| Author | Message | ||
     Taxman |
i posted this in the knowledge vault and got no responce over the weekend, so i thought i'd check here. ------------------------------------------------- I have a few questions about polishing my frame. I’m tempted to make this a winter project. But I want to make sure its not beyond my abilities. I guess I have two main questions. First- what would be the best method. I thought I heard someone mention on here that all they did was start off with rough sand paper and then keep moving on to finer and finer until I’m polishing it with a baby diaper and windex. But from talking with a friend they said use paint stripper to take the paint off then just use some polishing agent (suggestions on wich ones would be helpful). I’m kinda lost here on the process. Second- How much disassembly is required to do this. Is it a simple matter of removing a few parts, or am I about to have my bike in my living room laying on the floor in pieces while I’m at the kitchen table staring blankly at a half sanded frame wondering what I got myself into. As far as what I think of my capabilities… I’ve taken the body plastic off the bike to mess with turn signals and air filter, and I felt pretty comfortable doing that. but I’m not so sure I’d feel comfortable doing any sort of engine work. By all means, if polishing my frame is beyond my capabilities let me know before I screw this up. | ||
| Glitch |
A quick search found this, and 37 other results from the XBoard. Good luck with the project. There are a few here, that look really nice if the polished look is for you. | ||
| Nlegrett |
Taxman- thanks for asking. i want to do the same thing. i like that look a lot. anyone- is this something that i can do by hand or do you need special sanders? | ||
| Glitch |
I think Misato, used both elbow grease, and some electric help. I haven't seen him post in a while. Here's his website, http://www.xb9s.com | ||
| Glitch |
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| Taxman |
thanks glitch. i did a search but i didn't find this. guess i didn't use the right search words. captain planet polished his bike and this is what he had to say. ------------- The polishing is not difficult, it is just very time consuming. Overall, I have about 80 hours of work in the polishing. Basic steps are: 1 - remove paint (either by sanding or by chemical strip). Then wet sanding with 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, and then 2000 to remove all scratches. Then I used mothers metal polish and a grinder and a drill with cotton polishing heads on them. Once polished the maintainence is easy. It stays bright a long time. If it dulls a little, just use some mothers metal polish and it will brighten right up. Everytime you use mothers on it, it look even better. I actually have a little more work to do around the frame head, but I need to pull the triple tree and forks to do that. Otherwise all of the frame can be polished by just removing the plastic bodywork. The swingarm is easy enough to remove, but you need to suspend the bike from the ceiling to do it. A couple of tips here. The gas cap is not aluminum and can not be polished. Use a magnet to check the parts if you are not sure if they are aluminum or steel. Lots of other small parts polish, like the front motor mount, brake and shift levers, etc. ---------- i may just try this over the winter. | ||
| Glitch |
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| Roly |
hey that looks serious polishing, don't live on the coast do you, bet theres always a crowd round that one . some hard effort for sure. | ||
| Bake |
I like the look for sure but have enough polishing to do already | ||
| Neutron21 |
What is that exhaust and muffler combo? | ||
| Cochise |
That would be the Force Full. | ||
| Mb182 |
"Aircraft Brand" Paint remover cuts powder coat like hot butter. Another option to the wet sanding is 3M abrasive pads. I used a die grinder with 3M pads to polish up a rear pulley. Went coarse med fine then hit it with a cotton buff pad and white rouge. MB | ||
| Brad_buell |
Hey Taxman........you'll have to keep me posted! | ||
| Rocketsprink |
I thought this topic came up on the online Q&A with Erik Buell and the engineers at the Factory and it was suggested that you do not polish the frame? Although I will admit it looks frickin' nice! Too much work for me though! | ||
| Cochise |
They DO say NOT to, because with polishing, you make the "metal" thinner so it is prone to puncture. | ||
| Jsho13 |
I bought my bike from a member here that had the polished frame. I love the looks of it and thought of doing the swing arm. [IMG]http://img463.imageshack.us/img463/417/buell26sv.jpg[/IMG] | ||
| Redstar100 |
if you polish it will take a few microns of metal away, it that makes the frame "prone to puncture" then im a monkeys uncle. buell owners with polished frames have been around long enough now to show that it does not compromise the frame. | ||
| Slaughter |
I fall down too much. I'm just trying to convince everybody that dents and scratches are cool. By the way, this frame is still raceable with all the ugliness. This was a couple years back in what was supposed to be my last Novice race - except for that last turn, it would have been.  (Message edited by slaughter on December 07, 2005) | ||
| Rocketsprink |
Yeah, I suppose you're right. I'm sure Erik Buell and his engineering team are far less experienced in these matters than us badwebbers .  | ||
| Redstar100 |
of course erik and posse are not going to throw a blanket endorsement over polishing components. they would say no to cover thier bums from legal attack should something happen. i dont want to get into a whole thing about polishing car and bike parts, everyone can form their own opinion based on their own experience with polishing. my opinion and experience is that if you polish anything correctly it wont harm its integrity in anyway and in certain instances it can make parts stronger and reduce stress areas. their will be 100 people on here to say that im wrong and 100 on here to say im right. so who cares | ||
| Thepup |
Rocketsprink,I bet if you would have asked them if you should put a n aftermarket exhaust on a XB they would have said NO!Does that mean everyone with a Drummer or D&D are wrong? | ||
| Coolice |
Wasn't the heat generated by the polishing process a concern for the lining in the fuel tank area? | ||
| Rocketsprink |
Well, considering the bike has a kit with an aftermarket can, and I believe that topic came up as well and was not said to be possibly damaging, I'd have to say no. But go ahead and start spewing your conspiracy theories Thepup. They won't void your warranty. Don't know if polishing a frame would either, but I wouldn't take a chance until my warranty was up. Not worth the head aches it could bring. Oh, BTW , I don't drink Kool-Aid. | ||
| Thepup |
Rocketsprink,put a D&D exhaust on your bike and blow the engine and see what happens.Polishing takes off a lot less metal than if you dropped your bike and scratched the frame.I never said it would not void the warranty on the frame,I wouldn't be worried about something happening to the frame after it was polished. | ||
| Thepup |
Coolice,normal riding heats the frame up more than polishing. | ||
| Dana P. |
The liner is nothing but a cream that can be put back in. There are areas in the frame that the (liner) if you want to call it that aren't even present. | ||
| Bomber |
er, polishing CAN, if not done with care, casue a very large amount of heat in the polished item -- there are reasons pro polishers: 1 charge so much (it's a LOT of work) 2 don't have fingerprints any more (smile) once, while polishing a hunk of steel, it got so hot I could no longer hold it while wearing a pair of think leather work gloves (not that I'd advise polishing while wearing gloves, mind you) you can get the aluminum hot enought ot damage it, if you're not careful -- just pay attention, let the heat bleed of, and all will be well |
