How to Polish a Motorbike Frame
A motorcycle frame can easily be polished in a day. Here's how to do it.
First, if your frame looks like brushed aluminium then its anodized and these instructions are for you. If its a solid grey, black, silver etc, its painted or powder coated.
Things you'll need:
- Easy Off Oven Cleaner (available at Woolies & Coles)
- Palm / Orbital Sander
- Wet and Dry paper (400grit - 1500/2000 grit)
- Blokes Gear Drill Polishing Kit
- PPE
Step 1: With the body on the bike, mark the frame where it becomes visible at all points, so you know what parts of it need polishing. I recommend ONLY polishing parts of the frame that you can see, because those are the parts you can also easily care for (removing anodizing exposes aluminium to the weather...so it needs protected).
Step 2: Remove the body, tape off and cover everything you are not going to polish. Grab yourself some gloves as we're about to apply the oven cleaner (it's pretty potent stuff, don't get it on your skin!). This can be sprayed directly to the frame OR for better control, it can be sprayed it into a bowl and then brushed on. Leave it for about 20 minutes (or until you see the alloy turn black). Wipe it off and wash the frame with warm soapy water. Do not worry when you see the frame turn black...it is just part of the process. Although you will probably shit yourself when you see it do this and turn patchy but don't stress, you've just saved yourself hours of sanding.
Step 3: Next comes the sanding...and yes I really do recommend a palm sander for this, it will cut your sanding time down by hours. Start with 400 grit dry (especially on older frames where there may be pitting and deep scratches). Don't force the sander, let the paper do all the work. Move to the next higher grades, I normally go 400, 800, 1200 then 1500 (you can also go up to 2000 if you like). Most importantly, take your time, do it right and don't skip grades. Make sure you get all deep scratches out, if you don't this process will have to be repeated. The smoother you get it, the better the result.
Step 4: Wash the frame again to make sure no sand grit is left on it. Once you have the frame smooth from sanding, it should feel EXTREMELY smooth, like glass. If not, continue sanding until it is smooth and has a satin finish.
Step 5: Time to polish! Grab your Blokes Gear 100mm Drill Polishing Kit and mount the sisal wheel in your drill. Grab some PPE, I personally go a mask, goggles and gloves. Start with the cutting compound. Apply a little bit to the sisal wheel (apply a little bit of compound often). Speed is important here, 2000rpm is ideal. This is further cutting back any remaining imperfections so you need to take your time for the best results. By now you're probably covered in black crap (all part of the fun). Once you have polished the whole frame with the cutting compound and sisal wheel, wash it with warm soapy again to clean it. Then dry it and grab your polishing compound with the calico wheel and follow the same process. Again, take your time and work it.
You should have a mirror like frame now.
Sounds like a lot but it isn't really. If you're confident that your frame has no imperfections/marks on it you can actually skip the sanding and go straight to the polishing part... but bear in mind machine lines etc will still be visible and highlighted by the polishing.