Big Problem...HELP!!
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Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 709
Likes: 0
Big Problem...HELP!!
I have an '09 FXD Dynaglide and they have aluminum lower forks. I've had the bike for 3 years...bought it new. Everything was perfect with the bike until today when I backed it out of the garage.
First let me say I take good care of the bike and always park it in the garage which is about 1 mile from the Pacific Ocean. I ride PCH quite a bit but I've been really busy romoding the house and haven't been on a ride for 3 months.
Today I see the Problem and it is bad: I have Really BIG black stains all up and down the forks on the leading front side and these stains will not come off. I have used all of Harley's products as well as Nevr Dull and nothing works. Nevr Dull removes rust spots and junk on the Aluminum wheels really well for me but does nothing on this.
The odd thing is that when you rub on Nevr Dull is works up a black substance on chrome and wheels but it doesn't do that on the forks.
My neighbor who builds cars as a hobby and knows a ton 'o **** thinks those forks may be clear coated and thats why the black stains won't come off.
It's not tar either...I used a small amouts of tar remover on a small spot and nothing again.
Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on? It looks terrible and is noticeable from quite a distance. Will I have to pull the forks and have the lowers powdercoated? What do I do? TIA
First let me say I take good care of the bike and always park it in the garage which is about 1 mile from the Pacific Ocean. I ride PCH quite a bit but I've been really busy romoding the house and haven't been on a ride for 3 months.
Today I see the Problem and it is bad: I have Really BIG black stains all up and down the forks on the leading front side and these stains will not come off. I have used all of Harley's products as well as Nevr Dull and nothing works. Nevr Dull removes rust spots and junk on the Aluminum wheels really well for me but does nothing on this.
The odd thing is that when you rub on Nevr Dull is works up a black substance on chrome and wheels but it doesn't do that on the forks.
My neighbor who builds cars as a hobby and knows a ton 'o **** thinks those forks may be clear coated and thats why the black stains won't come off.
It's not tar either...I used a small amouts of tar remover on a small spot and nothing again.
Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on? It looks terrible and is noticeable from quite a distance. Will I have to pull the forks and have the lowers powdercoated? What do I do? TIA
Tourer
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 499
Likes: 1
From: Herrin, Illinois
The forks are clear coated. The only way to get rid of the marks is to strip the coating and polish your forks. Search up how to polish the forks, there are several threads kicking around on here. I am about to do mine, they look like crap with all the black marks on them.
Club Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 11,483
Likes: 39
From: Passaic County, NJ
The marks is the aluminum oxidizing. It's a natural occurance with aluminum.
As the previous poster mentioned the only way to get rid of them is to strip the clear coat and polish..... -OR- send them out to get powdercoated -OR- buy a set of chrome lowers -OR- have your set chromed -OR- paint them yourself using epoxy/appliance paint (how-to posted within this forum (search for it).
As the previous poster mentioned the only way to get rid of them is to strip the clear coat and polish..... -OR- send them out to get powdercoated -OR- buy a set of chrome lowers -OR- have your set chromed -OR- paint them yourself using epoxy/appliance paint (how-to posted within this forum (search for it).
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 9,281
Likes: 1,139
From: southeast PA
Look at it as an opportunity to upgrade the looks of your sliders. You live a mile from PCH and haven't ridden it in 3 months? I think what you're seeing is your bike's way of telling you it feels neglected.
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Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2009
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Thanks guys for the help. The forks look really bad and make my '09 look worse that some beat 79's I've seen.
Nevil...yeah, PCH is great but I guess I take it for granted since it's the road I use to go get groceries and my nuts and bolts at Home Depot.
I favor the idea of doing something about this problem soon. I'm a visual kind of guy and my head goes straight to such things.
Putting it all together I come up with a theory that makes sense to me. I've been riding in the high desert since I bought the bike. Dry as a popcorn fart up there you know but lots of sand and gravel blowing hard almost every day. No rust or corrosion at all on this bike when I left. Nada. Zip.
So, I move back to the beach, park the bike in the garage and start remoding the house because the A Hole I had to evict thrashed it. So, after about 3 months of 12 hour days I pull the bike out to treat myself to a nice ride and Bam! what a shock.
