10/11/11

fork leg clean up

I got the parts ordered for the '79 XS650, so doing some prep work before they get here. One of the things I'm doing is a fork rebuild, and wanted to clean up the fork lowers, not doing a full on polish job, but just to get a nice clean look. I thought I'd start with the worst one, the left side on the top in the picture.
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First thing was wet sanding with soapy water, using both 320 grit paper and also Scotch-Brite heavy duty scour pads. I also cleaned the inside at this point. The very top is covered by the dust wipers, so no need to be too concerned there.
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Next is to buff it out using a Scotch-Brite non-scratch stove top scour pad and Meguiars car wax. This gives it that just right sheen and keeps the aluminum looking nice for a long time.
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Then wipe off the wax with a dry paper towel, afterward rinse it off and clean off any remaining wax with another towel and dry it off. This is it before drying, and you can see how the water beads.
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The finished part, looking great for not a lot of work.
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2 comments:

  1. TMK13 October, 2011

    These lowers came out great, I'll be doing the same thing to the RD400 in the next couple weeks as the rebuild begins.

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  2. Joe C20 October, 2011

    They did turn out nice. I used the wax to buff my SR500 lowers a couple of years ago, and they still look just like when I first did them.

    The only real work is sanding off the stock coating. i might try a paint stripper next time.

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