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How do I clean fork lowers?

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Old Nov 26, 2018 | 07:43 PM
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Default How do I clean fork lowers?
There was a gentleman who posted a few days ago on this very topic. However, he machined his to an almost chrome-like shine. Is there a way to clean fork lowers using some type of compound or other magic formula and some elbow grease only? 2002 Road King
 
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Old Nov 26, 2018 | 07:44 PM
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Do you have children?
 
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Old Nov 26, 2018 | 07:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Cazador
Do you have children?
LOL! They're doing homework now
 
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Old Nov 26, 2018 | 08:20 PM
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Wd40 cleans just about anything. I usually get after it with a foam mesh pad thing and soapy water.
 
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Old Nov 26, 2018 | 09:04 PM
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You have to cover your front fender or remove it . And remove the clear coat with a paint remover to be able to do any kind of polishing or cleaning them up. Heavy duty red rubbing compound will do wonders .
 
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Old Nov 27, 2018 | 11:48 AM
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Blue Magic, or another good aluminum polish will do it, but a LOT of elbow grease.
Once it's done though, not hard to maintain about every month or so (depends on how much rain you ride in).
 
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Old Nov 27, 2018 | 04:37 PM
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Look on the Youtube; "How to polish Aluminum to look like chrome. https://youtu.be/e13dafqipFc" You need to get down to the bare metal before buffing.
 
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Old Nov 27, 2018 | 09:27 PM
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Originally Posted by edugatyr
There was a gentleman who posted a few days ago on this very topic. However, he machined his to an almost chrome-like shine. Is there a way to clean fork lowers using some type of compound or other magic formula and some elbow grease only? 2002 Road King
Harbor Freight has a kit with the compounds and buffing wheels for $19 that works great. I used it to polish my brake & clutch levers and they came out looking like chrome. For 20 bucks there is no need to wear yourself out doing it by hand. The pads are small enough to get into tight places. Please keep in mind that most aluminum finishes are clear-coated so you will need to remove the protective clear coating before you can get to the aluminum.

You will like it so much that you will look for other things to polish such as the brake rotors and anything else that "needs" polishing, specially for when you need some personal "me time" with the bike during these winter months.

Here is the link to the item from Harbor Freight: https://www.harborfreight.com/14-pie...kit-98707.html
 
Last edited by Labrador; Nov 27, 2018 at 09:28 PM.
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Originally Posted by edugatyr
There was a gentleman who posted a few days ago on this very topic. However, he machined his to an almost chrome-like shine. Is there a way to clean fork lowers using some type of compound or other magic formula and some elbow grease only? 2002 Road King
Below is a link to the post you mentioned which shows my fork lowers. If possible, post a photo of your forks, so we can provide more specific feedback. In some cases, simply using polish is not going to help much. You might need to strip the clear coat and proceed from there. Polish would be one of the last steps.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...l#post17822203
 
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