Hi

 

I have the 03 Fatboy and wanted to chrome the lower fork sliders .

 

Met a bloke at Morgan and Wackers up here in Qld and he's done 130K on his chromed fork sliders and fair dinkum they looked brand spankers .- VERY impressive as ive always held the view rocks etc would destroy the chrome plating ypu see

Hes done the Nullabour 4 times etc so i was amazed at the PERFECT condition they were in.

My question is and i hope that some of us on the Forum may have done this already or know soemoen thats done it to their Fatty or other HD scooter

2 options

1. Install HD chromed sliders

- about $650-00 to purchase and look the goods so thast a option

2. Take  originals  off and have them chromed up here in Qld

- i hear that if you  get them chromedthough  the fork seals dont fit and forever weep oil etc ???

- not sure of the cost but i really detest taking parts off my ride and tossing them when the original part/s could simply be (in this instance) chromed up . Saves tossing the original sliders out

anyone recommend a chroming business up here in Brisbane by any chance

 

Thanks for any advice as always

 

 

 

Why not just get them polished? No problem with seals then.

I had the sliders on my Deluxe chromed some time ago. The bores & seal areas needed a real good cleaning. I would say the HD chrome would be a bit inferior to a good job from a good chrome shop. - Rob

Polished mine myself.

Used wet and dry I think it was like 240 with a final polish with 1200 or 2400 grade.  A good old polish with Autosol and here you go.  Just need to give them a polish every so often and they stay as good as new.  Probably cost me not even $20.00 to do.  

Binnsy

I am actually gonna give that a red hot go .............thanks for the advice MUCH appreciated

Yours certainly look the goods

Cannot thank you enough

No worries mate. Its pretty easy, just a bit time consuming. Take the front wheel off as it makes it easier and it gets a bit messy. The fork lowers actually have like a protective coating on them that some say needs to come off first. i didnt bother as the wet and dry takes it off anyway. Took me maybe 2 to 3 hours all up.
Get yourself a foam polishing wheel (ebay) or a mothers polishing wheel (Supercheap) to finish them off with. Brings them up a treat and saves man power.
I give them a run over with S100 polishing soap every so often now. That stuff is good shit !!!
Any questions just ask. Post a pic when your done so we can see how you went. Tried to find a before pic of mine but cant find one.

I have the Mothers Polishing wheel so Im half way there - LOL

Yours look quite professionally done in the photo

if only I knew how to post up a picture on here

when polishing them pre-heat them with a heat gun, it helps speed up the polishing process

 

Binnsy, they look great

Binnsy, done this before successfully on other bikes, and, as you say , only takes regular polishing to keep them schmick. Unlike the $6-700 I paid to get the original fork sliders show chromed on my Heritage! Helps when you're fitting suspension at the same time with the sliders off, though. Used to use a bar of different compounds with rag wheels on the bench grinder spindles and the alloy comes up like a mirror. Haven't tried the Mother's setup. Which polish did you use with the wheel? I want to do this on my Fatty when it turns up. You save a truck load of money for a little effort. California custom also markets a brilliant polish called Purple to help maintain the shine on chrome or alloy. i swear by it, and it's also readily available in most Supercheap stores. I'll do a before and after when the time comes.

Just used Autosol for the polish Winger.
I have heard of that purple polish stuff, everyone reckons its great, will have to try some out. I am super impressed with the S100 stuff at the moment too. Just got some the other day, not all that cheap, but hey neither was your bike I bet. The polishing soap is very impressive as is the wash stuff. Spray on, rinse off, bobs your Uncle.
Thanks for the compliments too Kato and robnicko.

Binnsy, just reading up on the S100 gear. Sounds impressive!. Any local Aussie outlets?

Yes, go to S100.com.au I believe they are in W.A. Super fast postage/freight.

Wow, not sure where you live but shipping to Geelong, road freight, for me was only $14.95 ??? You sure you weren't on the USA site.

Give it a crack wayoutadanorm, little bit of elbow grease and then as i say a touch up every so often with autosol or purple polish and they will stay looking good. Not sure if you saw my before photos but they were badly pitted and very dull. Check my pics and see the difference. Post up a pic when your done too.

Polished looks so much better than chrome also not too much work to keep it looking great using the Purple Polish which is the best for polished aluminium. Personally I wouldn't use Autosol after using Purple Polish

Once chrome gets chipped it get very ugly once the moisture gets under the chrome.