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Q&As since 1989


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Help with my frame polishing/rough part smoothing

I AM SETTING UP TO POLISH THE ALUMINUM FRAME AND SWINGARM OF MY 97 GSXR 600 AND WAS WONDERING IF ANYONE HAD SOME ADVICE ON THE SMOOTHING DOWN OF THE ROUGH SAND CAST UPSPAR PART OF THE FRAME BY YOUR LEGS AND BY THE STEERING NECK, IF YOU HAVE DONE THIS, ANY INFO WOULD BE APPRECIATED. THANKS.

JOE STAINER
- PHILADELPHIA, PA /USA
2000

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Motorcycle frame polishing/ sand cast parts question again!

i recently posted a question about polishing my gsxr 600 frame, about sanding down the sand cast parts. I attacked it today and got it smooth as a baby's a$$, using sandpapers ranging from 80 to 1500 grit and a palm sander. after using my Nevr-Dull [affil links] polish, it shined up good looking like a good prep to the buffing stages, except for these tiny pits which are very noticeable. will these disappear with the buffing and emery compound?, which I was told is the cutting stage of the three different compound stages. or do I need to sand even more, they seem to be in areas where the sander couldn't lay perfectly flat. any advice on this one?

Joe stainer
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2000

To the guy with the questions about the deep looking scratches: the reason they are there is because you used 80 grit sandpaper to start your job. You should have started with 400 grit and sanded the life out of it with your palm sander. Start the job over with the 400 grit until the sand marks are gone. If you want a mirror finish you will need to hand sand most of everything. I'm finishing my r1 frame right now and I still have 800 grit sand scratches. Make sure you wet sand or it will not smooth out as good.

Ed Rolen
- Nashville, IL, America
2003

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Like the above stated 80-40 grit is way to rough..It does make light work of the rough casted part of your frame however the whole theory behind a good mirror like finish is smooth metal underneath. I started with 160 grit wet/dry and just sanded my life away for a while with a palm sander. Two things to note, you only need to sand until you have a smooth (as smooth as 160 grit will get) finish but ALL the anodizing has to be gone. You'll see an obvious difference between where there is anodization vs. where you've successfully sanded it off. Now the fun part, repeat the process with 400, 800 1500 and I personally finished off with 2000 automotive type wet/dry finishing sandpaper..just for reference this is the time when one can get a really good look at the metal before using the actual polish and then having to ruin it by having to sand again to fix imperfections..I used engine degreaser to completely clean all the ano/al dust off and you can clearly see any gouges or imperfections in the frame..take care of all the little blemishes, use a little Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish [on eBay or Amazon] and it mirrored right out..but be aware, there is no shortcut..To get this kinda project right its gonna take time..expect to have your bike 10-10 for at least a couple days depending upon how much you're polishing..Hope that helps.

Dustin Bryan Galliazzo
- Valley Springs, California
2007