Topic: Handlebar Levers

[oldhatt45]

Hey Guys,

Am I the process of finishing up a couple of things on my bike and was looking at the Brake and Clutch levers.
The original Honda Coating is very discolored with age (only 39 years worth  LOL) and was wondering if anyone has tried to strip and recoat them?  I used to use a thing called Plasti-Dip (plastidip.com) to coat tool handles, etc. and was wondering if anyone had tried this on the levers.
From their web site it looks like they now have a clear coating as well as the colors which I am familiar with.

I figure if it will work I could put a couple of coats of clear on and then put a couple more coats of Black on the end where it covers the end of the lever. 

Any thoughts??

Charlie

[flybox1]

I bought new replacement levers for both sides.
Cheaper (for me) than the time and effort to replace the coating.
If you already have the plastidip, and some time, give it a try and let us know how it turns out!

[70CB750]

I sanded and polished my levers, and sprayed balls with high gloss black paint.

Hmm, that looks like prep for some naughty dance of sort 

[edwardmorris]

Charlie, the levers polish up really well. You can go the polish+clear route and just buy the two rubber end caps for them...just  a thought..

[oldhatt45]

Thanks Guys,

Sanding and Polishing is definitely the first step.
But I recalled a thread where Hondaman ended up with black residue on his hands after polishing, until he did something else. 
Also, the original clear coating was pretty thick, maybe an 1/8 inch (?), so the thought just kind of popped into my head that maybe the Plasti-Dip might work.

I didn't realize that the End caps were still available.  Who sells the End Caps?  Just looked at a couple of the normal parts sites and only the levers are shown.

Thanks,

Charlie

[edwardmorris]

Thanks Guys,

Sanding and Polishing is definitely the first step.
But I recalled a thread where Hondaman ended up with black residue on his hands after polishing, until he did something else. 
Also, the original clear coating was pretty thick, maybe an 1/8 inch (?), so the thought just kind of popped into my head that maybe the Plasti-Dip might work.

I didn't realize that the End caps were still available.  Who sells the End Caps?  Just looked at a couple of the normal parts sites and only the levers are shown.

Thanks,

Charlie

It was in my K2 build thread. Clear coat or a sealer should fix the black residue issue. Basically just excess polishing compound left on them. White diamond or Semichrome will take care of that. The end caps are available on ebay for relatively cheap.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=126735.msg1613640#msg1613640

[edwardmorris]

e.g.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Rubber-Lever-End-Cap-66-75-Brake-Clutch-CA-CB-CL-SL-XL-Genuine-Honda-H85/361187108093?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D28772%26meid%3D274479f73cfc4f69a72fc3882e7ba721%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D191272885066&rt=nc

Monty is a good seller too.

[oldhatt45]

Ed,

THANK YOU!!!!
Just ordered 2 of the End Caps.
That will make life really easy.
I'm going to try the Plasti-Dip Clear coating.  And then use the (just ordered) End Caps over the top.

Reason is that on the tools I have done, when the Plasti-Dip starts to tear or get beat up, you take a razor blade, cut a slit and in 5 minutes or less, the tool handle is back to bare metal.  Then just dip it again and you're go to go for another 10 years or so.  (and I do have some tools I coated over 10 years ago that still have the Plasti-Dip coating intact on them and have been used and possibly even abused.  LOL)

Also, the Plasti Dip does provide some non-slip grip surface whereas I would expect the normal clear coat could be slick and a "careless hand could easily slip off a lever (usually at the most inconvenient time.  LOL) 

Thanks for the info!!!!!!!

Charlie

[LesterPiglet]

Could have used black plasti-dip for the ends.

[oldhatt45]

Les,
My original thought was to do just that.
But, I like the idea of the Rubber end caps. 
Makes it look closer to original and would take several "dips" to build up a thick enough layer.

A GOOD thought though.
So, we'll see how the clear works and go from there.

Thanks,

Charlie