Headlight Mounts Polished - nice.

[SA14]

Just bought this 2008 but it's been in storage for 5 years. Three of which were spent apparently unprotected near the ocean in a car port out on the open then another 2 years uncleaned after a 1,000km road trip so the corrosion is substantial. However apart from that it's a great bike so I'm slowly restoring the brightwork. I had a bit of a go at the forks and the areas I did (mostly the front straight sections) came up great so need to re-do them properly getting into all the small tight areas near the tops and bottoms but in this post I'd like to show how the headlight mounting brackets came out.

I restore headlights for a living so I just applied all my normal paper techniques except on a headlight I'd wet sand but on these I dry sanded. Not 100% perfect but good enough for me. I'll be protecting them with SiO2 clear ceramic coating (paint protection) which I use in my business so I have access to a few drops (all that's needed). Normally this stuff costs AUD$250 per bottle so probably too expensive to buy just for this purpose (although it can be used on paint and wheels too). It's experimental because it's not specified for use on raw polished aluminium so I'll be a test. How long will it be before I know the SiO2 has protected them? By that, I mean, unprotected after how long would I start to see tarnish appearing under normal use? If (say) 3 months then if after 6 months they still look shiny I'd consider that a success and a possible solution to regular re-polishing we all dread/love. The Ceramic coating I use says 7-10 years. Wish me luck.

And now...the results including one breathtaking "before" photo.

[KiwiCol]

Looks exceptional!   Great job mate.

[SA14]

Looks exceptional!   Great job mate.

Thanks. I lost definition on the chamfers though because it's almost impossible to sand it without damaging the line so I sacrificed them and rounded them off to a nice radius. I think it looks ok. Happy to take opinions on whether or not I "killed" the design and look. They're pretty easy to replace for cheap (a set right now on ebay for $29 a side).

[grog]

Look good to me, i like polishing, might do mine.

[Mick_J]

Looks bloody good, it's a shame to loose the chamfer but it still looks fantastic and only an anorak wearing spotter would notice.

[SA14]

Look good to me, i like polishing, might do mine.

Me too! I like bits of chrome and candy (not too much though). It's all in the prep; 4 hours sanding, 10 minutes polishing.

[Eric GSX1400K3]

Looks exceptional!   Great job mate.

Thanks. I lost definition on the chamfers though because it's almost impossible to sand it without damaging the line so I sacrificed them and rounded them off to a nice radius. I think it looks ok. Happy to take opinions on whether or not I "killed" the design and look. They're pretty easy to replace for cheap (a set right now on ebay for $29 a side).

I like, don't think the Chambers matter too much.  The finish is great and matches the headlight.

[Will14]

I agree they look great & prefer the rounded edges to

Are your front indicators the originals? just ask as they look to be a lot longer than the norm?

[SA14]

I agree they look great & prefer the rounded edges to

Are your front indicators the originals? just ask as they look to be a lot longer than the norm?

Jeez, I'm not sure. They certainly stick out there. I was thinking the same thing when I was bolting them back on. You guys would know better than me? I'm guessing they're original.

[SA14]

My front indicators are 170mm long from base to the outside of the lens. Can someone check theirs please and confirm mine are correct and not retro fitted from another model? The rears are shorter but that's standard I'm guessing.

[grog]

170mm 👍

[SA14]

170mm 👍

Phew. Mine also kind of point down a bit (viewed from the front of the bike) - not quite parallel with the ground if you know what I mean. Enough to want me to feel like "bending" them straight. Won't of course but is that normal?

In other news, I had a conversation with the head detailer at my Wurtzite dealer (they make the P85 ceramic coating) and he said it would totally protect the polished aluminium from tarnishing for many years without needing any more than a wipe down if dirty to maintain the shine. If this is true, this will solve the problem of repolishing which (from what I read on here) is a major concern to many people.

P85 is my choice and the guy said it's better than other ceramic coatings because it really gets into the pores where others are more of a "sit on top" layer. I'm not a chemist so I have no idea but the box says 7-10 years protection and calls itself a permanent ceramic coating. So at worst it should drastically increase the time between re-polishing.

We'll see. I'm going to apply 3 coats to be safe. Also adds some gloss. I'll do the paint and polished metals as I go along but at $250 a 30ml bottle it may be cost prohibitive for some (a few drops do go a long way though - I'll make a video) however I'm sure you could call your local paint protector and ask him for a quick wipe on your freshly polished part. I've started my shiny bits restoration and my fingers are aching so the less I have to do a deep polish the better...unless it's a nice flat piece. 

Another great thing about P85 is it's pretty tough with a 9H level of hardness and resistance to chemicals and heat it seems almost too perfect a solution. One which I've never seen mentioned anywhere. I just thought of it because I use it every day in my gig. I really hope it's a good solution.

[KiwiCol]

Good info there SA14, thanks a heap for sharing.

[SA14]

Good info there SA14, thanks a heap for sharing.

Hey, no probs. As soon as the idea came to me I was excited for all polishers because losing that shine sucks after working our fingers to the nub. If this works (I applied my first coat last night to the tank, mudguard and headlight mounts - going to apply two more for a triple coating) I bet a lot of us will be cheering.

A club or group of riders could buy one bottle, share the cost and it'll do up to 15-20 entire bikes. Won't cost much at all. Instructions are on the bottle butbthe main thing is to make sure the parts are totally clean. I use a 70/30 mix of IPA (alcohol) and water with a new micro fibre cloth to wipe down the area first. Apply, wait 3-6 minutes then buff off. The cloth will stick and be hard to push at first but once those ceramic "ridges" are "broken" it'll leave a beautiful shiny finish that's had like a permanent waxy feel to it. Feels "luscious".

I'd like to know how long a polished metal part would normally last raw before needing a repolish so I can measure my success with this idea. 3,6...9 months?

[SA14]

Bit of an update on the ceramic coating polished metal. Dog pissed on my wheel yesterday so I gave it a squirt (the wheel, not the dog) and so eventually ended up squirting the rest of the bike (lightly) and wiping it down (for the first time - a moment of joy).

What was interesting was the "instant" water spots everyone hates which I noticed on the raw shiny bits at the end of the cam covers because I'd polished them to chrome like finish (before hazing them over with 1500 again for the hazed/brush factory look). These spots appeared not because I let the water dry on there but they formed in the few minutes it took for me to get around to wiping that area down.

But on the headlight mounts which I polished and then ceramic coated...no water spots! They looked and behaved just like clear coated parts. No water spots, just a wipe down and they were as good as when I first polished them. Now, I know this is the ultimate test which will come after a few months but I think it's a promising start. I hope this ceramic coating metal works...for all our sake.