Topic: Sandcast opinions

[Don R]

 My mid production sandy has a screechy rear brake, I've lightly lubed the mechanism with proper brake grease and cleaned and sanded everything a couple times. I'm currently deciding whether to try a new set of EBC segmented shoes or try a different nice-looking set of original Honda shoes.
 Another one is the rocker cover, it was chromed by the original owner's son and still looks good. I've had most of the other chrome stripped but never wanted to pull the motor. The bike is original except the sidecover and air box paint, Yamiya 4-4's and red Yamiya seat foam.
 I kind of feel like it's a part of the history of the bike, the chrome was the reason the father/son owners disagreed, and it was put in the shed for decades. Then the son didn't want it after his dad passed away. Maybe the reason I ended up with it.

[BenelliSEI]

Don…. Did you chamfer down the leading edge of both shoes? That usually solves it for me. I used to know a shop that radiused the shoes to match the drum, but that skill seems to have evaporated!

Have you ever seen the underside of that cam cover? If it’s an early one with the “waffle weave” pattern it’s pretty rare. The chrome ones sure are a lot easier to keep clean. I had one on the Carlini Chopper and a spare that went on the K6 last year. Look good forever!

[seanbarney41]

It's your bike right?  You know the story behind it.  Stories are what makes old bikes interesting...unless you are selling and a buyer doesn't like so much how the story ended.

[69cb750]

My mid production sandy has a screechy rear brake, I've lightly lubed the mechanism with proper brake grease and cleaned and sanded everything a couple times. I'm currently deciding whether to try a new set of EBC segmented shoes or try a different nice-looking set of original Honda shoes.

Replace the brake shoes.

[MauiK3]

Doesn't chrome usually start flaking off aluminum? I've seen a lot do that but it may just be the quality of how it was chromed.

[newday777]

Doesn't chrome usually start flaking off aluminum? I've seen a lot do that but it may just be the quality of how it was chromed.

I think it's when the chrome is left in high ambient moisture with cold heat fluctuations in cold/longterm storage more than because it is on aluminum.
Keeping it clean and protected with chrome polish helps to prolong it's life.
All the pieces of pitted and corrosion covers I've removed were poorly stored. I have a few of the pieces that survived.

[Don R]

 If the chrome was peeling, I wouldn't even ask, I have a couple ugly chromed covers and a few plain aluminum ones. Two have the short boss at the speedo drive screw and are missing the vent baffle. Nothing with the waffle pattern inside though, the bike is number 5511 so it missed a few of the rarer early parts. One cover has a 1970 date code inside.
 I'm just thinking forward to the day when the bike needs a new caretaker.

[HondaMan]

Most of the short-lived chrome jobs I know about were cheaply done. It is expensive to be done right! The cover has to be stripped of all the parts like tach drive and mounting dowels (I've seen those chromed-into-place on one cover!) and deeply cleaned to remove the oil that seeps into the porous early castings. Then they have to be "cooked" in an oven for 45-60 minutes after that cleaning, then hand-cleaned and those tiny nooks and crannies get widened or opened up. Then it gets cleaned again, and copper-plated, at least on the top side. Then it gets chromed on the top side only. All this work loses some detail, though, including the sandy finish of even the cam covers on the early engines.

I didn't do this myself: it came from the guys who used to do my chrome work before the Obama administration outlawed them via various EPA regulations in PA. After that, they could not clean things well enough to deliver top-quality chrome, so they quit the business entirely instead of making lower-quality chrome. They were award-winners in car and bike shows wherever their parts went, and the 4-4 pipes I had them do in 2007 still look brand-new now when I see that bike. Expensive? You bet. Worth it? Every cent!

[bryanj]

I was told that ally wrecks the chrome bath so its only done just before the bath needs replacing anyway so not best qualty.
Triumph in the 70's did a Jubilee modle 750 with chromed timing case cove and gearbox cover, rarely lasted 12 months

[Don R]

 On the peeling and pitted chrome parts in my "waiting to be stripped" stash I don't see any copper under the chrome or nickel. Maybe that's why it's pitted and peeling.
 The shop that I used charged me $20 per part with a minimum of $120. That was a few years ago, they didn't really have a front office, you kind of looked around in the lay down area until they found you. There must have been a camera or door buzzer.