| Author | Message | ||
     Blackbelt |
Ok i have a quick question. Does anyone know a good place to get parts Chromed? I want to get my tail section on my X-1 and the swing arm chromed. I was gonna polish them but i really don't feel like polishing it every time i ride so it won't look like crap... if anyone has any places near Flint or detroit let me know. | ||
| Blackbelt |
or a good powdercoating place around the same area..... thanks, adam | ||
| Newfie_Buell |
Polish it, Once polished its easy to keep up. | ||
| X1glider |
Uh oh!  Adam's show and go poser child is coming out of the closet! hehe Just pickin' dude. I had a couple ideas myself about powder coating recently. | ||
| Ken01mp |
i was under the impression that aluminum might take chrome, but its not the happiest marriage ever. chrome peeling off aluminum is an ugly sight. powdercoating is where its at, too bad a white bike with a white frame doesnt leave much of a color selection. i would think gray, black, or white. i would say white, cause black would look a little off, with the seat being black, the tail would be totally black and the rest of the bike mostly white. if you go gray, similar to lettering or the original aluminum, it might be custom, but you really arent gaining much. what about anodizing? can that aluminum be tainted a to a black/aluminum type finish? if it was me, it would be white, like the wheels, frame, and body. IMO Ken | ||
| Blackbelt |
I was thinking about Powdercoating the Tail section and swing arm white, that will make it look nice and all... chroming just seems like it will be a pain.... and if i don't like the powdercoating i can always sand it, and then i have a polished tail.. HAHAHAHAHA keep em coming guys.. adam | ||
| Blackbelt |
while i am at it, i should paint the little plastic fender/mud gaurd peice over the wheel... then get the eurocomponents fender eliminator kit, that will be interesting... ALL WHITE DANG IT!! WHITE WHITE WHITE WHITE, with a blue pipe... talk about soar thumb... | ||
| Ken01mp |
maybe you could polish the shit outta it and then get like a clear/protective powdercoating to prevent oxidation. that way you get the gleam, and longevity. | ||
| Spiderman |
Nickel plate that thing. | ||
| Rick_A |
From my experience chroming the tail would be ok...but on something that flexes to any degree like the swingarm...it'll crack in no time. I had a chromed aluminum BMX bike...the chrome eventually spiderweb cracked in all stress points. IMO polishing is the best option overall. | ||
| Brentx1 |
I'm with Spidey, nickle plate the da*n thing and be done with it. Polishing is the cheapest thing, but what a pain in the a**. Take it from me about polishing, almost everything on my bike is polished. Clearcoat on the polished parts will also spiderweb crack sooner or later. Besides, who keeps a Buell long enough for the chrome to crack?  | ||
| Shazam |
Polish the parts then have them powder-coated clear..........no maintenence! then post pics! like this  | ||
| Turnagain |
Adam, Pammy should be able to point in the right direction if you want to chrome them:  | ||
| Stormfool |
Now that's a tail-sectioned all right! I've seen a polished tailpiece--a chrome tailpiece and a nickelplated one--by far the nickel is the deepest lustre--instant connection to an old cowboy peacemaker! The polished aluminum still had some porosity--the chrome fills that up--but the nickel is the one... | ||
| Spiderman |
A thin walled tube BMX bike is a little different than a thick walled aluminum swing arm. He is gonna have the swing arm coated so I am off to Adam's next Sunday to tear his bike apart  | ||
| Blackbelt |
this is what i decided i want to do to my bike... this guy just beat me to the punch  | ||
| Blackbelt |
see the same color frame and tail and swingarm  | ||
| X1glider |
Hmmm, you might lose your bike in the snow up there! Unless you you attach an orange go-kart flag! | ||
| Blackbelt |
that is what the pipe is for... hehehehe I think i made a boo boo, i asked Spidy (spiderman) to come over and help me rip the bike apart, and now he wants to paint everything white... from the sprocket cover to the rockerbox cover,...... OOPS i unleashed a monster | ||
| Spiderman |
Yes you did BWA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA EXCELENT ::Mr. Burns style:: | ||
| Blackbelt |
see he needs help... and he is cooridnating the annyversary trip...SCARY ISN'T IT!??!! | ||
| Spiderman |
 BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA | ||
| Ray_Maines |
I think you've already got enough white on the bike. Now it's time to add a little blue trim to match the headers (match is the key word here, as the wrong blue would ruin the effect). Rocker boxs and rear wheel pully should be just about enough. Although maybe a pair of those funky two tone soft rubber handlebar grips would be cool too. | ||
| Rick_A |
Come on Spidey...fact is that swingarm flexes under load. Hard chrome doesn't adhere well to aluminum, and will crack under stress. BTW...that BMX bike was damn thick, had monstrous welds...and only had to deal with about a buck and a quarter of rider at the time. PK Ripper. That was a cool bike. | ||
| Xgecko |
about Chrome...anyone know How I can paint Chromed Steal? I have a chromed BMX Cruiser frame that I really want to paint black. Is there any chemical treatment for the metal that will help paint adhere better | ||
| Spiderman |
Yes it does I'll give ya that. But I have seen a chromed swing arm with over 20k miles on it no cracking. Soooooo I'll go by that  | ||
| Blackbelt |
Thought i would post an update, yesturday Tony (Spidy) and i took the Tailsection and Swingarm off my X-1, took about 3 hours and a couple nicely placed swear words... and voila, then we played Vice City for about oh 6 hours... so all in all it was a good day... i plan to Powdercoat the swingarm and for now polish the tail section... along with painting other black plastic parts white to match... | ||
| Hootowl |
Blackbelt, Why aren't you going to powdercoat the tail section at the same time as the swingarm? Jeff | ||
| Blackbelt |
money! the all powerful decider | ||
| Hootowl |
The shop I took mine to had a minumun shop fee. Plus, I had to buy paint they normally didn't stock, so I had paint left over. It turned out to be no more expensive to paint two items than it was to paint one. You're using a standard color, so you won't have a problem there, but you may want to check on the shop fees. It might be only a few dollars more. It'll save you the hassle of taking it back off as well as the time and materials it'll take to polish it. Jeff |
