de-polishing??

haunter · Post by **haunter** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 11:17 am

how hard is it to 'unpolish' something like a swingarm?

do you just sand and paint it?

or is there a process to go about?

Post by **FZRDude** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 11:35 am

Sorry, never heard of unpolishing. Maybe if you don't maintain the polish it'll just dull on out. Hopefully to the same color as the frame.

If you paint the swinger, I think it would look odd if the frame wasn't the same color.

Hence I'm having my new Swingarm powder-coated black to match the frame.

M Hankel · Post by **M Hankel** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 1:17 pm

I'm not sure about the pre-89 models, but the 89+ FZR 1000's actually have a coating on the frames. I realized this back when I polished the frame on my old 1990 FZR way back in the day. It's a tough factory coating too.

As for giving the aluminum a brushed look, a heavy duty Scotch Brite pad works very well, but you'll want to spray some kind of epoxy clear over it after you get the finish you like. Otherwise it will smudge and dis-color really easy. Also, might want to test the inside surface first, as the clear coat tends to make it look "smoother", than it actually is.

Hope that helps.

aidybest · Post by **aidybest** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 3:17 pm

r u trying to achieve a key for the paint to adhere to the surface

Stig · Post by **Stig** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 5:27 pm

the factory coating on the early models is anodized silver. You can get it re-coated fairly cheaply. Better off buying a second arm or swapping someone who wants a polished item. It'll save them lots of grief removing the coating AND you money getting it re-applied

sradwxi · Post by **sradwxi** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 5:43 pm

if it were me i would just sand it a bit to rough the surface up and paint it or send it to a powdercoaters

silver · Post by **silver** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 7:33 pm

I'm still curious about how durable a powder coat really is. The swinger sees a whole lot of flying dirt and gravel. I'm thinkin' the finish would beound to be chipped off. Anodizing is a good idea as it actually hardens the suface of the aluminum. Another option would be a polyurethane - polyurea elastomer such as that used by Rhino Linings for coating truck beds. These coatings are now being used on a very broad range of items including outdoor furniture, cmmercial flooring and many other applications where durability is key.

sradwxi · Post by **sradwxi** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 7:41 pm

yeah good points, ive used a powdercoated swingarm before and it was pretty good, no scratches in the first few months but afte that i sold the bike, i think if u powdercoat it, then powdercoat it again you have twice the protection haha
as always theres a better way tho, but anodising fades too, after a while
depending on how well its done
carl