Laquer or not?

nogger · Post by **nogger** » Sat May 02, 2009 1:29 pm

Got my cases back after being polished.

The question is should I leave them or get them laquered. I did'nt want to spend all that money just for them to tarnish in a few months. Your thoughts please.

Ståle · Post by **Ståle** » Sat May 02, 2009 2:23 pm

Leave them...

..and get this..

Click here for ebay ad

the180kid · Post by **the180kid** » Sat May 02, 2009 3:51 pm

yup, they will tarnish under the laquer, like little white spots,.

Ståle · Post by **Ståle** » Sat May 02, 2009 4:16 pm

the180kid wrote:yup, they will tarnish under the laquer, like little white spots,.

...and then you need to blast them and polish them again.

Hal · Post by **Hal** » Sat May 02, 2009 9:48 pm

The factory laquered the forks didn't they??

simonh · Post by **simonh** » Sat May 02, 2009 10:23 pm

they did indeed

unless you get the lacquer right, it will look shit/not be protective

Olde Coney · Post by **Olde Coney** » Sat May 02, 2009 10:33 pm

I dont like laquer finish, it never looks right to me, and once done can be a pain in the arse to remove

Big Al · Post by **Big Al** » Sat May 02, 2009 10:48 pm

I wouldnt lacquer them, will look great to start off with but then after a while will look crap once the little white spots appear it will be difficult to clean them up unless you strip the lacquer off and re polish then re lacquer
its only my opinion but its your bike

cheers
Al

the180kid · Post by **the180kid** » Sun May 03, 2009 11:40 am

Hal wrote:The factory laquered the forks didn't they??

yup they did, but was a special process, nobody i've found can replicate it, as soon as alloy is exposed to the atmosphere it is oxidising, this is where the problem lies,..from polishing to laquering its already started to oxidise and that slight oxidisation is enough to get spots under laquer,..be it 3mths or whatever,.
bad pic but think you can see the spots, and it was all profesionally polished and laquered, even wrapped in cling film after polishing, to try to prevent oxidisation, it never works,.

simonh · Post by **simonh** » Sun May 03, 2009 12:05 pm

wow bri, thats a great looking ground

Post by **Wolfie** » Sun May 03, 2009 3:33 pm

Yep, great grate....

One way to stop ally from oxidising is to keep it coated in oil, perhaps the clear coat we call laquer is an oil based product, it could have been applied to the oily ally.. just a theory.

Clive · Post by **Clive** » Sun May 03, 2009 11:21 pm

It can be done with a little practice. This is a picture of the front end of my 750 J Suzuki I restored, the fork tubes and hub assembly were rubbed down with wet and dry paper and the end result achieved with a grey scotch brite and some soapy water, remember to heat them before laquering to avoid the little white spots caused by water trapped in microscopic holes in the castings. Single pack lacquer gives the closest to factory look and if you get it wrong just wash it off with a paint brush and some thinners.

the180kid · Post by **the180kid** » Wed May 06, 2009 7:41 pm

that looks great.... :smt023