Before continuing to tell you how to polish the metal parts of a motorcycle, if you are looking to remove rust, we have written an entry where we explain how to remove rust from a motorcycle.



I am going to detail step by step the polishing process of any metal part of a motorcycle:


1) Cleaning and stripping

The poor condition in which the entire engine was found was striking. It appeared to have been brush repainted and the last coat was cracked or chipped in many places. The cylinder fins had equal parts rust and dirt and the lettering, which effectively determined that the bike was a Ducati, could hardly be seen.


The most beautiful part of this Forza 350 was the engine, so I decided that to get the most out of it, I would have to do the daunting task of stripping and polishing it completely. Since I did not dare to disassemble the engine as I was afraid of losing a part, I decided to tackle the task piece by piece.

I started with the crankcase covers. When disassembling them I could verify that the Allen screws that secured them were in very bad condition, some had even been replaced by normal screws, so they would have to be replaced.

One of the covers is rough and matt, the one corresponding to the starter motor, probably because it is a Mototrans addition to the Italian design of the engine, while the other, repeated in many models of the brand, is smooth and shiny. However with both I decided to apply the entire polishing process.

I started with the left cover, the one for the starter motor, applying a stripper and scraping with a spatula, scalpel and brush. The first coat came out perfectly, since it had been applied afterwards and probably with a low-quality paint, however the coat that the bike had from the factory took me a long time to remove.


2) Sanding metals with water sandpaper

After stripping, I followed a thorough sanding process with water sandpaper, first with coarse grit to remove scratches and irregularities on the pieces, and then with increasingly finer grit. To use water sandpaper it is essential to wet it a little, to avoid scratches and for the sandpaper to work.


3) Polishing of metals with felt disc and brown paste

To complete the process of polishing the metal of the bike, I got myself a complete Wolfcraft polishing kit that included a felt disk, cloth disk, and blue and brown pastes. With this I would have plenty to polish the entire bike.

When I decided that the surface was even enough, I went to polishing with a felt disc and brown paste.


4) Polishing with cloth disc and blue paste

After cleaning the surface well and observing the results, I finished with several passes of the cloth and blue paste disc.

This was the result of polishing the starter cover:

Although the results with the matte piece were as expected, with the smooth piece I found them impressive.

The before ...


… And the after.


It can be seen that there is still a bit more to be sanded with very fine sandpaper. This is the result of my lack of patience, but with a few more hours you will achieve a total mirror effect.

Since I had gotten into this "scrubbing" I decided to use the knowledge learned to polish the rest of the motorcycle parts, such as the rims, the valve covers or the king axle cover. I polished everything I came across, I think even the dogs feared that in my madness I would polish them too.

Summary of the procedure to polish any metal of a motorcycle

I summarize the process to polish metal of a motorcycle:

Stripping and cleaning of the metal part: stripper, steel wool and Dremel with abrasive discs.

Sanding with water sandpaper: it starts with coarser grit to eliminate imperfections and progresses to increasingly finer sandpaper.

Cleaning the part with alcohol or solvent.

Polished with felt disc and brown paste.

In each of the seven points you will have to apply a significant dose of patience , because only with it you will achieve a good result.

To keep the polishes and in general all the chrome of the motorcycle, we use Autosol , with a small amount on a cotton cloth you can achieve wonders. It is very cheap and never ends.

After a weekend in which I had left my arm and hands in the workshop, I had a good taste in my mouth that the results of my first experience with polishing had been very good, however I managed to polish the rest without disassembling it was going to be an almost impossible task.