Polishing ,whats best way ?

[BrianZXR]

Am giving serious thought to spending a month with bike off the road to clean it up , have polished little bits of bike as ive gone through it , but have found that nitromors struggles to bubble the paint on the aluminum , is there anything else that will work abit better ? , i expect to apply alot of elbow grease to get it how i want it , also is there a product that i can coat polished frame in to stop it greying ? thanks

[SOILZX]

I personaly remove the paint (either nitromors or sand it down), then go over it with fine paper (1500-2000 grade) with a cutting compound, then get some polishing wheels in a battery drill, apply cutting compound to area and go over with wheel in drill. Clean up after with brasso and a rag and/or polishing wheel again.
Theres proably easier ways, this just how i do it, would be quite interested if others have a different way round it??
Regards
SOILZX

[CaNsA]

ask this guy.

[SOILZX]

Why didnt i think of that!!!! WAX-ON, WAX-OFF!!!! Classic!!

[jake]

Brian, ive just come in from the shed doing exactly that. Having a brew thinkin ...whats that powder coaters number again....
I used the nitomours, it does get a bit of it off.. but i know what you mean, it does struggle. I then got a wire wheel on my cordless and got the rest off. Then as soilzx does, get busy with the wet and dry. Then get the polishing wheel and wax on it.
I kinda gave up with the super mirror finish idea, and went for the slightly shiney.
The only tip i can give, wrap something soft around the drill chuck when polishing, as the drill will jump off the work and dent the ally

[SOILZX]

"The only tip i can give, wrap something soft around the drill chuck when polishing, as the drill will jump off the work and dent the ally "
Ye, pissed me off, so i stopped using the dewalt cordless (metal chuck) and used my Mac tools one (plastic chuck), problem soleved

[will#224]

i've just done the frame, its now a brushed ally finish, the swingarm was a pig though and i got it shot blasted, the welding on the swinarm is also now brushed ally finish, crap welding the swingarm though!!!

[BrianZXR]

cheers ,i have been using course wire wool grading down to fine with nitromors and then 1200 paper and autosol and then a bar towel with autosol , comes up good ,but soon as you touch it theres a mark , anything i can coat it with to keep that shine for longer ?

[SOILZX]

you could lacquer it, but you would have to get the right laquer to etch to the bare metal, other than that i think you toad out mate to be fair, i'm having similar troubles with mine, but i find it is better when i go over it with a rag and some brasso (whether it actually is, is another matter, proably just wishfull thinking )
Cheers
SOILZX

[masterofinsanity]

when i built the streetfighter i polished the wheels by stripping with nitromors and 3 grades of wire whool then used a polishing kit from here 3 grades of abrasive wheel then 3 grades of mops/soap.good finish but you gotta keep on top of it.Laquering polished alloy will turn it a yellow colour.

[cargo]

Keeping polished alloy shiny is a pain in the ar5e..............................There was once a time when Jap bikes came with lots of exposed polished alloy Looked good when you bought it new in the shop but very very soon it was not so shiny..............

I used to cover any exposed alloy on my KH250...............with vasiline for the winter looked awful but I knew that underneath that mess was a shiny bike. Come spring and a bucket of hot soapy water the shine was restored..............mind you the alloy in those days was more like cream cheese.

Wife's ER 5 has lots of polished alloy...................................I never touch it................her job if she wants it shiny

[will#224]

I go for the brushed ally look using abrasive pads, scotchbrite or york abrasives make them

[BrianZXR]

yes was wondering if a light coat of clear grease would slow it down , frames and swingers look the goats gonads polished ,got work with-in walking distance for the next few weeks so might strip it back and give it a whirl ,will let you know how i get on , thanks

[cargo]

For a while I helped keep the wifes bike shiny with a tin of silicon spary..................she thought I was polishing and cleaning it...................I just sprayed with the silicon.

Dealers use it to make second hand bikes look shiny in the showroom

[masterofinsanity]

try some alu belgom rather than autosol, less harsh and lasts longer.