Submitted by TOMMAY

In the process of trying to find info I found a thread where one of our members had polished his on the bike so I decided to give it a try.

Bought wet and dry sandpaper in 4,6,800,1000,1500,1800 and 2000 grit, 12 pack of beer. Chrome bolts and nuts for fenders. Beer optional but recommended,this is slow,hot grundge work.


Removed the front fender,taped off the chrome trim at the top and wrapped bearings and brake parts in tinfoil to keep grit out. The tape won/t stay on the chrome trim at the top for long, You'll just have to be careful not to scratch it.

Start out with a folded piece of 400 grit wet and dry sandpaper and a bucket of water and a hose. The bulk of your work will be here. Sand off the clear coat and keep sanding til the brushed finish is gone. Use plenty of water with your sandpaper and hose the sliders off every once in a while to check progress. This will take a long time to get the sliders smooth with no ridges but still very dull.400 grit will do the bulk of the work,600 and 800 to get the scratdhes left by the 400 grit. the rest of the finer grits will polish to a smooth finish.

Once you're satisfied with the first step just keep sanding with progressively finer grit sandpaper til the finish is very smooth. It will still be a little dull but very smooth. Then dry it off,check for blemishs and then use an old wash cloth to polish with semi-chrome paste. Rub till the cloth comes up black,clean and polish all the residue off with an old t shirt and do the semi-chrome one more time and polish again with the t shirt. Should shine like chrome. Reattach fender and stand back with beer in hand, admire the looks and remind yourself that you'r gettin too old to stay bent over for that long a time but maybe a few more beers will make your back quit hurting.

Good Luck

Tom




Taped off and ready to start.



Twenty bucks worth of wet and dry sand paper form 400 to 2000 grit.





Mid way thru.



Finished.





Fender reinstalled with chrome allen bolts and plasti-lock chrome nuts.





Total cost about fourty bucks including supplies,beer and chrome bolts/nuts and about fours hours total including breaks for lunch and beer.

 

interesting.....

 

Looks real good from the pics. Any ideas as to what time and effort will be needed to keep this looking sharp. Think a coat of something (sealer etc) would help keep it nice?

 

Wow! That looks effing great! I was just thinking how I would like to replace my forks with chrome instead of the dull aluminum, but since i have more time than money, and beer is cheap, I'm going to go your route.
Thanks Springer for reposting Tom's hard work

 

I was wondering this also

 

________ Looks Great -- Good Job ,

 

Does anyone know where I can buy sandpaper by the sheet? I'm all fired up to polish my forks, but buying sandpaper online in 50-sheet packs for $16 a pack adds up to a lot of moolah when you need to get 6-8 packs

 

"springer" ... Nice work ... I used to polish all the aluminum on the old scooters ( couldn't afford chrome ) and when you take the time to do it right polished aluminum can/does look brighter than chrome .... BTW, Loose the "Flowered Folding Chair" after all, we're "Big Bad Bikers" aren't we?

P.S. What beer do you recommend?

 

Looks good man! I did this to my Vic with the same results. Here's a tip from my experience: keep a bucket of water w/ a couple of tablespoons of liquid soap in it near you instead of hosing off constantly. Faster, less water everywhere, and the soap cleans the residue out of the sandpaper. As far as sandpaper availability, most local auto chains have it. I got all my stuff from Advance auto. I can't decide if I'm gonna do this to my dyna or just paint 'em.

edit: I just saw you already had the water bucket.

 

Just an occasional rub down w/ some polish/wax will keep them looking spiffy!