| Author | Message | ||
     Barrick09 |
So I have been thinking lately that i would like to polish my swing arm. Anyone have experience with this? Any tips/trick/suggestions? also if anyone could post some pics that would be nice, I'm still in the air if i want this look or not. Thanks guys. | ||
| Jolly |
polished my X1 swing arm and the seat loop, then went back just recently and powdercoated the seat loop black. it takes a lot of work.  | ||
| Jolly |
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| Barrick09 |
ummm process?? problems?? | ||
| Serialk |
Sand paper ranging from 200-2000 grit. Patience.time. And at the end aluminum polish. That's how I did it and it looks like chrome | ||
| Lakes |
did you do that on the bike or off the bike? & well done | ||
| Serialk |
Did both swing arm and tail section on the bike. My X1 is now apart and I will be doing the inside of my swing arm and sanding out some gouges in my tail section from idiots... Seriously though it takes time and arm strength. You can google and YouTube how to polish aluminum. Every one has a different process. Essentially it's the same. Start at a coarse grit sanding in one Direction then work your way up. And if you messed up go back down in grit size and start again. Oh and my only tip is wear a mask. Or else you will be blowing out black aluminum powder out your nose all day | ||
| Manxman500tt |
jolly where did you get that fairing for your x1? | ||
| Jhuppdog |
I have polished the wheels on my VTX 1800 and the tail section of my X1. I did all my sanding by hand. I used wet sand paper that I bought at NAPA, Advance auto or any other auto store. I would recommend that you buy the same name brand of sand paper. The reason that I say this is because it seems like the grit varies between name brands. One name brand 400 grit may be less or more coarse than the other so it will be harder to get the previous grit marks out of the metal. When I did the wheels on my VTX I took them off the bike. When I did the tail section of the X1 I left it on the bike. Have a bucket of water beside you at all times to dip the sandpaper in and clean off regularly. Make sure you change the water in the bucket often. Using the wet sandpaper eliminates the dust. Here is a list of the grits that I used 220 320 400 600 800 1000 1200 1500 2000 After I finished with the 2000 grit I used my cordless drill with a small power ball and white diamond aluminum polish. I am sure you could do a better job with a buffing wheel and polishing compound but I don't have those tools or knowledge. It is not a fast process so take your time. The tail section of the X1 has some type of coating or finish on it that you have to sand through to get to the bare metal. It took quite some time to sand through this to get to the metal. I am not sure what it is. Hope this helped answer some questions. | ||
| Marine_wolf2003 |
where can i find a fairing like that | ||
| Jolly |
the fairing was from a French company as I recall, offered locally through Eurocomponents. Only a handfull made it into the states and were actually kept. when I spoke with the rep about how much work I put into it his reply was that most Americans that ordered it sent it back because it needed so much work to prep for paint. It showed up like it was cracked out of the mold without any clean-up work at all. I had the time so sanded all of the flashing off and did some other work as well, including stiffening some mounting tabs that didnt look like they would hold up to the vibrations of these bikes. Even the holes for the windshield had to be drilled in both the fairing and the windshield. I havnt seen one available new for over 10 years, maybe longer. There was one for sale on ebay about 3 years ago, if I had the cash I would have bought it as a spare! When bought new it came with the fairing, the mount, the windshield, an air cleaner assembly, the handlebars and the headlight assembly. It uses a clubman style bar that rests in the stock cradle, though the gauge mount is moved forward and down so I used a top handlebar clamp from an S3. My next project on this one is to install some brand new s2 forks with true clip ons, have the parts, just need the time and motivation to move it to the top of the project list. I can post more photos, maybe move it to a new thread if you guys would like. Anyone here have one? I have seen 2 complete bikes with this setup for sale in the last 10 years. A silver one and I think I saw a black one for sale, and I recall an orange one that someone else had. Those are the only photos I have ever seen of stateside bikes like this. I am sure there are others though. | ||
| 1313 |
The tail section of the X1 has some type of coating or finish on it that you have to sand through to get to the bare metal. It took quite some time to sand through this to get to the metal. I am not sure what it is. It's a clear powdercoating, early bikes were a glossy clear, while later bikes had a matte/semi-matte clear. Sanding through it had to be a chore, 1313 | ||
| X1_rider |
Try Permatex gasket remover on the clear powdercoating. It will make the coating bubble which will make it easier to remove. | ||
| Kyrocket |
"Sanding through it had to be a chore." That it is, that it is. I'm working on one right now, just the swingarm, not the block. It's been a PITA, thankfully I have two so I can work on it as I want. An angle die grinder with a scuffing pad will cut the hand sanding down but it makes a lot of dust. I cut the top tabs off of mine since I don't run a inner fender any more. | ||
| Barrick09 |
Ok guys, So the reason i asked is my x1 just rolled over 20k (20011) as i write this. So i thought it was time for a change! The loop is exactly half done and i must say WOW! It looks great. I had the semi clear matte finish and it took forever to get through! Will get pics up tonight. | ||
| Barrick09 |
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| Jhuppdog |
"Sanding through it had to be a chore" Yes you could definitely say that. I did not want to use any power tools to sand the tail section because I did not want to create any flat spots. The aluminum is fairly soft so the power tools can really take away a lot of material at once. The only reason I did my tail section is because the previous owner had scratched/scuffed the finish at a couple of spots and I could not figure out any way to make them look better. If I ever try to tackle the swing arm I will try the permatex that X1Rider talks about. | ||
| X1_rider |
To do a great aluminum polishing job, you can use a buffing wheel and different grades of aluminum polishing compounds. I got some from Caswell Plating and it worked great. Here is a link which includes a polishing job I did on an intercooler I fabricated for my Audi, you can see the before and after results. http://forums.quattroworld.com/a4b6/msgs/42957.pht ml |
