Polishing Forks?
Road Warrior
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,688
Likes: 4
From: Crisfield, MD
I think there are a few post on this if ya search but here's the deal:
Jack up bike, pull wheel, fender caliper. Use stripper to get most the coating off the alum. (its clearcoated). Then wet sand with 400 through 2000 grit with wet/dry paper followed by thoroughly polishing with Mothers alum. polish all of which can be done with the forks on the bike allowing you to sping the lowers around as you work. Then once done reinstall everything. Plan on a few hours of hard work (sore hands) but the outcome is great and will hold up just fine with an occassional polish or waxing. Mine have been done a couple years and the task probably took me about 6 hours work by hand. Power tools (flapper wheel and polisher would no doubt speed and ease the task). It should run ya about $40 worth of sandpaper and polish and of course the cost of whatever alcoholic beverage it takes to get you through it.
Jack up bike, pull wheel, fender caliper. Use stripper to get most the coating off the alum. (its clearcoated). Then wet sand with 400 through 2000 grit with wet/dry paper followed by thoroughly polishing with Mothers alum. polish all of which can be done with the forks on the bike allowing you to sping the lowers around as you work. Then once done reinstall everything. Plan on a few hours of hard work (sore hands) but the outcome is great and will hold up just fine with an occassional polish or waxing. Mine have been done a couple years and the task probably took me about 6 hours work by hand. Power tools (flapper wheel and polisher would no doubt speed and ease the task). It should run ya about $40 worth of sandpaper and polish and of course the cost of whatever alcoholic beverage it takes to get you through it.
Last edited by capttawes; Jan 2, 2009 at 03:00 PM.
Road Warrior
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,276
Likes: 8
From: Minneapolis Area, MN
I didn't have the clear coat to deal with on mine. I pulled mine off to do the polishing as you should use lots of water with mild soap to wash away the metal particles. I did mine in a big wash bucket starting with 400 grit wet paper I think...maybe even 200 grit. The first round sucked the most as I had some pits and scratches to remove. If you don't sand deep enough to get all of the pits and scratches out on the first round, you probably won't when you switch to a finer grit either. And it doesn't take long dirty the water so change it often. Finish the first round by getting all of the scratches from sanding to lay in one direction.
Then switch to the next finer grit and sand 90 deg to the previous pattern sanding till the previous grit's lines are completely gone.
Then switch to the next finer grit and sand 90 deg to the previous pattern sanding till the previous grit's lines are completely gone...get the idea? Rinse and repeat till you get up to 1400 or 1600 grit or so.
Then buff.
http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/buffman.htm
It was not fun...at all. But the results are astounding. Just be sure to run some Mother's or something over it once a month or so and she'll retain the gleam. Until another rock hit.
If you're doing an extensive polish, I'd recommend disassembling the front end so you don't have to worry about metal shavings getting in the forks. It's a lot more work, but you don't have to worry about accidentally sanding the fork tubes while working the dust caps.
I did my triple trees, lower fork assemblies, and the stack of parts that make up my forward controls. I will never polish that many components at one time again! A few fork lower components wouldn't be so bad though. If buying aftermarket parts...buy chrome or black!
Then switch to the next finer grit and sand 90 deg to the previous pattern sanding till the previous grit's lines are completely gone.
Then switch to the next finer grit and sand 90 deg to the previous pattern sanding till the previous grit's lines are completely gone...get the idea? Rinse and repeat till you get up to 1400 or 1600 grit or so.
Then buff.
http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/buffman.htm
It was not fun...at all. But the results are astounding. Just be sure to run some Mother's or something over it once a month or so and she'll retain the gleam. Until another rock hit.
If you're doing an extensive polish, I'd recommend disassembling the front end so you don't have to worry about metal shavings getting in the forks. It's a lot more work, but you don't have to worry about accidentally sanding the fork tubes while working the dust caps.
I did my triple trees, lower fork assemblies, and the stack of parts that make up my forward controls. I will never polish that many components at one time again! A few fork lower components wouldn't be so bad though. If buying aftermarket parts...buy chrome or black!
not true at all! simple wax will keep them looking like new. when i polish sliders i sand them down on the bike get them down to 1000 grit at 1000 grit i lube with WD40... great for polishing... then i pull off the fork and turn it on the buffing wheel... going from a high grit dimond compound (or polish) to a fine buffing compound... then wax... takes time to get it done right but well worth it!!! I just did Mascman's battery box/fuse box... came out sick!!!!
here are the forks i did for my cafe build as well as my brothers sporty... i polish stuff all the time! my cafe build is almost all polished!
*oooh ya while you are doing it you should also hit your front rotor! give that a bit of bling as well!!!
Lower tubes on the sporty my bro and i did: (this picture was taken 9 month after they where polished... still look good to me)
rotor as well
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 8,961
Likes: 263
From: Conroe Texas
Thanks for the link I just ordered the stainless kit to do my rotors, talked to them and they said all I need is a drill and elbow grease. great site with tips and guide. Have an extra set of rotors to practice on.
http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/sspolkit.html
http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/sspolkit.html
Road Warrior
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,298
Likes: 0
From: CA Desert
Ya +1 Just buy chrome ones ,they look a million times better!
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From: the 50s & the 60s
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I do lowers on my bench mounted buffer using a selection of different wheels and componds.
For rotors, sanding is the fastest way to go. This is with sandpaper only using a drill attachment. I can do a side in about 25 minutes.
For rotors, sanding is the fastest way to go. This is with sandpaper only using a drill attachment. I can do a side in about 25 minutes.