, dropped it on there, then went out riding for half an hour or so (damn rain shooed me in early).

Then I took the long way to work this morning, put another 30km on it, and had a look at the tank just to admire my protector, and there were several little scratches/smudges all around the thing. They're from my Joe Rocket kevlar jacket rubbing it I guess, though I didn't really think it was really being pressed into the tank hard.

So man, how the hell do you guard against these scratches? Do you any of you guys put those 3M clear strips or sheets on the tanks, and then put these tank protectors over that? Or do a lot of you use tank bras? I was scared of using a bra because I know it wore the hell out of the paint when I had one on my car years ago... but I'm getting paranoid that my beautiful shiny new black gas tank is going to look like o-ring by the end of the summer.

3M see-through protector sheets and a bra on top of that?

Or am I being to paranoid? Just live with that small part of the bike taking a bit of abuse? Bigger, thicker tank protector maybe?

I'd like to hear what you guys all use (and whether it's on a sportbike).

Thanks!

[Kaiser Soze]

Man, I thought I'd get at least a *few* replies.

I checked the dealer again, and all of the protectors are about the same size. There's this one button on my Joe Rocket jacket that hits the tank half an inch to the right of the protector, and it's scratching it up pretty good.

I found these Tank Slappers that look decent, at www.tankslapper.com.

They look like they'll work, and they're cheaper than 3M stuff, but after I ordered a set I read where a few guys said they're a real bitch to install properly. Putting it on wet and trying to get the bubbles all out, etc. We'll see soon enough.

My interim solution is a few strips of scotch magic tape. The kind that isn't super strong, so I'll be able to whip it off when the slapper gets here. It looks like crap, so I just make sure I ride super fast so no one sees it.

So what do you guys with sportbikes use?

[roscowgo]

Maybe you could get a piece of tape and tape up the button, instead of the tank.

[Sev]

I wax my bike... a lot. Every time I was it, it gets at least 5 coats of Mcguilar's gold class. This seems to protect it from most scratches.

But I only wash it like once a month...

[roscowgo]

Mines such a ratbike that i've given up on making it remotely pretty. all the scratches, rusty bolts, and funky weirdness looks good to me though

[Kaiser Soze]

Well, I had the Tank Slapper on for a couple of weeks, but wasn't too impressed with it. I was really careful putting it on; had washed the tank well and rinsed it with water, then applied the sheet immediately after peeling it from the backing paper, but still ended up with lots of bits trapped under the thing. I was going to just live with those if it protected the tank, but after some use the edge started to really show. Like if you looked at the bike from 10 feet or less you could see the outline of the sheet on the top of the tank. The side ones were hidden better though.

They also couldn't stand up to a washing without peeling back. Careful hand washing yes, but not down at the car wash with a wand. I'm pretty careful there as far as not having the nozzle super close (and of course not spraying where I shouldn't) but the edges still peeled back. I finally got pissed off last time there and just took the things off.

I gave the tank a few rounds of Meguire's polish, then a good coat of wax. I'll slap on a few more coats tonight and just see how that works for now.

Man, this black is so nice when it's done up right, but it's a bitch to keep scratch-free.