Product Report: A scratch-removal product that actually works!
By Fred Rau

During my 30-plus years of testing motorcycling-related products, I have probably been offered about 200 different “miracle compounds” that promised to remove scratches from my motorcycle’s bodywork. Each one claimed to be “radical” or “miraculous,” and to contain some kind of “secret ingredient” that would fill in scratches, remove swirl marks and improve my love life. Yeah….right. Though some of them made some minor improvements when applied to relatively lightly-scratched areas, the bottom line was always one of disappointment.

So when or own tech guru, Stu Oltman, came to me the other day touting some product called “Glare,” I was less than enthusiastic, and actually a little disappointed to see that someone as savvy as Stu could have been taken in by one of these snake oil salesmen. I tried to listen patiently to his pitch about how well the stuff worked, and reluctantly agreed to accept a sample to take home and try for myself.

Truth is, I left it sitting on a shelf in my garage for over a month, as I expected nothing more than another big let-down when I tried it, and wasn’t looking forward to telling Stu what I found. But the day finally came when my 2005 Gold Wing needed a good cleaning, and after washing it down I spotted the bottle of Glare sitting on the shelf and decided that now was as good a time as any.

My GL is white, and from several years and about 70,000 miles of my nylon pants rubbing against it, the side panels were badly scratched up. Just so I could show Stu the evidence later, I took a couple of close-up pictures of those scratches, and then proceeded to smear some Glare over them and rub it in by hand. To be honest, I didn’t put too much effort into it, but as I started to rub, I noticed a significant improvement in the surface of the plastic. At first I just figured that this was the compound simply masking the scratches, since it was white, like my paint. But as I started to buff the compound off with a clean rag, I was amazed as I watched the painted surface appear, almost totally scratch-free! So, I quickly applied a second coat, rubbing a bit harder this time, and when I finished just 10 minutes later, the side panel looked for all the world as if I had just completely repainted it.

Excited now, I ran around the bike, working the Glare into the other side panel, and scratches on the tank, fairing and saddlebags. Everywhere I tried it, the result was the same. Then I decided on the ultimate test. My right-hand mirror had a deep gouge in it where some lady in a parking lot had hit it with the door of her SUV, so hard it had knocked the mirror off the bike. I had resigned myself to living with the scar, as it was obvious that nothing short of a new paint job would fix damage this extensive. Still, I figured this would make a good caveat to writing about the compound, showing how, though it would remove surface scratches, that nothing could fix a gouge this deep. Do I need to tell you what happened? The gouge completely disappeared after three buffings with the Glare! I was totally astounded. In retrospect, I wish I had taken a picture of the gouge before I started, but I was so sure that nothing could possibly work on it, that I didn’t even bother.

I have never, ever, officially endorsed or recommended any scratch remover in my life, but that changes as of right now. Glare Knock Out is, without a doubt, the best such product I have ever seen – hands down. The official advertising blurbs claim it is made with “Glassplexin,” that “restores paint and removes scratches,” and I never thought I would ever say this, but I believe it. Glare makes a half-dozen other products for your paint, like “Ultra Wash” and “Micro Finish,” but I have not tried them and know nothing about them. But I know this: I am going to buy a half-dozen bottles of the Knock Out and give them to my motorcycling friends as Christmas presents.

A 12-oz. bottle costs $24.95, which seems rather pricey until you see what it can do. Obviously, there has to be some kind of scratches or discoloration that it won’t help – that only stands to reason – but so far, I haven’t found anything on my bikes it couldn’t improve by an amazing degree.

I understand there are a number of distributors around the country, but at the risk of this coming across like an infomercial, our own Stu Oltman is a distributor (he believes in it that much), and you can get it from him by writing to him at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .