dozyproductions Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 Hey fellas. I have a 5th gen and I'm starting to have some corrosion/rust (not sure yet) at the base of my handle bars and a smidge of my triple tree clamp. Living in San Diego, it'll just happen. I want to keep the look stock and I've been reading and seeing that people paint that area with rustoleum dull aluminum enamel spray + matte clear. I was wondering, are these pieces full on aluminum? If so, couldn't we just use some metal polish to rid the corrosion? If I'm being an idiot, be nice ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer digitallyhip Posted November 9, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted November 9, 2016 I too am interested in the answer(s) to this question... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superfunkomatic Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 Car wax? There's a product available here in Canada (probably the US, too) called Brasso. Works on chrome - I've used it on cars to inhibit rust. Polishes in and leaves no residue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dozyproductions Posted November 9, 2016 Author Share Posted November 9, 2016 Exactly! Something like Autosol or Brasso. Was wondering if our stock triple tree's and bars could be polished to a "like new" condition look instead of respraying them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duccmann Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 zoom zoom is the expert to ask about this-- he knows his shazit Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dozyproductions Posted November 9, 2016 Author Share Posted November 9, 2016 Thanks duccmann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer 3dcycle Posted November 9, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted November 9, 2016 I will say no. those look like heli bars and they are going to need a respray for sure. the upper tree is aluminum so in theory it could be sanded and polished but that will not fix your issue. best bet is pull them off and have them blasted and powder coated and be done with it. you would be surprised at the availability of powders, you can buy a polished aluim. powder to a mate aluim to a blasted aluim look. I have done these parts in mirror black (ultra high gloss) and a wrinkle black. both come out looking amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dozyproductions Posted November 10, 2016 Author Share Posted November 10, 2016 Thank you for being easy on me. I've had two VFRs with helis on them then. Thanks for the input brother! You have pictures of yours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer mello dude Posted November 10, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted November 10, 2016 Hi Are you sure that the bars are not steel - usually red rust indicates steel and points to a repaint....... Aluminum corrosion looks like a whitish powder.... Mbe send a photo to Heli for grins.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer zoomzoom Posted November 10, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted November 10, 2016 5 hours ago, dozyproductions said: Exactly! Something like Autosol or Brasso. Was wondering if our stock triple tree's and bars could be polished to a "like new" condition look instead of respraying them. The Heli-Bars are definitely not aluminum as a magnet will stick to them, meaning they are made of ferrous metal. Best bet here would be as 3dcycle suggests and have the Heli-Bars, and probably the upper triple as well, media blasted and powder coated. Make sure the powder coater you use knows that the upper triple is aluminum as they have different media to use on aluminum. I have sanded and polished the upper triple on a friends Hayabusa and though it turned out amazingly well, he discovered after riding it for a few months that the reflection of light off the triple was extremely distracting, and almost to the point of being dangerous he mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFR4Lee Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 I guess that salty sea air really does a number on your stuff, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dozyproductions Posted November 10, 2016 Author Share Posted November 10, 2016 Again, thanks zoom. It seems like powder coating is the way to go on the handle bars and perhaps a good polish will go great on the triples. If you were wondering about the rear pegs and stuff, a member did a number with a prep pad and die grinder, scotch brites and then a duplicolor wheel paint. After buying all the materials, perhaps powder coating would just make sense after some grinder/sanding action. Yeah, it really is a salt with a deadly weapon against some of our stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted November 10, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted November 10, 2016 One other thing to consider about polishing is the maintenance. While I love my polished wheels, they take cleaning and buffing to keep them shined. They can be cleared, but that can peel so maybe not for everyone. While powdercoating would be the most resilient choice, you might get satisfactory results with spraying. Rattle can paint is not as tough as a 2 part system, but in that area you won't have bugs or flying debris hitting it so you might be ok. Also, you would be able to easily touch up any nicks or scratches if desired. The toughest part of that job would be dis-assembly and prepping the parts whether for PC or paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyA Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 When I did my fork conversion. I ground off all of the rough edges and smooth it out. Then used wheel paint. Wet sanded, then clear coated it. Your handle bars are Heli-bars. They are steel. I used them on my fork conversion. I had to cut them apart and add a piece to them. Then reweld everything back together. Then I did the same thing to them as the upper. As for polishes. One of the best is Flitz. http://www.flitz.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer zoomzoom Posted November 10, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted November 10, 2016 Just as a quick note. Though I can not say for certain, all the powder coat places in town that I talked to about my parts offer the media blast to prep the parts as part of the service. All I had to do in my situation was drop the parts off, tell them the color and then pick them up, pay (always hate that part, LOL) and then install. Keep in mind for powder coating the upper triple and Heli-Bars that if there are any bearing mating surfaces or threaded areas, make sure the powder coater you use doesn't get any coating on the threads or bearing surfaces as it is a &^%$# to remove after the fact. Good luck with the parts and let us know how it turns out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dozyproductions Posted November 10, 2016 Author Share Posted November 10, 2016 Thanks for the heads up lol. Will have it in mind until the very minute I give the parts to the PCer 14 hours ago, RustyA said: When I did my fork conversion. I ground off all of the rough edges and smooth it out. Then used wheel paint. Wet sanded, then clear coated it. Your handle bars are Heli-bars. They are steel. I used them on my fork conversion. I had to cut them apart and add a piece to them. Then reweld everything back together. Then I did the same thing to them as the upper. As for polishes. One of the best is Flitz. http://www.flitz.com/ Will keep in mind the flitz. Just watched some demo videos. wow! btw, will need to find a die grinder. Do you think Rustoleum dull aluminum industrial enamel with a similar strength rustoleum matte clear could do the same trick as the 'wheel paint' trick? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyA Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 9 hours ago, dozyproductions said: Thanks for the heads up lol. Will have it in mind until the very minute I give the parts to the PCer Will keep in mind the flitz. Just watched some demo videos. wow! btw, will need to find a die grinder. Do you think Rustoleum dull aluminum industrial enamel with a similar strength rustoleum matte clear could do the same trick as the 'wheel paint' trick? I got my silver and clear coat paint from Advanced Auto. I have a 2lb can of Flitz. I use alot of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dozyproductions Posted December 15, 2016 Author Share Posted December 15, 2016 Finally sent all the fairings to the painter. It'll be the Honda go fast red with some pearl mixed in there. Very tempted to powder coat the wheels a ducati gold along with it. Not it's time to send the handle bars, footpegs and foot guards to powder coat. My metal fan shroud looks like it'll need at bead blasting and the lower tree will at least need sanding and painting. Hey RustyA! Have you used the flitz for polishing plastic? The plastic chain guard has oxidized and looks like it's seen better days. Could flitz paste and a buffing ball make it look new again? Flitz lover over here thanks to you btw. I got a wolf exhaust and I used some flitz on it and she's now one shiny exhaust. Great stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyA Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Yeah, you can use Flitz on paint. I've used it on my motorhome fiberglass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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