8 more hours of polishing

[laserracer]

i love to polish stuff ,,seeing im a mobile car and bike detailer i get to do it alot..but theres only one problem ive found and thats once ive started polishing a bit of alloy or stainless i cant seem to stop, and go looking for other bits to polish,,i almost talked myself into taking off my swingarm to strip and polish it but thank god i came to my senses

nice job on the rims and forks guys

[imdying]

Polished stuff is a pain if it's not lacquered. The only people that thing raw polished alloy is easy to keep clean are people with pretty low standards.

[mark247]

Polished stuff is a pain if it's not lacquered. The only people that thing raw polished alloy is easy to keep clean are people with pretty low standards.

When i polished my rear rim originally I lacquered it and it looks horrid, it stayed somewhat shiny but it also went somewhat yellowy over time. I stripped the lacquer and now autosol it every now and then and it looks way better.

[imdying]

Yeah, finding the right coating is a pain, would be worth asking a polishing guru what they recommend. Chrome is the way to go once you've polished, it's pricey, but it's a genuine 'just wipe with a rag to bring back to awesome' solution.

A friend polished up his swingarm on his NC30... from that horrible rough cast finish. It was a mamoth effort, but shit it looked a million bucks.

[vifferman]

What's wrong with white wheels?

Two things:
1. Mine were scratched, and had some corrosion under the paint.
2. I think the paint actually ahs some sort of electrostatic attraction for road spooge.
3. Road spooge (and chain spooge) shows up more on white paint.

I've had white wheels on two of me dukes, looking after them is a piece of piss, Here's how I do it....

1. Polish them with a good car polish, twice!
2. Spray them with silicon spray..

Okaaayyy....
When I could get hold of Wurth 'Intensive Rim Cleaner' (or was it 'wheel cleaner'?) it was a piece of piss: spray on the diluted cleaner, wait uno momento, hose off. Nothing I've tried since worked as well.
Fifthly, I've learned to never let any silicon products near my bike wheels. I was using some wheel cleaner on the cars and thought I'd try it on the bike too: spray on, clean wheels, spray on again while wet, = (supposedly) nice clean wheels that rejected brake dust and road spooge.
I ended up with tyres with silicon soaked into the surface of them, which were fine on dry days, but were dangerous on even mildly damp days.
To get them normal again, I had to clean them thoroughly with brake cleaner. The back one needed a mild burnout to return it to stickiness (well... that was the rationalisation I had for doing it..)

Once your wheels have no paint on them, you can polish any scratches out (with paint, you're removing paint and exposing the underneaths), grime has more trouble adhering, and doesn't show up as much.

[vifferman]

Yeah, finding the right coating is a pain, would be worth asking a polishing guru what they recommend. Chrome is the way to go once you've polished, it's pricey, but it's a genuine 'just wipe with a rag to bring back to awesome' solution.

Chrome can be prone to cracking and peeling, cost a lot to have done, and I believe isn't suitable for all alloys.
From other forums, apparently the best thing to protect your polished alloys with if you don't want to occasionally polish them with Autosol or Simichrome is Nikasil. As mentioned, lacquer / clearcoat can go yellow and crack or peel.

[imdying]

Yes, a shitty chrome job will be... shitty! Try an industrial chromer, some like Poles who does things like towballs

[laserracer]

Polished stuff is a pain if it's not lacquered. The only people that thing raw polished alloy is easy to keep clean are people with pretty low standards.

or maybe people who have to lacquer it are just to lazy to keep it polished ?

[Owl]

Yeah, finding the right coating is a pain, would be worth asking a polishing guru what they recommend. Chrome is the way to go once you've polished, it's pricey, but it's a genuine 'just wipe with a rag to bring back to awesome' solution.

Here is an option and one fit for purpose!

http://www.por15.co.nz/POR15Prod/pollishedalloykit.htm

[AllanB]

Paint bakers, Enamelers can do a clear coat. I have no experience with this so I cannot account for yellowing etc.

[nico]

dam dats hot when have ya got another spare 8 hours m8 lol my vfr needs some shiney metal

[imdying]

or maybe people who have to lacquer it are just to lazy to keep it polished ?

No, they're just the smart ones... oxidisation of the surface starts to occur immediately. Basically, polished alloy is for bikes that never get used.

[AllanB]

No, they're just the smart ones... oxidisation of the surface starts to occur immediately. Basically, polished alloy is for bikes that never get used.

True about alloy however if maintained it will not be a issue. Metal polish plus a occasional wax is good.

I'd polished the crap out of the engine covers, cam cover, forks, basically any easily accessible or removable bit of alloy on my old 750 twin Kawa. Granted I was a fine weather rider by choice, but after the initial weekly polishes of Autosol it required only monthly hand polishing.
Winter was the main time to keep an eye on it, however a spray of CRC or similar coated it and stopped any oxidation.

Factory parts that are polished are always coated or they would quickly turn to crap. Unfortunately if you don't look after that the coating will breakdown.

If you choose to polish it you are committing to maintain it.

[H00dz]

autosol mixed with steel wool can work well on exhaust systems to , stainless ones of course. myte try the forks as well.

Mate that is all good....just goes to show what a bit of time can do

[laserracer]

True about alloy however if maintained it will not be a issue. Metal polish plus a occasional wax is good.

I'd polished the crap out of the engine covers, cam cover, forks, basically any easily accessible or removable bit of alloy on my old 750 twin Kawa. Granted I was a fine weather rider by choice, but after the initial weekly polishes of Autosol it required only monthly hand polishing.
Winter was the main time to keep an eye on it, however a spray of CRC or similar coated it and stopped any oxidation.

Factory parts that are polished are always coated or they would quickly turn to crap. Unfortunately if you don't look after that the coating will breakdown.

If you choose to polish it you are committing to maintain it.

What he said