polishing the frame

[bourney]

I've got the top bit of the frame to a mirror finish but the bottom bits (near the footpegs) is being a right bastard to polish up. I've had the poliser on it for about 15mins and it's only made a real small bit shiny.
Should i just keep perservering with the polisher or should i get some 3200 wet and dry, go over it then bring it up to a mirror shine with the polisher???

[scratchin]

yeah get the wet and dry on it, you've gota get the rough bits smooth

[bourney]

yeah get the wet and dry on it, you've gota get the rough bits smooth

Ok.

Cheers mate. Going to get some wet and dry tomorrow and give it a shot. I'll let you know how i get on.

[craigs23]

Getting through the original Honda finish can be a right git. I had to go down to about a 200 grit from memory. Patience definitely is a virtue in this case.

[petrolhead19]

im lokking at polishing my frame and swing arm on my nc23 over winter.

does it take time?

tryin to decide on polished or if it will look good powder coated white same as my wheels hmmm

[craigs23]

A white powdercoated frame might look a little odd, depending what colour your bodywork is.

The easy thing about polishing is you don't need to completely strip the bike down - powdercoating will require the whole bike to be stripped to the frame.

Polishing doesn't take too long once you've got the knack of it. But it does take a little while to get a good finish. Mine took around a week I think, back in the days when I had a bit of time on my hands. Doesn't always look that great, as many people would think you're trying to hide crash damage, and can look a little too 'bling/American' if done too much. And raw polished aluminium will require regular polishing to keep it looking tip top.

[petrolhead19]

yeah thats what im thinking i dont want to polish it then end up having to re polish it every other month
cause i dont have that much time on my hands working 5 days a week and college 2 days lol

thats why i was going down the road of powder coated frame and swing arm i cant physically picture it in my head,
here is a pic of my bike as it stands,


it will be getting re sprayed in red as im gettin new fairings cause there is alot of cracks and has fibre glass repaired quite alot by the previous owner lol
Wheels are getting powder coated white, as previous owner sprayed themwith rattle cans and the laquer is peeling and the dirt is bedding into the paint lol
only thing is frame and swing arm............what to do what to do??!!! lol

[craigs23]

In my opinion, the bike looks pretty smart with the standard frame as it is now. If it were me, I wouldn't go white if I were to powdercoat it - you'll loose some contrast between the wheels and frame.

If you really wanted to coat the frame, I don't think coating it black would look too bad. There as a chap called Steve who did a lot of work to an NC30, including an RVF bodykit finished in a candy red metallic paintjob, with a ghosted Honda wing hidden in the design. The black frame he had looked pretty good with it.

[petrolhead19]

Hmmmm see i never pictured it in black i suppose it would look pretty good, and im going for the candy red already :D
the one thing i dont want to do is start changing fairings cause i get more respect off ppl because its a 20 year old bike and standard looks and i quite like the loojk of the standard fairing.

i think ill have to get someone to do a photoshop of different colour frames for me lol

[craigs23]

the one thing i dont want to do is start changing fairings cause i get more respect off ppl because its a 20 year old bike and standard looks and i quite like the loojk of the standard fairing.

I'd agree with them. I tried out some Tyga fairings on my NC30, but never got along with them. Best sticking with OE in my opinion.