I bought a used 16 Road Glide Ultra. The aluminum part of both front forks have a lot of pitting in them (see the picture). The chrome part toward the top of the fork, front fender and fairings are all perfect. What would cause this to the aluminum? Is there any way to make it look better?

 

I've got it on my '16 FLHTP as well. I figured it's the salt air and bugs here in FL. I have a heck of a time keeping most of the metal finishes nice, with the elements down here.

 

The look you are experiencing is a result of road debris damaging the clear cot on the lower legs ... You can replace the lowers with chrome units OR you can strip the rest of the clear coat finish, sand ( starting with about a 600 grit wet or dry paper then going up to 800 then 1,000, maybe higher if you wish ) then polish ... it takes time but the results are worth it

 

The bike was originally an Eaglerider of Florida rental bike. Must be a Florida thing. LOL Never had that happen in 3.5 years and 25,000 on my Ultra Limited that I bought new.

 

That is exactly what mine looked like. That isn't "pitting", and it isn't from road grit or salt, because among all of the guys that I ride with, some with the same year ('15), some with bikes a few years older, riding the same roads, same amount of miles, did NOT have this happen. Their lowers look as shiny as when they bought them.

That is a complete failure of the finish. I had mine replaced under warranty.

Natch, at the same time I paid the difference and got chrome. Believe it or not, when I picked it up, it had new chrome uppers. The dealership said: "Well, your uppers weren't looking all that good, so we replaced them at the same time."

If you're still inside your warranty period, I'd give it a try. Good luck.

 

That will be a resounding "Yes!"

Time, patience, 'Micromesh' a decent polishing paste, a drill/Dremmel with a polishing pad and a great amount of elbow grease WILL yield you great results.

Work was 'in progress' but a mirror finish was eventually achieved and a great sense of satisfaction to be had apparently.

A thread that may be of assistance?

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/gener...e-coating.html

 

That's normal, they all do that - especially when exposed to salt air or any other corrosive agent. It's the cheap-assed, chip-prone clear coat that the Chinese put on after they make the sliders that's the base problem.

Strip & polish as described above or replace with chrome, powder coat etc. is the only fix.

A preventative action would be clear-bra material applied to the front of the legs before any damage has happened.

 

My former 2007 Heritage did that and I have no reason to believe that my 18 will as well. I am very meticulous with my bike, but nothing I did prevented this from happening. I may just end up having the forks change out fo chrome ones if or when it happens to the new one.

 

This^

Have done a couple bikes. Easiest is to use paint stripper first to remove clear/yellow coat. Then 6-800, 1000, 1500, 2000 then mothers alum mag polish.

If polishing them rather then chrome, lowers will never rust and if you get a ding or small scratch in them, sand it out, polish and looks new again.

 

That is a complete failure of the finish ... Well if that were the case it would happen all around the leg, not just on the front/primary side ... a little bit of common sense here ... While it is ( somewhat ) true that the finish isn't doing it's job any longer, it is a direct result of the environment that the scooter is/was operated in ... plain and simple.