[Donnie]

Hey Gang

I'm considering polishing the brushed aluminium bits on my SC80 (gun met silver).

Maybe not to a mirror finish – but just enough that it doesn't look brushed anymore. Let's say: dull, cloudy chrome -ish.
(More like a clean kitchen sink than a 70s harley)

Has anyone of yous tried this or experience with it? I have some MOTHER Alu polish and car polish (probably not rough enough).
Could pick up some scotch bright and go to town on a piece.

Problem being: I don't have a "test piece" so I'd have to fully commit!
Also: You can't just polish one – you'd have to polish all 5 pieces. Which then also would have to be EVEN!

scary shit.

 

[Lightring]

Try a green pad on an edge that's not easily seen.

 

[Donnie]

Did you try it with the green SB before?

 

[Lightring]

Have no plans to alter the finish on my CB; so, I have not. That green pad should finely scuff aluminum though.

 

[Bevo]

You could try #0000 Super Fine Steel Wool. I've used fine steel wool and Mother's Polish to remove heat stains off of my SC77 OEM titanium muffler

 

[DELuth]

Just remember that polishing aluminum will remove the factory coating and anything you polish will have to be resprayed after polishing to prevent corrosion.

Also, make sure you are polishing actual aluminum. A lot of the silver bits on Hondas are plastic made to look like aluminum.

Don't forget some pics of your results! 👍

 

[Donnie]

Just remember that polishing aluminum will remove the factory coating and anything you polish will have to be resprayed after polishing to prevent corrosion.

Also, make sure you are polishing actual aluminum. A lot of the silver bits on Hondas are plastic made to look like aluminum.

Don't forget some pics of your results! 👍

thanks for the brilliant advice.
Wait … corrosion? On alu? How would that corrode?
I mean, sure, I could clear coat it – just to be safe. But I always thought alu doesn't rust.

Also, another CB1KR owner suggested 1000 grit sand paper. I guess that could also be a good method – as you can't "overpolish" it and make it too shiny.

Good call on the plastics, tho! I will check it really is metal.

 

[BigOne-94-14]

When aluminum goes dull that's the Aluminum version of rust, so technically that's corrosion.

But you know that, right? And aluminum oxidizes fast, so if you want it to stay shiny you need to coat it. I'm pretty sure that's why the aluminum on the accents is brushed.

 

[Donnie]

It being shiny is exactly what I DONT want.
So if it corrodes, YAY.

 

[Bevo]

Wait … corrosion? On alu? How would that corrode?

I don't know but the heal of my boot has rubbed the finish/lacquer off part of the right side of the silver aluminum swingarm on my SC77 SP

 

[guycnicholas]

The manual mentions waxing the engine and rear hub parts that are not coated (black) to prevent corosion.

 

[DELuth]

Aluminum reacts with oxygen to become aluminum oxide. It's usually dull and chalky when formed naturally. That's all metal corrosion is, metal combining with oxygen. Rust is typically the name for iron oxide only, but technically any metal corrosion can be correctly called rust, it's just uncommon.

pedant rant: Aluminum anodizing is awesome and can be done at home. Anodizing is controlled and uniform corrosion that creates a layer of oxide on the surface of certain metals like aluminum that prevents natural corrosion of the underlying metal and has nothing to do with color. The anodizing makes the surface porous and the color comes from soaking the parts in dye before the anodizing pores are sealed which then traps the dye in the oxide layer.

Guynicholas, good find about those machined faces!

 

[Donnie]

Thank you guys for the advice!

To those still following the threat: I started polishing!
So far, 1000 grit didn’t even put a dent in it (figuratively speaking). I was all the way down to 400 grit and NOTHING! You can’t even see a difference. Evidently, the scratches from the “brushed look” are quite deep and rough!

Ordered some more coarse sanding paper and will keep sanding away!
And after what I‘ve read here, I will DEFFO coat it with wax afterwards.

Stay tuned for pics!

 

[Donnie]

Guys, I’m at the end of my rope here. So I started at 1200 grit. Didn’t even SCUFF it!!
Wenn to 1000, 800, 600, 400 … NOTHING! You could hold it against the sunlight and you could see no difference.

Now I’m down to 180 and finally getting through. HOWEVER, I am scratching the bare metal so harshly, it basically makes the same brushed look I am trying to polish out.

What the hell is going on? How thick can a clear coat be?!?!

I need some advice on how to remove clear paint (without ruining the grey paint on the cowl) and how to check if I succeeded.

I will NOT polish my elbow off, trying to get through PAINT with 1000 grit … and I will not risk sanding all the way through the thin sheet of Aluminium in the pursuit of a brush-free look.

Pls help :-(

 

[Bevo]

 

[DELuth]

Yep, you are just now getting through the coating I was trying to warn you about. You will have to keep going to get that coating off first and then go up through the grades of paper back to the finish you are looking for.

RIP elbows.

Starting with a chemical stripper and then finishing with sandpaper might be faster and easier.

You could always back up and punt instead of continuing. Maybe look into getting the parts powder coated instead? They have a polished aluminum powder that looks like what you described. The coater would do all of the prep for you.

I feel like I should have suggested vinyl wrap before now...

 

[BigOne-94-14]

Aluminum oxide is pretty tough.

 

[DELuth]

Yeah, almost as hard as diamond.

Even if that layer on the aluminum is paint, it was probably applied over unsealed anodizing. It's no wonder that it's hard to get off.

 

[Donnie]

Starting with a chemical stripper and then finishing with sandpaper might be faster and easier.

Stripper might be the way to go! For this rear seat cover, I'd be hesitant to put some on but for the other 4 alu parts, it should be fine! I could literally dunk em in – since it has no plastic or otherwise finished parts.

Man, I sure hope it's worth the effort!

PS: Don't worry bout not bringing up vinyl wrapping … twas not an option from the get go. I've seen some russian guy put a cheap seat cover and vinyl wrap on his bike and now, I am CONVINCED that you get what you pay for. YUCK!

Will keep on polishing and upload and update soon.

 

[DELuth]

Don't knock vinyl too hard. LOTS of advantages. Don't judge by one bad example. The only real drawback to vinyl is that you have to redo it every few years.

These bikes are wrapped.

Almost all of the red you see on my Grom is vinyl.