How do you polish a steel Motorcycle frame?

A. Hi Stephen. Please see letter 9285 as a start. Good luck.

A. Hello, I have stripped and clean moly steel and regular steel on bicycles and motorcycles. I have found without full stripping using a chemical, the end result is a 'brushed' look. Looks good but will need to be fine finished for the layers to be added for protection. All steels will oxidize pretty quick so adding a etching fluid, to 'pit' the steel and a rust protector must be done before any oxidization sets in. I myself have preferred powder coating because of protection level, I live in a fairly moist climate. But in the case of a nice steel or high gloss look, layers of acrylic or lacquer will do. Keep in mind that spray will do the job, but it must be dust free. You can have frames dipped at some paint and coating shops. It should be stated in either case you will have to 'run out' or clean on threads in the frame for good bold adhesion. I usually recommend covering or plugging anything you can with dummy bolts and plugs to reduce the work.
Anyway, I hope this helps.
By the way, using a good aircraft lacquer or paint is a good thought.
Take Care,

A. The company I work for specializes in detailing as well as a wide range of commercial metal polishing operations for aviation and automotive. I work in the exhaust and inlet polishing side of the company. I'm a certificated Airframe and Powerplant mechanic as well as a custom fabricator. My CR 250 had the same problem and I thought about doing that to it a few years ago but didn't have the time. If you do and have the right equipment you can assure a very good finish that will last. First you will need to strip the frame of all accessories and hardware, oil and paint/powdercoat. If you can to that without scratching or pitting the metal the polishing part will go much faster. You may be able to try a paint stripper or just scrape it. Since it's a bike frame there's not a lot of surface area. Polishing will take the most time and some equipment. Eastwood Automotive carries a wide range of polishing supplies. Use the roughest compound you can get, I recommend their emery buffing compound and sisal wheel or vented treated sisal wheel. Then you will need a polishing compound and wheel use the white rouge [affil links] and flannel, or cotton wheels. When the finish is good enough you need to cover it with something clear. POR-15 makes a [adv: Por-15 2k Clearcoat on eBay or Amazon] , I don't know how well it works on polished metal but if that don't work just paint it with some automotive clear coat and I'd recommend 3M clear bra material on the pieces that get chipped up from front roost. Good luck and let me know how it turns out!

A. Hi Alastair.

There are many clearcoating materials, ranging from easy to apply one-part systems like Everbrite [a finishing.com supporting advertiser], to two-pack systems like automotive clearcoat. But you are right that plating would be better, because a lacquer or clearcoat is not much ammunition to protect corrosion-prone plain steel from the rigors of outdoor exposure. Keep the bike dry and covered whenever practical.

There is a reason automobile manufacturers do galvannealing, followed by phosphating, followed by e-coat priming, followed by painting, followed by clear coating. Good luck.

Regards,

A. I have seen bicycle frames finished with just clear powder coat before. In many cases these were custom built bikes where the user wanted to see details like the Silver braze holding the joints together. A thorough cleaning with something like acetone [on eBay or Amazon] would be called for prior to coating it, the specific shop should be able to advise on how they treat polished surfaces.