I think it's safe to say that the frame on a Honda CR is definetely nice to look at lol. I have a 2001 so the frame doesn't have a scratch really, but I like to get that real shiny look on it. I tried using Mother's aluminum polish but it was just that, a mother to get it shining. I don't have a buffer and the elbow grease need was ridiculous. I have this other Never Dull stuff, is it pretty good for using on the frame and swingarm? Or what do you guys use?
I was thinking of doing this aswell but I can't get ANYTHING over here to do it :whiner: but have a look here, Caswell sell all the disks and compounds you could possibly need and at really reasonable prices. They were giving two disks for the price of one! If you do buy any of their stuff let me know how you get on with it, I might get some shipped over here...
I'm buying a buffer this weekend, I'll tell you what I think. BTW, there have been several times where I've spent 4 or 5 hours polishing the frame, then I decide to go on a 20 minute ride..and ruin all the work.
How shiny a polish did you get and using what compound? Would I get away with just using a polishing wheel with Tripoli does anybody know, or do I need to use rouge or something similar after the Triploi?
I think my uncle has a buffer, but I'm wondering what the best stuff is for it. YZ, I've had the same thing happen. One day I tore down all my plastics, took it all off and shined it up, then I walk inside and here my friend come down, we ended up trashing em lol.
I use a buffer on my CR and frankly if I did it all over again I wouldnt : :confused: Its too much work and it just brings out every single little scratch on the bike. Its best to just leave it how it is I think.
sand the frame using something like 400 grit to get it smooth
when it is nice and smooth do even more sanding with 600 grit wet paper
do this until it wont get any smoother
then start polishing with mothers aluminum polish
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when you are polishing it for the first time after the sanding it will take a while to get it shiney, but once you got it, it will only take about five minutes to retouch after a ride. With the mothers all you have to do is rub it in until it turns black, then buff it off. Click my gallery to see how my bike turned out.
Holy cow, that looks like chrome. I'd sure love for my bike to turn out like that. I might think about doing this process. Or I might just use the mother's and get a buffing wheel to make it shine up easier.
The 01 frame is much easier to polish than the 02. I polished my 01 with Mother's and a polisher in about 15 min. It was a mirror like shine. My CRF on the other hand is a pain to try and polish. I spent hours with Mother's and a polisher and still could not get the shine I got on my 01. The frame on the 02 is a bit more rough than the 01. IMO, the 01 is easy. My friend did his 2000 CR250 by hand with Mother's and it looks real nice. Took him about an hour.
the easiest way ive found to polish aluminum is with a cloth buffing wheel on a grinder (the big kind) and one of those bars of polishing compound (rouge i think) once you do that, you need to clean off the black residue, ive found that brake cleaner works really well. Then its time to hit it with the mothers polish.
On my 02 I used a high speed buffer with Honda metal polish. That removed most of those scratches in the frame. I then finished using mothers. A few washes later and many rides later it still looks like chrome. I just keep it shiny by using the Honda spray polish once in a while. Removing the radiators made everything go so much easier. I spent about 2 hours, from taking everything off to polished and assembled. It seems that everyone comments on how awesome the frame looks now so for me it was worth the time.
After I did mine I laid on a clear sheet of the same vinyl that you use for your number plates. Stays shiney forever, plus it protects the frame from wearing were the shrouds touches. I takes a little of the shine away, but you never have to buff it again.
I did my 2000 cr 250 with a buffing wheel to get all the crap out of the the pitted areas on the frame then go over it with Never Dull after every wash takes about 5 extra minutes each time you wash it but it has a mirror finish.
One more method to try...after the fine grit paper previously mentioned, put Mothers on the finest steel wool (0000?). Then follow that up with Mothers on a cloth.