Hey has anyone ever stripped the clear off the lower aluminum tubes and polish them ? I have a 06 EGS it has a silver powder coated block and all the engine covers are aluminum as well , my lower are all pitted up , like to keep them aluminum . Any suggestion ?

 

I haven't done it, but yes it can be done. I've seen threads here where folks have done exactly what you're talking about.

 

Yep. I did it to my 06 Road King. I started with 200 grit and worked my way up to 600. Remember to go in the same direction on the finishing round to get that nice look.

If you're careful, you don't have to take the fender off. You can slide the sandpaper under the bottom of the cans or jack the bike up enough to extend the forks. I did mine in a Saturday morning and was very happy with the results. Just remember to keep a good coat of polish on them afterwards.

 

Enjoy the time you'll spend polishing them............... 1 word: Powdercoat

 

Powder coat , I think if I was going to take it all apart , I would chrome them , don't mine polishing , that's part of owning a bike if you ask me !

 

I've did mine on my FXR. Dissasmbled them, stripped them with a can of aircraft stripper and polished them on a buffing wheel and compound. They came out like chrome and it takes very little to maintain them.

 

Chrome cracks.
I started with 220 grit on a palm sander because I wanted to sand off the casting marks and smooth them over a little. Then 400, etc. After polishing, the forks were dissassmbled, cleaned and new seals installed.
One original, one in the works




Finished (with some help from FigureFinishing)




A set of 6 year old, factor levers (before and after):




I didn't bother using stripper, due to the aggressive grit, but this works well:

 

Those look great HarleyScuba! Do mine next?

 

I've done 4 sets so far and will be doing the ones on my SG this winter. Everyone has there own way for this.

I like removing the fender, brake calipers, and wheel and just installing the front axle to keep it all lined up and provide full access to them. I use 200, 400, then wet sand with 600, 800 and 1000. If I'm doing a Glide, I skip the 200 and 400 on the cowbells and just go to wet sanding them with the 600 - 1000 when I'm at that stage for the lower legs, that way they have the same sheen as the fork legs. From there, I finish polish them with Flitz metal polish.

Everybody has there own likes and dislikes, I love Chrome ones, if they are powdercoated black, it needs to be balanced with the rest of the bike for me to like it. I like the polished ones the most because you can tell someone takes the time to make it look good.

Sure they are more work than just wiping down the chrome ones with windex, but I still love the look of highly polished aluminum.

 

True Datt!