Topic: Chromed swing arm?

[Don R]

   With a large purchase a few years ago, I ended up with a pretty nice and I believe, unmounted since it was chromed, swing arm along with a chain guard and a few of the chromed connecting parts. I'm guessing K4-5? The best part is the new bronze bushings.
  I hesitate to use it, just due to the idea of keeping it polished and nice. Is there a coating better than wax that would stay on and keep it nice? I'm in more of a performance mood than show bike stuff right now.

[ekpent]

I remember waaay back when JC  Whitney sold brass colored swing arm bushings, think I bought a set. At the same time I bought a set of handlebars also and the quality was so bad it was laughable. They were factory bent and the chrome looked like it was put on by a two year old. Totally horrible. Kind of got a good hint on their quality after that and yes I sent them back !!

[MauiK3]

Maybe some of the new graphene products? They work well on my vehicles, dirt and water just fall off.

[Bodi]

Well, for one thing it really depends on the chroming quality.
Chromium has a very high corrosive effect on steel. Really good chrome plating has a series of different metal plating layers with chrome on top. For the best weather resistance it's usually a copper layer, then a nickel layer, finally chrome - sometimes more layers beneath. These under layer's plating thickness must be enough that there's no micro perforations, if the upper layers can make electrical contact through to beneath, there will be galvanic corrosion.
"Show Chrome" may mean super excellent multi layer plating for durability, or mean a really poor process that is shiny as long as it stays dry.
That said chrome is very resistant to corrosion.
The problem with real world use on steel is that chrome plating is great as long as it isn't disturbed. Any dent or scratch that goes through to the steel is really bad news. We've all seen chrome flaking off, that's because the steel is corroding underneath the plating. The galvanic potential between steel and chrome is very high, so it just spreads underneath and that creates a loose layer of plating over the steel.
Aluminum is even worse, the galvanic potential for Cr-Al is close to the maximum on the chart... so chrome plating engine cases is not a good plan for any road bike, for trailer queen show bikes OK.
I don't know if there's any great coating that will protect chrome on a swingarm. It will get dings from road crap flying off the rear tire or flipped up by the front tire. Wax or whatever will coat the surface but once the plating is broken, corrosion beneath it is inevitable.

So just put it on and enjoy the shininess as long as it looks good. It's not much use sitting in a box in your shed, after all.

[HondaMan]

You might find that the plating is so thick that the arm is wider (at the pivot) than the swingarm's collar: I have seen that on several chromed arms. If so, you must file off the chrome on the outer edges of the swingarm's tube so that when the collar is inserted, it is 0.001"-0.002" longer than the arm's width (i.e., the collar must stick out 0.001" on each side of the bushings with the plastic 'bushes' installed).

[seanbarney41]

I threw a really nice used chrome swing arm on my latest build.  It looks great.  We will see how it holds up.  In my experience, swingarms see a LOT of abuse.  But chrome is still easier to clean than paint and tougher too.  I have a chrome engine kit on my F.   It was all there except the stator cover when I got the bike, I found it cheaper and easier to just replace with chrome.  I got it from Bill Benton.  It all still cleans up nice and easy after 20,000 miles in 6? years.  You can see some rash on the stator cover as it takes the brunt of debris from the front wheel.

[Don R]

 I have a couple aluminum engine covers that peeled so easily that I dechromed them with a screwdriver. A rub of the round stem across the chrome would loosen it enough to lift an edge with the blade.
 

[Tim2005]

Here in UK, people used to protect chrome from winter salt with a light coat or 2 of clearcoat from a rattlecan. It works pretty well, just dulls the shine a bit, and with the old type of paint strippers it was easy to remove and redo if it got a bit tired

[Shtonecb500]

if you arent going to use it and just keeping it in storage then spray an automotive peel spray, peel away rubber spray or whatever on it and put it on the shelf.

vacuum seal?

[BenelliSEI]

Don...... I agree with Bodi: Give it a coat of wax and enjoy the shine. I’m sure it will last longer than either of us!