polish results

[Sean]

http://photobucket.com/albums/c345/suzuki850/?

I did not have a way to show my bike off when i joined this forum, now i do. Theses pics are after all the wet sanding and polishing efforts.

 

[bgmart450]

You should be able to just copy the IMG tag (the BBCode ones) textboxes and paste them in here.

You don't have your album shared so it asked me to sign in as you.

 

[Sean]

polish results

I hope this is how its done.
I am not very good at this type of stuff.

 

[Ions001]

Wow! Very nice ride.

 

[Sean]

polish results

Sense these pics i have wet sanded and polished the wheels as well. The next stage is a paint job.

 

[bgmart450]

Very nice indeed. Good job. I was wondering if the drum rear brake assembly on our 450's would take a polish and after looking at your rear shaft assembly I am betting it would!

 

[Desolation Angel]

Sweet! I need you to put that high shine on my bike!

 

[TheBigRed]

Care to share the detailed steps of what was done here?

I've got the 550 rebuild in the wings, and if I can get the supplies to get results like that for cheap enough, then by all means I might as well start on that (since the money has dried up for the rest of the project and put it on hold)

Amos

 

[BriTXbike]

Sean I'm currently starting the polishing process myself on my 850. Looks great man. You mentioned that you were polishing the wheels. Did you remove the rubber to do so or how did you go about going this?

 

[Sean]

polish results

OK,
Here are the steps i took in the results i got, i wished that i had taken before pics.

wet sannded in the following order
400 grit
800 grit
1000 grit
1500 grit
2000 grit
Mother's aluminum polish (not trying to be a name dropper)

I have a total of 12 hours and about 30 beers in the entire job shown in the pics (including the wheels, that are not reflected in these pics)

When i was on the last wheel i was asking myself "why did you start this you dumb SOB, but as you see by the pics i am very glad i started the task!

 

[ddaum]

Hats off to you bub, your bike looks great, and if you did that all in 12 hours then I'm going to get right to mine. I thought it would take longer. Did you have the case covers, forks and final drive all off the bike for polishing? Did you have to remove any clearcoat? How did you go about removing it if you did? Also, how did you get in the nooks and crannys?

 

[Sean]

foot rest brackets, secondary drive cover, points cover, and clutch cover were all taken off ( i had to replace the clutch plates so i took advantage of having the cover off.
All other items were done still on the bike (you will ind yourself standing on your head at times to get to every little spot)

The rear drive and froks were the only thing that seemed to have any clearcoating on them, just mentant more time.

 

[Hoomgar]

Sean, bravo buddy! It looks great! Your 850 is in great shape.

If you look at your photobucket account, you will see the option to make your pictures publicly viewable. Then people can cruise your photo albums.

Excellent job man

 

[walshja]

wow

wow

sean, great job !!

i just picked up a '83 gs550l, and everything is perfect on the bike except for the aluminum.

but it looks like I have some type of clearcoat on my aluminum, is this possible?

would I still follow the same steps as you did?

 

[ddaum]

MAN! I wouldn't touch that thing, it looks mint the way it is. I wish mine looked like that, but hey, I'm workin' on it. :x

 

[walshja]

well

well

pictures can be very deceiving !!!

I just got he bike like 4 weeks ago, and she was in pretty bad shape.

the bike was left in a garage for maybe 10 years, all the chrome was a mess, and the paint looked horrible.

I spent 2 days polishing the chrome and paint and brought that back to respectability, but all the aluminum pieces are pitted or corroded and I cannot figure out to get it looking nice.

and the previous owner took all the decals off, the tank, side covers and rear fender, all gone !!

so my only 2 remaining tasks left is to locate the decals, and get the aluminum clean. and I think this post gave me the know how on how to get it cleaned.

this bike is really nice, only 4k miles, and she runs like she is brand new.

i really got lucky !! all for only $200

 

[ddaum]

:x :x

i really got lucky !! all for only $200

:x :x

WOW!, great deal!

I just started polishing my case covers using Sean's method of wetsanding with the help of a dremmel tool for the tight spots. I strated with the generator cover, but didn't get the mirror-like results like some people here on GSR, but it's coming along. I think it's just gunna take more elbow grease. I can definately see how a bench mounted polishing wheel would come in handy, but I have no garage, as I live in an apartment. Good luck to you.

 

[Sean]

Re: wow

Re: wow

sean, great job !!

i just picked up a '83 gs550l, and everything is perfect on the bike except for the aluminum.

but it looks like I have some type of clearcoat on my aluminum, is this possible?

would I still follow the same steps as you did?

yes

 

[Guest]

Re: wow

Re: wow

i just picked up a '83 gs550l, and everything is perfect on the bike except for the aluminum.

but it looks like I have some type of clearcoat on my aluminum, is this possible?

would I still follow the same steps as you did?

Start off by stripping the clear coat off. I used aircraft paint stripper on my pieces (available at most automotive paint supply stores). Spray it on, let it sit a few hours, and wash off with water. It takes the clear off easily. Much easier than trying to sand it off!! I think I paid about $7.50 for the can. It was enough to do all my side covers and the cam cover. A few of my pieces actually came out looking very good after the stripper (no corrosion). On those pieces, I only needed to sand with 1000, 1500, 2000.

 

[Road_Clam]

It truly is amazing what some Scotchbrite pads, and some rubbing can do. I too have 23 years worth of aluminum pitts, and corrosion like everybody else. I use Zep gasket remover to rid the clearcoat. I then start by using a 3" Blue 3M Scotchbrite air grinder disc, sand to a light grainy finish, then I hand sand with fine 320 emery, and then polish with Mothers' mag polish. It's not quite like chrome, but the finish is awesome, and not a TON of work to achieve. I am going for the polished "brushed" look on my side covers.
Rich