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Author Topic: To fork polish or not?  (Read 1289 times)

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Offline Skunkmiester

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To fork polish or not?
« on: July 05, 2009, 06:44:16 AM »
Hi guys, my fork sliders are causing me a bit of a ponder moment.

They were powder coated black but the finish was poor. So I stripped them and started to wet and dry them and then go through the whole polishing stage process.

Trouble is that these fork sliders have a poor finish anyway, I'm worried that if I wet and dry them to the required standard before polishing, I may take off too much metal.

I am considering getting them powder coated in silver or gold instead, not sure.

Can any of you give me an idea of how far I can smooth down the sliders before polishing please?

Polished fork is on the left, I'm not happy with how it has turned out so have not continued with the whole polishing process. It has tiny pits in it and I am worried that if I take it down to far that I will weaken the slider.

Also the stancion is in a poor state at the top in the area around the yokes. Would it be possible to get this are chromed? What do you guys do for stanchions?

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1973 CB 750 Cafe Racer
1992 (original) Fireblade

Online Alan F.

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Re: To fork polish or not?
« Reply #1 on: July 05, 2009, 07:46:23 AM »
I wouldn't worry about taking off enough material to get a good finish, they're pretty thick and you'll only need to take off .010" or so...
http://www.cyclexchange.net/Front%20Ends%20Page.htm for fork tubes
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Offline Johnie

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Re: To fork polish or not?
« Reply #2 on: July 05, 2009, 08:46:39 AM »
Looks to me that left one is ready for the wheel.  I used red, green then white rouge in that order.  Very happy with my results.  Sort of depends on how picky you want to and if you are after the OEM look or not.  I have a few small stone marks, but I think they add character to a 39 year old bike.  Click the pic...
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1970 CB750K0 - Candy Ruby Red
1973 CB750K3 - Candy Bacchus Olive or Sunflake Orange
1970 Chevy Chevelle SS396 - Cortez Silver
1976 GL1000 Sulphur Yellow

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Offline dpender836

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Re: To fork polish or not?
« Reply #3 on: July 05, 2009, 10:45:51 AM »
+1 left one looks good!!
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Offline lordmoonpie

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Re: To fork polish or not?
« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2009, 03:25:39 PM »
+2 :D
Left looks perfect for the wheel. I polished mine up on the 750 - on the 450 I polished them up and then took 2mm out of the spoke side to clear the custom brake disc - it's fine.

I've also hrad chromed my stanchions on the last three honda builds. A good chrome shop will grind down and re-chrome to factory sizes whatever the rust and corrosion. They will not be as shiny shiny as new OEM but they last forever! Go for it :)
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