Jeff Wills:Im not sure i want to use some thing like finger nail polish though i want to make it last a while. Maybe use some auto body Bondo if there are deep nicks i haven't found any yet but if i do when i take every thing apart and clean/polish the bike i might use some. Then find a paint that matched the original pant and go over the scratches.
Hudson308 and pastorbobnlnh: Yeah i dont think im going to change any thing on the bike but i plan to take it apart, clean it, re-oil and polish every thing.
Im considering using a buffer on the chrome parts of the bike thought i would check with you guys fist to make sure it wont hurt any thing.
You don't want to use body filler, or even spot putty to fill the scratches. After wiping the immediate area with a little mineral spirits followed by rubbing alcohol (both on a soft cotton cloth), the idea is to carefully lay some paint in the scratch with a small artist's brush. Wait for that to dry for a day before laying in some more. Repeat until you're close to the level of the original paint. You'll never get it to completely disappear, but as long as the paint is close to a match you should be able to get it where the only people who notice the repair are the people you point it out to (read: don't point it out
).
As far as blowing the bike apart to do a complete grease & polish, if you insist on doing that and you've never done this before, then do one assembly (say, start with a brake caliper or maybe the front wheel) at a time and reattach it before moving on to another assembly. Every experienced tinkerer here can tell you a story about the pile of parts they were handed that was once someone else's project. Like any used jigsaw puzzle there's always a piece or six missing.