I now think that all that gravel and sand could have pitted that clear coat on the forks and only after I moved to the beach with its higher humidity and salt air did the corrosion start....and when it did start it moved fast and furious.
I won't be able to stand it too long....anybody got any idea where I'd go to get a decent pair of new sliders. Also, can they be powdercoated ok or will the heat from the process tweak them in a bad way? TIA
Nevil...yeah, PCH is great but I guess I take it for granted since it's the road I use to go get groceries and my nuts and bolts at Home Depot.
I favor the idea of doing something about this problem soon. I'm a visual kind of guy and my head goes straight to such things.
Putting it all together I come up with a theory that makes sense to me. I've been riding in the high desert since I bought the bike. Dry as a popcorn fart up there you know but lots of sand and gravel blowing hard almost every day. No rust or corrosion at all on this bike when I left. Nada. Zip.
So, I move back to the beach, park the bike in the garage and start remoding the house because the A Hole I had to evict thrashed it. So, after about 3 months of 12 hour days I pull the bike out to treat myself to a nice ride and Bam! what a shock.
I now think that all that gravel and sand could have pitted that clear coat on the forks and only after I moved to the beach with its higher humidity and salt air did the corrosion start....and when it did start it moved fast and furious.
I won't be able to stand it too long....anybody got any idea where I'd go to get a decent pair of new sliders. Also, can they be powdercoated ok or will the heat from the process tweak them in a bad way? TIA
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Road Master
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 816
Likes: 4
From: Stone Harbor, NJ
I have an '09 FXD Dynaglide and they have aluminum lower forks. I've had the bike for 3 years...bought it new. Everything was perfect with the bike until today when I backed it out of the garage.
First let me say I take good care of the bike and always park it in the garage which is about 1 mile from the Pacific Ocean. I ride PCH quite a bit but I've been really busy romoding the house and haven't been on a ride for 3 months.
Today I see the Problem and it is bad: I have Really BIG black stains all up and down the forks on the leading front side and these stains will not come off. I have used all of Harley's products as well as Nevr Dull and nothing works. Nevr Dull removes rust spots and junk on the Aluminum wheels really well for me but does nothing on this.
The odd thing is that when you rub on Nevr Dull is works up a black substance on chrome and wheels but it doesn't do that on the forks.
My neighbor who builds cars as a hobby and knows a ton 'o **** thinks those forks may be clear coated and thats why the black stains won't come off.
It's not tar either...I used a small amouts of tar remover on a small spot and nothing again.
Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on? It looks terrible and is noticeable from quite a distance. Will I have to pull the forks and have the lowers powdercoated? What do I do? TIA
First let me say I take good care of the bike and always park it in the garage which is about 1 mile from the Pacific Ocean. I ride PCH quite a bit but I've been really busy romoding the house and haven't been on a ride for 3 months.
Today I see the Problem and it is bad: I have Really BIG black stains all up and down the forks on the leading front side and these stains will not come off. I have used all of Harley's products as well as Nevr Dull and nothing works. Nevr Dull removes rust spots and junk on the Aluminum wheels really well for me but does nothing on this.
The odd thing is that when you rub on Nevr Dull is works up a black substance on chrome and wheels but it doesn't do that on the forks.
My neighbor who builds cars as a hobby and knows a ton 'o **** thinks those forks may be clear coated and thats why the black stains won't come off.
It's not tar either...I used a small amouts of tar remover on a small spot and nothing again.
Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on? It looks terrible and is noticeable from quite a distance. Will I have to pull the forks and have the lowers powdercoated? What do I do? TIA
They are clear coated and you will have the same choices as me (I have no garage and live three blocks from the Atlantic ocean):
1) Learn to live with it (unacceptable to me - and sound like for you as well).
2) Strip the clear and polish the #$%^& out of the bare aluminum. Follow with a fresh coat of clear, or regularly polish from now on. The stripping rout will probably be my choice.
3) Buy a set of new or chromed lowers to replace your black spotted ones.
On Edit:
4: Have yours PC'd or Chromed. I have seen enough threads on here and elsewhere with no reports of problems, that I think it is impossible that either process would do anything bad to the lowers.
USMAMule.
Last edited by USMAMule; Oct 4, 2011 at 02:24 PM.
