Clearcote on polished alu parts?

[Old Rider]

I have polished the aluminium on the engine covers what now?  im thinking of clearcote them with spraymax 2k .Is that a bad idea? i know its easy to repolish but want a little protection to the soft alu.Will  2k clearcote stick to mirror finish surface?

[Pat Conlon]

Surface prep is key. Any spray on clear coat will stick only if you first wash off all the polish residue off the aluminum.
Use lacquer thinner or alcohol which will evaporate cleanly.

I'm not a fan of clear coats for a few reasons.
1) After time the clear coat yellows from UV exposure, then again, I live in the desert.
2) If you get a spot or chip in the coat with any oxidation, the oxidation spreads under the coating.
3)  Dimished luster. The luster of the polished aluminum is the best you will ever have, once you clear coat it. If you don't clear coat, the luster gets deeper each time you polish it.
4) False sense of surface protection. The spray on clear coat will not protect the soft aluminum base material from dings. The hardest, most durable clear coat I've come across has been a baked on powder coated clear coat. However, that powder coating used on wheels, fork lowers or swing arms can (will) get rock chipped, then you have above #2 happening.

For me, it's not a big deal to wipe down my polished aluminum with Simichrome once a year or after a long trip.

When (not if) you have to remove a buggered clear coat, for God's sake don't sand it off...use a chemical stripper.

Cheers. Pat

[giantkiller]

Pat I'm going to use industrial aluminum railing. I bought out of the red tag area at work. Around my decks on my house. It's just aluminum tubing. With the aluminum fittings for the railing. Two horizontal tubes. Going to fill in with stainless  cable to get the 4" minimum. It's raw aliminum. Debating about polishing. Leaving raw. Or painting black. I would rather l leave it aluminum. But worried because it will be outside. Do you think a clear coat would be a good idea in this case.

[Old Rider]

Surface prep is key. Any spray on clear coat will stick only if you first wash off all the polish residue off the aluminum.
Use lacquer thinner or alcohol which will evaporate cleanly.

I'm not a fan of clear coats for a few reasons.
1) After time the clear coat yellows from UV exposure, then again, I live in the desert.
2) If you get a spot or chip in the coat with any oxidation, the oxidation spreads under the coating.
3)  Dimished luster. The luster of the polished aluminum is the best you will ever have, once you clear coat it. If you don't clear coat, the luster gets deeper each time you polish it.
4) False sense of surface protection. The spray on clear coat will not protect the soft aluminum base material from dings. The hardest, most durable clear coat I've come across has been a baked on powder coated clear coat. However, that powder coating used on wheels, fork lowers or swing arms can (will) get rock chipped, then you have above #2 happening.

For me, it's not a big deal to wipe down my polished aluminum with Simichrome once a year or after a long trip.

When (not if) you have to remove a buggered clear coat, for God's sake don't sand it off...use a chemical stripper.

Cheers. Pat

Thanks Pat for sharing your expert advice.You made my decision on clearcoating easy. I was hoping that there was a miracle clearcote that not yellowed was chip free and kept the luster on polished parts. oxidation spread under the paint i had before and only fix is stripping the paint and re polish.I guess the best is not to clearcote and just wipe it with alu polish
now and then.

[turbocamino]

Fwiw... Eastwood sells a product i have used with good results called "Shark Hide"  i used it on my polished fork legs and swingarm.  I has never delamed or turned color.

[Pat Conlon]

Dan, unless you like polishing hand/guard rails more than you like polishing your motorcycles, I would pass on polishing that aluminum. What I would do is after getting any construction stains out, I would just let the aluminum naturally patina to its dull silver finish.
You could try a sealer if you are worried about any greasy hands staining the raw aluminum on the balcony guard rails.
For hand rails serving a stairway, I would definitely seal them with a product you can reapply.
A spray on clear coat will, sooner or later, be eroded way on a hand rail by sliding hands.

If you lived near the ocean with a salt air environment, I would only use a 316 marine grade stainless tubing for rails.

Cheers

[giantkiller]

Hey. Pat I was wondering if the general patina or natural weathering of the aluminum would be something that might rub off on peoples clothes. The deck will be about 16" off the ground. So won't get to much wear. But don't want it to be a problem for the occasional person who wants to lean up against it. I have never been around aluminum that has been outside for a long time. I am going to use it on the stairs also but they are inside. The balcony is off of my master so won't get much use. Mostly there for looks. That end of the house is about all you see from the road. But the deck will be 14'x28' off of the living room. So will be used a lot.

Might have to check out the Eastwood shark hide.

[giantkiller]

Just checked out sharkhide. Pontoon guys are liking it a lot. One guy said he has had it on his polished pontoons. For 6 year's. 400 hrs on the boat. And still not even a pinhole showing. Kinda expensive. $58.95 a quart was the cheapest I could find. Said one quart would cover average fishing boat. 2 quart's would cover a pontoon boat. With some leftover. Just kleen first ( the same guy who said 6 year's and 400 hrs said vinegar) and wipe on with cotton diaper. The solvents flash off and that's it.

Might have to check it out.

[Troyskie]

I used a clear over some of the frame to protect the silver paint.

Just rubbed it off last week as it turned yellow fairly quick, like a couple of months after application. It was 'automotive' grade, but utter crap result.

The factory finish is a clear lacquer over the aluminium on the footpeg mounts and forks. I'd like to know what lacquer they used, although I'm with Pat now, an occasional polish works well.

[Triumph GT6]

 You could try #gtechniq C5 which we put on aluminium wheels for six months protection.

[giantkiller]

I'm definitely going to try sharkhide. Non yellowing. And lasts 6 year's. Just wipes on. Thanks turbo.

[Pat Conlon]

Yes indeed, thanks for the Shark's Hide tip Turbo....let us know how you like it Dan

[Old Rider]

Fwiw... Eastwood sells a product i have used with good results called "Shark Hide"  i used it on my polished fork legs and swingarm.  I has never delamed or turned color.

I read about it now an it looks very good i think i give it a try

[Old Rider]

You could try #gtechniq C5 which we put on aluminium wheels for six months protection.

I think i have an almost similar product called shield .It stops brakedust and other stuff binding to the wheel i have only used it on my car it worked wery well  and the wheels was easy to clean .but i only used it a couple of times .The wheels on my car is alloy but they are silverpainted.Mayby i should try it on the polished alu easy to take it off if it dont work.

[ribbert]

I used a clear over some of the frame to protect the silver paint.

Just rubbed it off last week as it turned yellow fairly quick, like a couple of months after application. It was 'automotive' grade, but utter crap result.

The factory finish is a clear lacquer over the aluminium on the footpeg mounts and forks. I'd like to know what lacquer they used, although I'm with Pat now, an occasional polish works well.

Clear coats are way better than they used to be. This clutch cover has been on both engines so it's as old as my ownership of the bike. When I first got it I wet rubbed it to the sheen I liked and clear coated it. Just one coat. That was 10 years and over 200,000km ago, this is what it still looks like...


FJ 1200 2018


I use a few different clear coats and none of them have shown any sign of yellowing, not like the old days.
Pat is right about hard clear coats chipping, for me the answer is going softer not harder. Depending on the application I would use something like 3M Ventureshield paint protection for uniform shapes such as fork legs, or polyurethane clear or paint. Wheel paint is polyurethane paint, it doesn't chip.
This underslung caliper was painted in polyurethane paint many years, many miles and many thousands of miles of unsealed roads ago, it has a few dents, but no chips...


FJ 1200 2017

There is lots of great products out there.

Noel