Polishing

[numark1]

Now that i have the day off work i want to get my exhaust nice and shiny. It is shining pretty well with just normal peek polish but it has a few scratches. Any advice on getting them off? I heard a fine emery cloth would do it but surely that would just scratch it.

[www.125power.com]

somethign like P2000 grit shouldnt scratch it but it may be hard to get hold of, if the exhaust isnt mirror finished try some autosol, seems to the dogs bollocks, really work it into the scratch to get any muck out and lighten the appearance of it, other than that you need a scratch and swirl remover but i havnt used any so cant say whats godd or bad. hope this helps a bit
____________________
My eBay Items

[numark1]

Yeh its shiney but it is scratched where the exhaust bracket is and i want to make it nice.

[Rookie]

I keep seeing these motorised polishers in Halfords, and I'm always wondering if they'd work on a bike. 3,000RPM, they've got to have some effect. And they're on eBay for £20.

[Hex]

[www.125power.com]

yea but you have to have tub of scratch and swirl remover to use with it, all a motorzied buffer, drill or anyhting mechanical does is take the elbow grease out of it.
I would just get some thing for removing scracthes, ypou can buy stuff for watched and jewellery that will work well with softer metals, brass, copper alu and there is one for stell etc but never came across any, other than it'd be the smootest wet and dry possible at least 1500 or higher and try it on the back to make sure it doesnt put marks in......
____________________
My eBay Items

[craigs23]

It depends on what type/depth of scratches you're talking about. My Yoshi can wasn't redeemable due to scars and pitting that polishing wouldn't shift easily. The sleeve could have been replaced, but the can had horrendously ugly welds - so I opted for the easy option and replaced it.

Any light scratches/scuffs can usually be polished out. Your course of action depends on how severe they are.

[numark1]

I was waiting for your reply craig.

Some are really deep do you think if i just keep polishing it some of the smaller ones will disappear?

[craigs23]

Should do - remember, when polishing, you're literally rubbing away the metal (levelling it to the same level as the scratches). Give a section a try, see if it'll work for the whole can.

[The Old Geeza]

[numark1]

The link pipes coming up a beaut, looking really good. Been polishihng it while watching futurama.

Can't take any photos as my sister has taken the decent camera to paris for the week.

[Delvard]

[The Old Geeza]

[craigs23]

I've found from experience that Brasso is a lot finer than Autosol, as I use it as a pre-finish polish (most of my polishing work is finished with Belgom Alu).

I've heard of different grades of Autosol, but have yet to use all of them (just make do with the regular grade for general polishing).

[veeeffarr]

Hi,

I have quite a few scratches in my exhaust (From scrubbing with an abrasive sponge).

What's the best way to get them out? I also have brown crap on my downpipes I want to remove...

Will wet and dry do this? What grades would I need?

I have autosol and a couple of cloths lying around, but they didn't do much last time because I was lazy.

I might take the whole exhaust of and do it in front of the telly tonight.

[Jack_Cheese]

[craigs23]

Again, it depends on the depth of the scratches. Generally speaking, the deeper they are, the more metal you have to polish to reach the same level as them.

It's hard to say without seeing the metal infront of me, but I'll usually determine what grade of wet'n'dry I need to start with upon inspectiving the surface I am to work on.

As a guide, I'd guess a 500 or 600 as a test. If it's taking away too much, work up the grades and polish out the scratches you've made. Too little, either keep going with it (patience is they key when polishing) or move down to a coarser grade.

Here's my RVF being worked upon as an example of what the different grades will look like. I had to remove the Honda finish, so I remember starting at around a 240. Think this is half way round the 500 stage:

https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/whers84/DSC00539.jpg

At this level, there were quite a few sratches within the metal; which required constant polishing to remove so I could move onto the next grade of wet'n'dry. If I hadn't of done this, I'd just have been polishing scratches; which would have looked awful when finishing the work off.

This is 800:

https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/whers84/DSCF0003.jpg

1200:

https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/whers84/DSC00041.jpg

Final work, 1500 grit, Autosol'ed and then Brasso'ed.

https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/whers84/DSC00640b.jpg

As you can see, I did this in stages over a 2 week period. The fairing came on and off so many times during this stage; what with having to use the bike every day for commuting, plus the commitment of a 9-5 job. If I'd tackled this during the winter, it would have taken twice as long - I can't work after work due to it being too dark! (Not that I'm planning on repeating the process on the Blade anyway).

Watch your fingers.

[veeeffarr]

Sounds stupid, but how much are varying grades of wet and dry going to cost?

Could I do a whole exhaust in an evening?

Isn't polishing the surface away going to make the metal more susceptible to rust?

Cheers,

Toby

[Jack_Cheese]

I wanna polish my frame

By the way, on the honda 400s, i've heard a cagiva mito tail unit goes on without too much fuss. Looks great, too

Jack
____________________
www.bikepics.com/members/jackcheese <--- NOW FOR SALE! 51 Plate Cagiva Planet 125
Quacker_boy: "Jack, you really are a dick!"

[craigs23]

You can buy multi-grade packs in Halfrauds for about a fiver. Think they come with 4 grades, 2 sheets of each.

[veeeffarr]

[craigs23]

I'd be careful. Wet'n'Dry is more suited to stainless steel/aluminium. I presume the CG's exhaust is chrome plated, which could mean you'ld make the finish worse.

[veeeffarr]