Repolishing questions

[vector18]

1st off I just wanna say this is an awesome site! 2ndly, my motorcycle is
3 years polished now and every single piece that can be polished, is polished!
Anyway, I always try to keep the bike clean and covered and never ride
in the rain. I am always careful to clean the aluminum before hitting it with
mothers also. But through the years, it is beginning to be cloudy and hazy.
What do you guys recommend I use to get it to shine again? Do I need to start
from scratch with the sand paper, or can I just hit it with tripoli or something?
Please keep in mind that I am not an expert and I do not have any air tools.
Thanks in advance. Oh, and here is a recent pic of the bike in question.

Here is how it looked like the day it was finished:


and I know you really can't see that well, but here it is as of today:

[mpierich]

Unless there are scratches that you can feel with your fingernail, or gouges, etc, don't touch it with sandpaper! Try a soft 4" wheel in a drill (unless you're taking it apart, then use a bench machine) with white rouge first - if that's not enough, try a clean wheel with triploi, then white. Keep it clean before and between steps. Finish off with Mother's or something.

Ride the durn thing rain or shine. That's what it's for!

[vector18]

So can I use an electric drill that's used for drilling holes or should I get an orbit drill? And you recommend a soft wheel with (red) rouge 1st, than wipe clean
with mineral spirits, than hit it with white(tripoli)? I've already tried just white
and it didn't make much difference. I really don't mind scratches, I just
want it to shine more.

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by vector18

So can I use an electric drill that's used for drilling holes or should I get an orbit drill? And you recommend a soft wheel with (red) rouge 1st, than wipe clean
with mineral spirits, than hit it with white(tripoli)? I've already tried just white
and it didn't make much difference. I really don't mind scratches, I just
want it to shine more.

Yes, a regular drill with a 4" cotton wheel on a mandrel - you can get them on this site I do believe. You've tried white? How did you use it? By hand?

I didn't mention red rouge - tripoli is brown. You'll probably need to apply some pressure with the wheel to get it to work.

I suggest you do some reading in this forum and in Caswell's catalog so you can get a better feel for the terminology, tools and methods. It would make it easier to discuss.

[vector18]

I've tried the white by rubbing the white on the soft wheel and than
spinning the wheel onto the metal. After a few seconds I spin the wheel
onto the white bar and than the wheel goes back onto the metal. It really
didn't change the metal. After that, I tried just mothers with the red sponge like ball on the drill and it helped it alittle. The funny thing is when I'm in my garage,
the metal is mirror like and looks awesome, but once I take it out in the
sun, I'm disappointed.

[jrow]

vector18,

You didn't say when you originally polished your bike that you took it down to bare aluminum, not just polishing the factory finish. The factory finish normally has a clear coating over the aluminum! I think what has happened is that you have to much polish on it and its starting to look hazy and dull. Try washing it with hot water and Dawn dish washing liquid then re-polish as you normally do and see what happens. The heat created by the mechanical polishing causes the polish to melt into the finish. That could be the reason that it looks hazy and dull.

John

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by jrow

vector18,

You didn't say when you originally polished your bike that you took it down to bare aluminum, not just polishing the factory finish. The factory finish normally has a clear coating over the aluminum! I think what has happened is that you have to much polish on it and its starting to look hazy and dull. Try washing it with hot water and Dawn dish washing liquid then re-polish as you normally do and see what happens. The heat created by the mechanical polishing causes the polish to melt into the finish. That could be the reason that it looks hazy and dull.

John

Oh jeeze, you think he has clearcoat on there? If so, oops...

[erckgillis]

It's Ok if the clearcoat is gone, it'll never last long anyway. The haze may be the old clearcoat shoing the wear from polishing.

The Brown rouge solves both problems...

A) Removes the old finishes and haze

B) Cleans and strips any old wax, coatings and imperfections

Once well treated, then go back with the white and shine, shine shine.

Then coat with a good wax. Always remove that wax again before reusing any white/brown rouge. Or consider a sealer or polish like Zoop or Flitz.

A long term plating with a chrome will be harder & more resistant to road salts and corrissives. Even powder coated in a shiny chrome is easy and durable.

[vector18]

Thanks for the replies guys. I had a friend of mine that owns a bike shop
professionally polish the bike. He removed the factory clearcoat and stripped
the metal down to the raw aluminum before he polished it to a shine. The bike
has looked great the past 2 years, but this year it's beginning to look dull.
I would ask him to retouch up the bike, but he has closed the shop and moved
out of state. I would like to try to do this myself so in future, I can easily retouch it up and have the experience to do it again and again. I'm going to
pick up the brown polish with a soft wheel and find the fastest drill I can find and hopefully that will remove the haze, than hit it with the white on a new wheel right after that.

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by vector18

Thanks for the replies guys. I had a friend of mine that owns a bike shop
professionally polish the bike. He removed the factory clearcoat and stripped
the metal down to the raw aluminum before he polished it to a shine. The bike
has looked great the past 2 years, but this year it's beginning to look dull.
I would ask him to retouch up the bike, but he has closed the shop and moved
out of state. I would like to try to do this myself so in future, I can easily retouch it up and have the experience to do it again and again. I'm going to
pick up the brown polish with a soft wheel and find the fastest drill I can find and hopefully that will remove the haze, than hit it with the white on a new wheel right after that.

Now yer talkin'...