Fork tubes, to paint, polish or clear coat?

[Buffalo Bill]

Well I've had my 82 1100G for 8 years now, and the fork tubes look as grungy now as when I bought the bike.
I've kept the original look and paint as is, mostly out of convenience and respect for the crew that designed it.
But bare or clear coated forks just get grungy real quick.
I have a 90 GSX750F with the forks painted a medium grey, and that seems to keep and look just fine.
Just asking: What have other guys done with the fork appearance?
Post pics please, thanks!

 

[Guest]

I've yet to find a clear coat that stands up to the elements on forks. If I were you I'd have them polished. Doesn't take much to keep them looking nice, if the clear coat start to get chips etc... it takes a full disassemble to get the clear coat off and clean them up again.

 

[sharpy]

As above.....

 

[jsandidge]

Here's what you can get them to look like with a lot of elbow grease.

 

[londonboards]

All that mirror polishing is for guys with tooooo much time on their hands and it lasts about 10 minutes before you need to do it again.

Put it back to the original finish and clear coat it - job done.

See my: Blog Post Fork Tube Restore

From this:

To this:

Greetings

 

[Buffalo Bill]

Here's what you can get them to look like with a lot of elbow grease.

That is lovely!
But what do they look like after a load of road crud, grease and stone impacts?
I'm sure that level of polish would degrade quickly, be high maintenance and accumulate many stone impacts.

 

[Buffalo Bill]

All that mirror polishing is for guys with tooooo much time on their hands and it lasts about 10 minutes before you need to do it again.

Put it back to the original finish and clear coat it - job done.

See my: Blog Post Fork Tube Restore

From this:

To this:

Greetings

That is lovely, and that was my own starting point 8 years ago.
But that degrades in just a few thousand miles and a couple seasons.
I was wondering if a 2 pack urethane would stand up longer that a rattle can clear coat?

 

[Gorminrider]

someone on the forum had good luck with POR15's "Glisten"....?

"PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Glisten PC is a high performance, high-gloss, rock-hard,
water-clear topcoat, designed for spray or brush application
over most metal and painted surfaces, including highly polished
aluminum and chrome surfaces. Glisten PC will not leave
brushmarks when properly applied and will take 3 to 4
days to reach maximum hardness. When Glisten PC is fi rst dry
to the touch, it appears very soft. Avoid touching it for several
days until it becomes hard and tough. Accidental contact could
damage the surface before full cure has taken place. Like many
other POR-15 coatings, Glisten PC is a moisture-cured coating,
which means it is strengthened by exposure to moisture."

from their pdf


I will eventually hunt this up and try it...but meanwhile, bare polished forks and salt in winter/spring are a real nuisance-it will bloom corrossion OVERNIGHT..though a coat of Fluid film HAS helped if maintained.
Meanwhile The beater bikee forks now have black paint over a hopefully-useful primer/etcher . It'll chip or just get blasted off by raindrops, but is pretty easy to reapply being an enamel.


Spar varnish is starting to look good to me, versus two-part spray urethanes which are pretty toxic....

 

[Buffalo Bill]

The POR15 stuff sounds promising, I'll have to learn about that.
Spar Varnish > belongs on your wooden boat, it's amber to begin with, and gets darker.
Even 2 pack urethane turns slightly yellowish in a year.
I found that out when I worked on a ding, sprayed from the same cans, the new work was brighter. Had to repaint the whole gas tank.
I'll tell ya, I'm already to just spray the forks silver with clearcoat in urethane, I have some left over.
Another more expensive option would be, silver ceramic coating. I'm sure that would last.

 

[chuck hahn]

I beg to differ with the comment that they last all of 10 minutes when highly polished. I dont recoat mine with anything after I polish them. I rub in some WIZARDS POWER SEAL and thats that. Do that each spring and they look as good as the day you polished them. The stuff works a polymer sealer into the pores and they WILL NOT oxidize.

 

[Nessism]

someone on the forum had good luck with POR15's "Glisten"....?
.

 

[Buffalo Bill]

Again, that's just a starting point. They ain't even been put on a bike yet.
For how many road miles will they look that good? I don't care how long they last, sitting in a garage.

Another thing; In the north we ride on salted roads in late fall and early spring, maybe even during freak warm spells in winter.
I do not ride if I see salt, but it's probably there even until summer.

But, I'm thinking about it, because the stuff says it's for aluminum wheels:

http://www.tcpglobal.com/POR-GPCP.h...NRzsd7QV1rk9-GUDsWLl3RoCP7Tw_wcB#.VSJthWbuUfo

 

[Gorminrider]

No,no. was it Ness that posted? No way I'll risk the search engine here...but whoever, had it on a couple of years I think. Engine cases too.
I agree with you about the recoats and chip-fixing never matching... and that's why the xtra beater bike with (sigh) more and more semigloss black on her, is becoming more a necessary.

But I agree with the others too- Just Polish works until Dec-March hereabouts on the coast -the rain flushes it off when they stop using it!...when I should not have taken the shiny one out but I did, because it has the best tires. I mean to get smarter and swap the wheels entire to the beater next year...) Trevor has the right idea -wash them after a ride, Por15 Glisten or not, if possible.
I'm just harping on the salt warning because It Happened To Hapless Me and nobody was mentioning it.

 

[chuck hahn]

Didnt I mention WIZARDS POWER SEAL????? Read up on the stuff. Great product.

 

[Gorminrider]

http://wizardsproducts.com/power-seal-8-oz/

ooh! Oh yes, I read that, Chuck and now I am checking it out! It sounds to be more substantial than the Fluid film...

Wizards ? POWER SEAL TM is an easy-to-use liquid
sealant that preserves the beauty of polished metals
against corrosives such as ordinary air, humidity,
water spray and road contaminants such as salt and
lime. A bonus with POWER SEAL TM is that it buffs
to a long-lasting, slippery, high-gloss finish that will
maintain the shine and protect all types of metal sur-
faces*. This product is designed to give the highest
luster possible requiring the least amount of effort.

 

[Spyder]

They even have one specially formulated for motorcycles

 

[chuck hahn]

You can treat a chunk of mild steel at one end and leave the other end bare and untouched. Throw the metal out in the yard and get it wet and go back in a few days. Power Seal end is exactly like when you threw it down...and you know what the untreated end looks like.

Like i said, you polish the part and then buff it in real good. It embeds a polymer seal deep into the pores.

 

[Guest]

Had mine powder coated. look great.

 

[Guest]

A guy on the Suzuki 2 stroke forum offers a refinish service. He cleans/polishes them up & uses a gloss clear powder coat final finish for durability.
http://www.suzuki2strokes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=9517&sid=d6a5e0d40958ff8cd9c1cf4865353b9d

 

[tkent02]

Had mine powder coated. look great.

+1, it's tough enough for forks. I haven't used the clear stuff yet but I think it would look pretty good. Forks sure look good in gloss black.