How to Clean Aluminum casings

[Orion61]

Any tips to clean and maintain the nice shine of the Aluminum side covers and head
on out 650's?
Is there a way that is easier than manually buffing the Aluminum to a shine, I believe there is a clear coat over the aluminum?
If I need to take buffing compound and buffer to it I will, but you folks always seem to
come up with the damdist things to simplify things!
friends
Larry

 

[oldbiker]

Any tips to clean and maintain the nice shine of the Aluminum side covers and head
on out 650's?
Is there a way that is easier than manually buffing the Aluminum to a shine, I believe there is a clear coat over the aluminum?
If I need to take buffing compound and buffer to it I will, but you folks always seem to
come up with the damdist things to simplify things!
friends
Larry

............ hi i always use autosol its in a smallish tube for about $10 roughly it works very well ,,,you could use some 800grit wet/dry paper and a bucket of cold water and initially rub your side cases down you will not do any damage to them ,,once your happy with the wet and dry paper finish wash/dry the cases and using and old sheet or t shirt wipe on and polish using autosol it does work a treat regards oldbiker

 

[RcRider89]

easy and shiny? where do i sign?

elbow grease is all i know

once you get it to the finish you're looking for I've had great results with ZEP Dazzle polish/protectant. not the best on mirror polished aluminum. and i havent tried it in high heat areas like the head

 

[Royboy]

Yes, the polished aluminum on your XS650 was clear coated when new. Over the years corrosion gets to the clear coat on most bikes. To renew the shine strip the factory clear coat off with paint stripper (usually several applications) and 000 steel wool or Scotchbrite pads. Sand the stripped aluminum with progressively finer grades of wet/dry finishing paper starting with 400 grit and finishing at least as fine as 2000 grit. Change sanding direction 90 degrees with each grit change. Now you can switch to a buffing wheel and aluminum polishing compound to develop a mirror finish. Maintain the finish with occasional applications of Mothers, Autosol or the polish of your choice, couple times a year should do unless your bike operates in a corrosive environment. Obviously all the above assumes that you have removed the parts from the bike for the polishing process.

I am currently polishing a set of brake calipers for my SR500. I'm about 10 hours in and figure about another 10 to finish.

Easy? No. Worth it? Only you can answer that. Don't let the rattle can tempt you.

roy

 

[Orion61]

No I'd never paint an engine, Heat is not your friend with an internal combustion engine
and paint is like a layer of insulation keeping air from cooling it. How much, I dont know, but it is some.
I have a fairly large asst. of buffing pads and bars of different pitch, White Black Red and Grey. different grit. Perhaps I will try a small area and see what happens.
I saw a guy use some acid one tome on his, it started bubbling and smoking, the result was a dark grey film that he never did get off. he just painted it after that.
Problem is paint would never stay on it, even primer either krinkled up, fish eyed or
fell off after a few days..
He never was very bright! He used to get pissed at me when I called him "Ten Watt" lol
..thanks fellows
Lar.

 

[mick71b]

I've been using Flitz paste as a finish polish lately and like it. It seems to be a little finer grit than Mothers.

http://www.flitz.com/

 

[cra-z1]

Best way is to invest in a good buffer motor and wheels. Use sisal wheels and black bar to cut then spiral wheels and brown bars, then sewn wheels and white bars. If the clear coat is old and thin I don't even remove the clear coat, just buff right through it with the emery black wheel. I just did an entire Kawasaki Z1900 (all covers) in under 10 hours. Here are the results on the 650. Lately I have been using roto-lok buffing wheels to remove small scratches http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/...ditioning-Disc-TS?N=7581642+3294179132&rt=rud

 

[Orion61]

WOW thats purdy!

 

[Royboy]

Very nice, very nice bike too!

roy

 

[mick71b]

Very nice bike. Excellent results on all the polishing.

 

[5twins]

Yes, the Roloc wheels are wonderful for removing corrosion and scratches. Saves lots of sanding time. Medium for scratch removal, fine and very fine for corrosion removal. The coarse are too much for aluminum. They'll take material off steel so you can just imagine what they do on aluminum.

 

[gggGary]

I always pipe in on this discussion,
Paint stripper saves a lot of elbow grease.
Then nylon abrasive wheels chucked in an electric hand drill.

Farm and Fleet stocks them, The wheels are great the cup style not so much. Orange is coarse blue is finer. Then on to the buffing.
I remove the LH cover and valve covers but often do the RH cover in place.

 

[phillycyclocross]

Best way is to invest in a good buffer motor and wheels. Use sisal wheels and black bar...

Those are amazing results. Where do you get your polishing wheels from? Did you polish the chrome or is that new?

 

[cra-z1]

Most of the supplies came from http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/wheels.html. I have also used them from http://www.eastwood.com. Harbor Freight has some but I have not tried them. Here is one of my Z1900. I should add that using the buffer wheel can be dirty work. You should wear a mask because the wheels throw off a lot of fine dust. I have built a small room in the corner of the garage to contain all the stuff thrown off the wheel. It has a self contained filtration system which keeps it pretty clean.

 

[aldo5468]

Where did you take that roadside picture? That's drop-dead beautiful country, not to mention triple-prime motorcycle road -

 

[phillycyclocross]

Most of the supplies came from http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/wheels.html. I have also used them from http://www.eastwood.com. Harbor Freight has some but I have not tried them. Here is one of my Z1900. I should add that using the buffer wheel can be dirty work. You should wear a mask because the wheels throw off a lot of fine dust. I have built a small room in the corner of the garage to contain all the stuff thrown off the wheel. It has a self contained filtration system which keeps it pretty clean.

Man what I'd do to sit and watch this process from start to finish. Very impressive work.

 

[cra-z1]

Where did you take that roadside picture? That's drop-dead beautiful country, not to mention triple-prime motorcycle road -

You must be talking about GGGGary, they have a lot of great roads in the south west corner of WI. All the riders from Mn go over there to ride those roads. We call them the alphabet roads because the are marked using the letters from the alphabet. We start in LaCross Wi, and work our way up north in what is called the drift less area which was not touched by the Glaciers. It was on County Rd SS where I got hit by another motorcycle(two years ago in Oct) who was going around the same curve (about 80) in the opposite direction and lost it. Broke my femur, ankle and crushed my foot. Out of work for 7 months and my foot still hurts. If you ever get the chance to ride Wi check out the area from LaCross,Wi to Hudson Wi which follows the river.

 

[Orion61]

We have the same beautiful country roads in Iowa. Marked the same K22 is a beautiful ride
Especially on a warm "Indian Summer" day in early October when it is in the 70's, and the trees are in full color!
I looked and I have bars of polish, Perhaps you can tell me the grit, seems Black is the heaviest cutting, I have...
Black, Red, Grey, and White, I also have a semi clear but I think that is for Plastic..
I bought a whole kit at one of those Truckload sales..You know the big Pink signs on the roads, Closeout and refurb. stuff. It is where I got my 18V Rigid 4PC kit with 4 batteries and case for $150.00.. that was about 8 yrs ago and all going strong..

 

[gggGary]

Yup lots of good roads and scenery here, if you watch the farm implements deer and spilled "stuff" This might help a few narrow it down, the first road is "in" this shot.

 

[TwoJugs]

3m Roloc scotchbrite discs are the best way I found to get the prep work done before the buffing wheel. They come in different grits and can eliminate about all sanding work if done right. Then go straight to the buffing wheels. The finish will slowly fade losing the bright shine the wheels give but a close second to do touch up is Simichrome paste. A very little amount goes a long way.