My GSX1400 Restoration

[GSXKING]

Levitating  @SA14

[Mrg]

 He king the tyre tread at the bottom of the tyre      

[SA14]

Headphone warning!

[SA14]

It's great therapy! Doggo keeps me company and I'm doing this all withOUT beer! Weird, I know but I've run out.

Might do a small section all the way to polish to see what it's going to come up like just to keep me motivated. Hopefully I'll post a pic tonight. Should have them finished tomorrow.

[Snapey]

A buffing machine & one of these are a must.

https://www.3m.com.au/3M/en_AU/company-au/all-3m-products/?N=5002385+4294942426&rt=rud

[SA14]

A buffing machine & one of these are a must.

https://www.3m.com.au/3M/en_AU/company-au/all-3m-products/?N=5002385+4294942426&rt=rud

Some sort of machine is for sure. I get reasonable results with the same machine, pads, compounds and polishes I use to restore and polish headlights. Sanding is the key. A polish won't remove heavy scratches. As long as it rotates and holds some kind of gritty compound it works just fine.  I've posted this a few times but this is what I use after I'm finished wet sanding to flat. I find the small 3 inch format gives me more flexibility. I only run it in low (1st) gear at 1,850rpm max but usually throttle it down slower to start.

[Snapey]

You're just fucking around with that lot. You could have bought a machine with what they cost you.

I got sick of converting my bench grinders for polishing so I bought this at about half of todays price. It's had a hammering & still going strong. Buy the Scotch Brite wheel to go with the buffs supplied with the machine & you'll never look back.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Industrial-polishing-machine-with-taper-spindles-heavy-pedestal/274466225935?hash=item3fe7763f0f:g:1uoAAOSw2zBfP3Pe

[SA14]

You're just fucking around with that lot. You could have bought a machine with what they cost you.

I got sick of converting my bench grinders for polishing so I bought this at about half of todays price. It's had a hammering & still going strong. Buy the Scotch Brite wheel to go with the buffs supplied with the machine & you'll never look back.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Industrial-polishing-machine-with-taper-spindles-heavy-pedestal/274466225935?hash=item3fe7763f0f:g:1uoAAOSw2zBfP3Pe

It cost me $250 and has paid for itself about 1,000 times over. It's what I have and been using very effectively in my business as a headlight restorer/polisher. It actually works brilliantly. It spins and is nimble. No need for a massive 6 inch disc. All I need is something that spins and those pads are great. My results are pretty good I think actually. Plus, it'd be hard to hold the bike up to that pedestal machine and I'm not about to dismantle my entire front end when it's not necessary. But each to their own. That machine would be good for doing large open pieces that can be held but useless for doing on bike work like the forks.

[SA14]

One side finished. Not 100% perfect but compared to what I started with I'm stoked!

[KiwiCol]

Looks great, bit of your ceramic coating & hopefully it'll stay that way.  Must actually get round to giving mine a spruce up as it's been a while, but it's coming up boating & fishing time, so . . .

[Milts]

 
Fork legs looking good, i would like to get mine polished at some stage.

Couple of years back i had a Buell X1 which had polished front forks. When i took the bike in to have new forks seals fitted, the mechanic was non too pleased... 'Who ever polished those ******* forks didn't strip them first or knew what they were doing !! The forks must of got so hot the seals were practically welded in! An absolute nightmare.'

Worth a caution.

[SA14]

Fork legs looking good, i would like to get mine polished at some stage.

Couple of years back i had a Buell X1 which had polished front forks. When i took the bike in to have new forks seals fitted, the mechanic was non too pleased... 'Who ever polished those ******* forks didn't strip them first or knew what they were doing !! The forks must of got so hot the seals were practically welded in! An absolute nightmare.'

Worth a caution.

My polisher is pretty low speed but I'll keep an eye out on the temperature when I do the next one. I know they can generate some heat but hopefully not that much. I use a fair bit of polish to keep the pads lubricated. But it's not a warning I've ever heard before so good to know. Thanks.

[SA14]

Been sanding for a while this morning. Here's a contrast photo to illustrate between the wire brushed finish at the bottom of the right leg and the emery finish I'm after at the top. The polished left leg (on the right in this photo) being used as inspiration.

Emery sanding takes the longest as each finer grit takes less time than the one before. This is about two hours worth of sanding (by hand) just on the top section you see here.

[Cykik]

Fork legs looking good, i would like to get mine polished at some stage.

Couple of years back i had a Buell X1 which had polished front forks. When i took the bike in to have new forks seals fitted, the mechanic was non too pleased... 'Who ever polished those ******* forks didn't strip them first or knew what they were doing !! The forks must of got so hot the seals were practically welded in! An absolute nightmare.'
Worth a caution.

Another Buell owner  I had an M2 for 11 years

[Snapey]

Plus, it'd be hard to hold the bike up to that pedestal machine and I'm not about to dismantle my entire front end when it's not necessary.

You've got the wheel out and the mudguard removed to do what you're doing so it's nearly all dismantled now. Each fork leg will slide out once you loosen 4 socket screws. One minute with the Scotch Brite wheel and you have the same emery finish that took you two hours by hand. It's also a good time to service the forks.