Sliders

[Rob S.]

My 2016 Sportster has 3,000 miles on it. Never saw a drop of rain, never spent a night outside. My parts manual calls them "sliders", they're the bottom, wider part of the forks that hold the brake, fenders etc.

All of a sudden, they're corroded - darkened blotches, mostly on the leading edges. Fixes? Harley says I could replace them (not cheap), or have them chromed (even more money). Chrome is harder, and would better resist whatever cause the damage.

"What did cause the damage?," I asked Mr. Harley. "Sand, kicked up from the road."

"Are you kidding?!? I'm taking a super low Sportster off road?!? I can barely get her over a speed bump."

The 'bare metal polish' they sold me did nothing. Aside from the Harley incompetence, any body ever hear of anything like this?

[LAB3]

My 450 has that same issue, the PO left the dirt from his last ride on the legs for 22 years when I go it. The only thing I can think of is to repolish or paint. If you do decide to go chrome, Browns Plating is the best choice, they been doing HD parts forever. Some of the parts I sent them where REALLY rough and where perfect when I got them back.

[Sandman900ss]

Happens to lots of Showa and KYB sliders. I specialize in refinishing them to original appearance, not over polished- it's a 12 step process including vapor blasting, with a final gloss clear acrylic powder coat. If you take your front end off in the future for fork seals and want to refinish them, drop me a line.
I've done many sets, lots of experience.

[Sandman900ss]

Lots of time spent in prep= great surface finish.

[Steve]

Looks like sandman has a good thing going there, but the bottom line, Rob, is that the clearcoat has gotten pitted, allowing spotty bits of corrosion. The only solution is to strip off all the clearcoat. Then you have the choice of leaving them bare, paint, polish or chrome.

If you leave them bare, you will have whatever finish your stripper left, likely a more-satiny finish. Cleaning them occasionally will restore that finish.

Paint can look good on the right bike with the right color scheme. A satin black usually looks a bit better.

Polish will leave a nice, mirror finish that can look good on the right bike, but it's not for everybody.
Looks particularly good on an L bike. It does require some minor touch-up once or twice a year.

If you REALLY like the shine of a polished fork, chrome has the best shine and is easiest to care for.
Of course, it's also the most expensive.

.

[Sandman900ss]

They hold up well if the preparation is thorough- it's critical that you get underneath existing corrosion. These are my '77 RD400D fork legs that I refinished in 2008.