Aluminium Motorcycle Forks

[gjricc2]

Ok - I'm definitely a rookie when it comes to polishing. I bought a used motorcycle that was left outside for a year. The front forks were pitted. I started wet sanding with 200 grit sand paper and then worked my way upto 1500 grit paper. The pits are gone but I'm unsure how to proceed. Should I now buff with tripoli and then with white rouge? What then? Do I need to seal the aluminium next or can I just leave it as is. I see a lot of references to zoop seal in other forums. I don't want to do all this polishing only to see the results degrade because I missed a step. Help Please!!

[tomg552001]

Because you sanded up to such a high grit you can probally go right to the brown tripoli followed by white rouge. I myself dont seem to get any good results with brown, so i actually use black emory than go straight to white. After polishing, you can seal the aluminum or you will need to go over it again once it oxidezes. Search around, people have suggested a few good sealers. Good luck!

[gjricc2]

Thanks so much for the reply. Is polish considered a sealer?

[tomg552001]

Polishing is mereley a process, and the compounds you use are just tools to get the shine, they wont actually seal it. They are basically a solid block with an ultra fine "sandpaper" if you will substance embedded in it. To seal it you need a actual sealer such as zoops seal or por15.

[gjricc2]

Thanks again for the help