I’ve caught the metal polishing disease…

[V1nce Fox]

Long story short, it’s the turn of my supermoto to get a deep clean and i’ve started trying to polish some of the ally bits.

Couple of questions, once i get stupidly polished what do i protect it with and what do i quick clean it with to keep it mirror clean?

Thinking poorboys wheel sealant for sealing maybe?

[Pat H]

Solvol is your friend.

[bimsb6]

Pat H said:

Solvol is your friend.

Mothers is better , chemical polish with no abrasive .

[Wildfire]

Chemical guys jet seal is good for maintaining some shine without it going dull aft er you polish it. Just tried the Chemical Guys metal polish and sealant, not sure how long it will last but so far it seems good on raw alloy after a few months.

[V1nce Fox]

See, i’ve used autosol forever but the stator cover in the picture is the first thing i’ve used coloured bars and wheels for. I then tried a final polish with autosol and it actually dulled it a bit.

I think i need to seal it with something to keep the shine up but don’t want to lacquer the metal.

[rigga]

When I had the frame polished on my speed triple, I found Beglom Alu to be very good.

[KTMsm]

rigga said:

When I had the frame polished on my speed triple, I found Beglom Alu to be very good.

^^^ This

Anyone who says Autosol can't have tried Beglom
(Autosol might be better on really rough stuff as a starting point)

That said I haven't tried all the "made from whales spunk" type products because I was so happy with Beglom

[rigga]

I do like to polish, need a decent motor though to build some heat into the mops and polish

Beglom leaves a nice coating to protect the finished shine.

[V1nce Fox]

I really need to get a bench polisher as well. Using a mandrel in a drill with various wheels atm.

[OutInTheShed]

Back when I had a British bike, 'Belgom' were best known for a chemical corrosion removal solution, some sort of acid I think?

Metal polishes like Solvol and others are a belnd of abrasive to remove tarnish, and wax to protect.
To protect polished alloy, you have a few fundamental choices:
Wax
Lacquer
Plating
Anodising
Various other chemical finishes.

Boils down to wax or lacquer mostly, best answer will depend on what alloy exactly, how hot it gets, how wet it gets etc.

[V1nce Fox]

OutInTheShed said:

Back when I had a British bike, 'Belgom' were best known for a chemical corrosion removal solution, some sort of acid I think?

Metal polishes like Solvol and others are a belnd of abrasive to remove tarnish, and wax to protect.
To protect polished alloy, you have a few fundamental choices:
Wax
Lacquer
Plating
Anodising
Various other chemical finishes.

Boils down to wax or lacquer mostly, best answer will depend on what alloy exactly, how hot it gets, how wet it gets etc.

Well, it’s a fair weather only bike so may get cought in rain but highly unlikely. Theyre engine casings so usual temp cycling applies.