Intro and Chrome vs Stainless Bolt Question

jims428

XS650 Enthusiast
Messages
66
Reaction score
1
Points
6
Location
Los Angeles Area, California USA
Hi all. New guy to the forum here.
This will be a long post since it's my first and an intro.
Hopefully the rest won't be so long winded :)

I've got an 82 Heritage Special and I'll soon be getting it back from a total paint job.
My brother is stripping it down completely to the frame and giving it all fresh paint.
It's mostly stock looking and is being polished out including the engine cases.
While I'm at it I will be replacing a lot of the 30 year old fasteners with new stuff.
I already have polished allen head stainless hardware for the engine covers but I'm debating if I should go stainless or chrome on the engine hardware.

I'd like the chrome bling but I don't know how well it will hold up with use.
Any of you guys tried it and what have you found?
Does it get chipped up easily with use?
Does it rust if not polished often. (The bike is garage kept)
I'm thinking of MikesXS Chrome 56pc Engine Top Fastener Set.
Any thoughts on his kit or is there better out there.
Yea I know, 'Chrome won't get you home', so should I just go Stainless and polish it?

I got the bike from my younger brother. My brother and I both grew up in the muscle car era and learned how to work on bikes and cars early on. Now as a sideline my brother buys old bikes and cars, fixes them up and sells them.
Myself, I by old cars and bikes and tend to keep them. I have a 65 GT and 69 Mach 1 Mustang (hence the jims428 name) plus a 74 Honda CL450 Scrambler and now the 82 xs650.

A lot of people don't know the basics of how to keep a bike running. When their old bike eventually quits and they find out how much bike shops want to repair them (most won't even touch the older ones) they try to fix them themselves and usually makes things worse. My brothers been working on bikes enough so when he looks at ones like this he has a good idea of what's wrong. He gets them cheap, gets them running, cleans them up and sells them at a fair price for all.
My XS he found in a local junkyard. It had just been brought in and he got it for $150.
A new rectifier and some carb cleaner and it fired right up.
The previous owner had been a marine at the local base and been transferred out. It was obvious he liked the bike and had taken care of it but had to give it up when it quit and he had to leave.
(Here's a tip. Keep an eye out for great deals around military bases, especially nowadays)
I had a BSA 650 Lighting in my younger days so when I found out about it, I had to have it. It's since been restored to be safe and reliable. Now I'm having the emblems removed, areas filled in, and painted. I'm going with the original ruby red shade and some ghost striping. I've given my brother free reign to come up with some paint scheme. He's done paint before but is learning on ghost painting so I told him nothing too radical. Hopefully he will come up with something I'll like. It is 150 miles away right now so I can't see the progress but we do talk by phone a couple times a week.
Yes, I will post pictures when I get it back.
 
Chrome really looks good, but in my experience, and I can't speak for others, I've had some problems especially with the button allen heads, where I'll get a little rust in the area where the wrench goes, Not really a problem with hex heads. I'm more prone to use stainless where the bolts/fasteners aren't visible and chrome where they are. I just used stainless button head bolts to mount my fender, but I'm using chrome acorn nuts on the outside for the prettiness..if that's even a word! I'd really like to see pics of the BSA when you get a chance.
 
use SS wherever you can. you just have to run it under a buffer with some white rouge once and youll never have to worry about rust
 
If you use stainless, it is a good idea to use anti-seize on the threads.
 
Thanks guys.
I went ahead and ordered the Chrome 56pc Engine Top Fastener Kit from MikesXS along with a whole bunch of other stuff.
The lower engine side covers will be polished out and I will use polished stainless steel fasteners. I'll be using polished stainless for most of the hardware, especially the stuff that will be hard to clean after it's installed. Some other select items may be chrome. One thing I want to watch out for is an obvious mix and match look. I want some bling but don't want to over do it. The 82 Heritage's originally used plenty of polished stainless fasteners so I have a good idea of what to do.

Thanks for the tips guys. Since I've been restoring cars and bikes for years I have all kinds of polishing media and tools. The only things I don't have the talent or patience for is welding, major body work, and major paint. I'm too old now so I farm that stuff out.
I also have a big can of anti seize. It's a given that I use it anytime I am using dissimilar metals.

Crab Cake - Sorry for the broken up sentences. I write long posts out in MS Word and it helps me to organize my thoughts before I post. Never thought it annoyed anyone. :shrug:

bpd106 - Sorry but the BSA 650 Lighting is long gone and before the digital camera age.
I had it for over a year around 1972. It was an early 60's model. Black with an extended front end that was popular in those days. It looked and sounded menacing but at the same time was classy with chrome fenders and that big awesome red and gold BSA lighting crest on each side of the gas tank. Of course it leaked oil as all proper Brit bikes do, but it never failed to run.
The only thing I did to it was put on a set of megaphone mufflers and a front fender. One of the original mufflers fell off on the freeway from vibration. Naturally a big truck promptly ran over it so I replaced both.
No front fender when I got the bike and I soon got tired of getting hit by tossed up road trash. Right down the street at the time were some guys that sold used Honda parts out of a big old warehouse. I rode Hondas before the BSA so I knew them well. They let me rummage through their chrome fenders till I found one that looked just right for that extended front end and did not require a lot of modifications to fit.
I wound up trading it to my brother. He rode it for a couple more years until the motor got so loose he had to reset the timing almost every day. All those years, and as tired as it was it never failed to start and run, even when he wound up trading it off.
 
No experience with MikesXS chrome bolts. But in general any aftermarket chrome I have seen is not up to OEM quality / durability standards.
 
Back
Top