The Polishing Thread

[Old Scratcher]

I've started restoring the mountain of shiny parts that came with my Cafe bike. I get all the old grease & grime off with a good wash in warm water with detergent, I'm using Autosol's metal polish to bring out the shine, & Ive been very happy with the results. I'm going to have to re chrome a few things, but I've saved much more.
It got me thinking though. We all like to keep our bikes looking good, & I'm sure that we have plenty of good tips on how to keep a Commando in top nick. Just as important is knowing which areas not to polish, or over polish, as being over zealous with the chamois can do more harm than good. & it'd be good to have that knowledge in an easy to find thread. So what's the proper way to prepare a Commando for presentation? & what are the dos & don'ts of polishing?
On a related matter, I've been told that chroming aluminium is a bad idea. Especially on engine parts that rely on thermal efficiency. So what's the best way to put a shine on aluminium, without compromising it's thermal efficiency?

 

[Danno]

Mother's Mag and aluminum Polish and a drum of elbow grease. Or you can send the parts to a metal refinisher if they're really dull and pitted. This lot cost $160 to have professionally polished. The primary cover was etched from caustic gasket remover. The Z plztes were cut out with a drill and jigsaw and the heavy scratches were smoothed with emery cloth before taking to he refinisher. The other parts were mill finish alloy plate that I used to make the chainguard, muffler hangers and ignition switch/ammeter bracket

I did the wheels with Mother's and a rag.

 

[ashman]

I see you use Autosol polish as well get a tin of mag wheel polish it has a fiber that is preginated with polish as well, I use that to polish and put some Aotosool with it, the blacker it gets the better it works, a tin last for a few years you don't need much and lots of elbow grease , I also have a polishing wheel on my bench grinder.

Ashley

 

[Rohan]

I also have a polishing wheel on my bench grinder.

That can do a lot of polishing in a short time, with a bar of polishing wax or 3, in different grades.
Always wear eye protection, they can throw out some junk...

 

[gortnipper]

A timely thread, as I was just wondering the best ways to keep that nice shine on aluminum cases n covers over time, where waxing as a protection wouldn't work so well?

 

[Diver3284]

anyone else use 'Brasso'?

 

[Mr.Sparks]

I polished some rough parts on my new bike using 1200 then 1200 & Autosol. Last step was just Autosol and cloth, came up ok. Even did the stainless guards using the same process. They were pretty scratched up but came up surprisingly well.

 

[nickguzzi]

The detailing world (car polishers) have shed loads of stuff for every conceivable type of surface and finish. Particularly to protect the surface produced by stuff like autosol.

Try www.detailingworld.co.uk/ - no doubt there are many others around.




There is a wadded UK product called "Duraglit" widely available here. I think it is intended for cleaning and protecting silver type surfaces, so quite a bit less aggressive than the Brasso, which I discover is also available wadded. My Mum used to swear by "Silvo", yet another wadded polish. (She had "trinkets").

After looking for a link, it seems its a complete minefield.
Maybe there is an expert on this stuff? Are these different grades or just niche marketing?