WHATS THE BEST WAY TO CLEAN ALL OF THE ALUMINUM ON MY ZL

[ARCHIVE_gosupes]

some bike rally pics

If some of you here in the states and elsewhere are like me, about this time of the year I'm itching to do some riding. But the weather doesn't always cooperate. We just hit a spell of some 30 days straight of rain. Now it looks like it's going to snow in some of the lower hills. Well I got bored today and scanned some pics of a bike rally I rode to last September. About 4500 bikes in a small town near the NW corner of Washington state. Thought maybe a few of you could use a lift during the drab days of winter.

http://home.comcast.net/~gosupes/bike_run/bike_run.htm

 

[ARCHIVE_connorsracing]

Thanks for the pics!!

Looks like a great time.

30 days of rain??!!??...good for the flowers I guess.

Weather has been really wierd around here. Daytime highs reaching almost 40*, and very little snow (obviously ). Normal highs are around 20 to 25.

If I was 20 years younger, I'd be riding my bike!! (it has to 70+* now..I've turned into a sissy )

Hang in there!!

Gary

 

[ARCHIVE_zlMark]

yea, i love it too when i'm at quaker steak n lube and there are over 4000 bikes and i'm the only zl there. these zl's are only going up in price

 

[zl1000nyc]

Just about every part of aluminum on the bike has got these bumps of oxidation on them...whats the best way of making it look likE new again..thanks :dancingfool:

 

[CHRIS]

each of us will probobly tell you different ways, but we'll all tell you that there is no quick way of pollishing your aluminum. be prepared to spend some time !!! i start out with about 200 grit sandpaper, then go to 1000 grit, then 2000 grit. keep repeating until you get desired shine, & then rub it down with pollish . again, it will take time & a lot of sweat on your part, but the results are great !!! CHRIS

 

[zlMark]

Chris is right, it doesn't come easy but it's very do-able. I have a bench grinder with a polishing wheel and compounds I bought from sears. I started out with the coarse compound then worked into the fine stuff. Fairly easy on removable parts. I read in another post someone used 600 grit with compound and a lil water

 

[wuputt]

If anybody tells you it will be easy

I have used 00 to 0000 steel wool with simi chrome or mothers with good results, when I do it next time I will use a buffing wheel like Mark said. I have a wheel I can put on a drill that should do the trick.

 

[acp]

I've recently got myself a polishing kit with 3 grades of mops & 3 corresponding grades of compound. The mops just go on a standard drill. I got it for sale for £10 (roughly $20 I think) Haven't had a chance to try it out yet, but as I'm changing shifts soon to 4 days on, 4 days off, then I should have plenty of time to try them out.

 

[Stormy]

Yep, thats it, no really easy way, but it can be made easier with the right gear and a lot of time and patience.

get yourself a decent 6" bench grinder with buffing mop screws on the ends and buy one 6" sisal buffing mop and one 6" calico polishing mop, some buffing and polishing dual soaps (coarse and fine buffing compounds) and a tube of Autosol aluminium hand polish or some "Purple" aluminium polish http://www.californiacustom.com/purple_metal_polish.html and start stripping all the oxidised parts you can off the bike, taking them apart if needed. I spent a bit more time on mine because I wanted to take off all the casting marks and sharp edges.

The preparation work is the key, I used "wet and dry' medium and fine grit sponges and a lot of elbow grease and soapy water made from laundry powder (it's slipperier and it has a mild caustic effect so it strips any impregnated old grease, silicon and polish right off).

Rub the parts through the different grades of wet & dry, then finish with a hand buff of steel wool to smooth any deeper scratches out, then start buffing with the sisal mop first then the calico last, and finally finish with a light rub of autosol hand polish and a protective coat of normal car wax.

Don't be too depressed if you can't get the engine side cases to come up to a bright shine, the magnesium in the alloy makes it come up a bit grey and dull, but you will still get a mirror shine from polishing them.

Do one piece or pair of things at a time and take your time, that way you're not rushing things and the results will be spectacular.

It took me six months of weekends to finish polishing the alloy and re-painting the engine of my bike and thats just to bring it to the standard showroom finish and mine wasn't in too bad a condition, just a little neglected.

Mick.