Sand cast ally becomes shiny ally!

[Jack_Cheese]

Well, inspired by a certain 'blade owner on here, i set about polishing my bike's frame quite some time ago, but there was something dragging the look right down, and just looked awkward on the bike.

'Twas the cast ally parts!

Soon i set out with the 80 grit, but alas my right arm became fucked. Then i stumbled across another ingenius idea! The electric drill and wire brush beckoned, and before i knew it i was grinding at the frame!

Much grinding passed, and to my disappointment i needed to sand. "NOOOOOOOOO!" I yelled! "It cannot be, my arm is still fucked!" I set off on a voyage to B&Q, where a sander was mine for the sum of thirteen gold pieces. 2 days and 2 nights of sanding passed, and on the third day, bling shone through! Hurrah!

On the left of the first three pictures ye shall see the finish i have achieved, and on the right, the finish that shall be!

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

[anders]

Yes very good job.

I will be honest this is not the type of excercise I would ever attempt my self.

I once has the wheels on my 03 R1 polished like that but even shinier, I let one of my friends start and complete the job, it was a very nice and I was impressed, however I will say that to keep the wheels keep and maintain them it took some time and effort, still it was worth it. At the time I now recall many people doing this.

I believe in the trade they actually polish with a stronger machine, you are using a DIY Drill, please inform, thank you.
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Call me Mr. Blobby

[Jack_Cheese]

'tis a bog standard jcb drill with a polishing mop. The larger diameter mops are better, but i couldn't find them locally. I'd also reccomend putting gaffa tape over pointy bits of the drill, as the mop can sometimes find a bit of grip on a corner and yank the drill. If the chuck comes in contact with the frame you're going to get some bad scratches.

The progression for the polishing was:
Grinding brush
80 grit
100 grit
120 grit
200 grit (by hand)
400 grit (by hand)
800 grit (by hand)
1200 grit (by hand)
1500 grit (by hand)
Rubbing compound with the drill & mop
Autosol with the drill and mop

The aluminium is really soft, so sanding using the finer grades takes very little time. Don't crank the drill up to full speed 'till the rubbing compound and autosol is distributed either, else you'll just get thoroughly caked in it

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

[McGee]

Much better mate
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Its pronounced Jixxer!

[Ork12]

Would love to do that to my Gix, trouble is lots of people think it means fucked frame when it comes to Re - sale . Yours looks amazing though!

Alex

Thinking about it, might just do the swingarm and get a spare swing arm cheap

[Andy C]

cool, looks very nice

cool guide aswell for anyone thinking of doing it aswell
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99 RS125 --> 02 SV650s --> 03 Speed Four --> 92 RXS100 --> 93 CB400sf --> 01 CB600f Hornet

[craigs23]

Looking good, don't stop at the frame

[Jack_Cheese]

[craigs23]

Hmmm, if I were you, I'd think about the bike as a whole. Hangers/yokes can all be related - so polish those (to match the back of the tank, levers, frame, clocks, etc (not everything on my bike has been polished to a mirror shine - just those details that I want to bring out).

The rear grab rails - would you want them to stand out, or maybe 'disappear' a little into the 'design'. If that's the case, maybe colour match them with surrounding bodywork, so they're more camouflaged and don't become as much as a focal point.

Have a play on Photoshop with latest pics of your bike; see which works best.

[Jack_Cheese]

I was thinking photoshop will be the key. I'd like something to offset the matt black rear end, but i think polishing the grabrails would look daft. The bike has bold areas of polished metal on a largely matt black background. A thin little stripe of shinyness at the back will probably look daft.

The frame is getting shinier though, it's nearly at the same shinyness as the extruded frame section.

Pics when finished

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

[nrml76]

Are you going to be riding through winter? Keeping it shiny then might be a real pain. Good effort though .

[Whosthedaddy]

Just when the special metal primer was about to be painted and dabbed all over my aluminuim frame, you post this thread

I see one of those little metal brushes for £5 or so, may be worthwhile having a go at polishing my little turd of a bike instead of painting the frame. My only concen being that it has a little rust in places.
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Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[Jack_Cheese]

I'd highly reccomend not polishing a steel frame, unless you get it clear powdercoated very soon after polishing.

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

[Ariel Badger]

If you are polishing it you aint riding it. Period.
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[trevoriv]

holy thread resurrection batman!

[pwntifex]

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[Whosthedaddy]