Before Polishing
So, now we are in the final stages of our project and some of these are really tedious and time consuming. Since this bike was a daily ridden commuter bike, it wasn’t cleaned and polished regularly- so the aluminum parts like case covers, swingarm and wheels had that dull slightly corroded look. The wheels were cleaned and “brushed” with a fine grade scotchbrite pad which gives them a nice machined/brushed aluminum finish that is easy to maintain. They can be polished so that they look like the engine cases, but that is a lot of work and they were not polished like that from the factory.
After the wheels, it was time to do the engine cases… this is really a labor of love. As you can see from the pictures, the best way to work on the parts is to take them off and polish them on a bench. Some of the covers were done this way but the swingarm and clutch cover had to be done while they were on the bike. So there was lots of hand work getting around the exhaust and other stuff that keeps you from getting a polishing wheel in there. You can use any number of aluminum polishes from the auto parts store. They all work about the same. Putting the polishing wheel on a die grinder works well, but make sure you use eye protection since it is turning a very high RPM’s. All it takes now is time and patience.
Polishing Swingarm
After Polishing
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