restoration tips

My 85 shadow has the normal aluminum corrosion, pitting, discoloration, etc.
Nothing major but I'd like to do something about it. Is there a way to restore
things like the crankcase covers to their original brillance without removing
them from the bike?

 

Yes. Paint stripper to remove the knackered lacquer (if they were
lacquered), and then lots of time with a polishing kit. Lots and lots of
elbow grease. There's no easy way.

 

The short answer is 'No'. The covers have to come off for a variety of
reasons which are detailed below.

Most aluminum covers have a "brushed" finish. To achive that same look
a little experimentation (read trial and error) is necessary. 800 grit
wet/dry sandpaper is a good place to start. You might have to try a few
grits to get the look you want. Wet sandpaper, lots os water and gobs
of patience are a must.

Take the covers off. Just go down to Honda and order up some
gaskets before you start. They are usually cheap and, if your luck is
like mine, having them on hand will guarantee that the original gaskets will
not be destroyed upon removal of the cover. If the screws are phillips
head, make sure you use the right sized bits and tap them in the
screw with a small hammer. Honda loves to really torque them down.
I have a variety of bits that I use with both my 1/4 and 3/8 drive
ratchet. To date I have not had to drill out a boogered phillips
screw on my ancient Honda. Make sure you have the right size
phillips bit. Just because it seems it seems to fit doesn't mean
it is the right size. Use the biggest phillips bit that grips it
securely.

Honda puts a clear coat on their aluminum pieces to give it a harder
surface and to protect from corrosion. Removal of the clear coat is
necessary for obvious reasons and the best way is to use paint
remover. Paint remover around a bike is asking for trouble. One
oopsie and there is a nice shiny spot on your tank or frame or ???.

You could polish the aluminum to a mirror finish that looks like chrome,
but it is a time consuming process that can be painful. Aluminum is
quite soft and scratches easily. Even using a terry cloth to polish
will show up when you try to get that chrome look. I don't recommend
it.

Here is an example of what you can get when you polish aluminum.

http://www.mtm-online.de/en/showbild.php?id=2&table=highlights&bild=0&galerie=galerie1

Yes, the Audi A8 has an aluminum body and frame. All I can say is
that in the case of the polished A8, door dings are a bitch. I am not
sure that one can miss that critter going down the road. The glare
must be atrocious. I wonder what it is like driving into the
sunset. >)

Clear coat to use afterwards? I would try the Yamaha clear coat. It
is tough, readily available, and a high temp formula.
pierce

 

I've used paint stripper on casings for decades, and as long as you're
careful (like protecting painted surfaces) there's no problem at all.

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

I am just not that lucky. Something would slop somewhere and i would be
upset.

 

Thanks for the valuable info!!!

 

Thanks for your input.

 

Heh. I like a man who's acutely aware of his own incompetence, and plans
accordingly ;-)

Did I tell you how I managed to set my speedo cable on fire?

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

uhhh, no. Did I ever tell you about the time I took a cutting torch and
cut thru a 1 1/2 inch pipe filled with hydralic oil? It was rather
spectacular. Thankfully it wasn't under pressure.

pierce

 

I just went thru a restore of a 81 Honda a few months ago. It sat for 15
years. It was a long process to get that bike running right again. The
worst part is getting rid of the rust.

Be sure to add an inline fuel filter. A WIX 33011 would work nicely. I did
some calcualations on what that filter will trap and what it will pass and
what that would mean to my carbs. Anything that gets past that filter will
not plug up the idle jets. It would be like dropping a 1 inch diameter rock
down a 10 inch pipe.

pierce

 

Will I need to take any special care when removing the crankcase covers, such as
looking for parts to become loose or "flying" away? Will I have to re-time the
engine or replace/reset shims when I reinstall the covers? I've never done
something like this before. I have no trouble working on cars but bikes make me
a little nervous. TIA

 

As with all things it is good to consult the parts manual and the service
manual before taking anything off. Generally speaking, there are no spring
loaded parts under a crank cover. It is mostly boring stuff. Bikes are a
lot like cars, just smaller.

pierce

 

The only thing you really have to watch for is the tight phillips screws. I
have had to use a 3/8 impact on some to break them loose. While that sounds
pretty extreme, removing them by hand was just starting to booger up the
slot. The impact wrench did it without fuss and saved the screw.

pierce

 

Good point.

 

The only place I use those hammer driven impact drivers is on field winding
screws on starters and other places where I don't care what the screw looks
like when I am done.

pierce

 

I must be doing something wrong with my manual impact driver. I can never
get it to work the way you guys seem to. I just grab my trusty
Ingersoll-Rand 3/8" air impact though. No muss, no fuss, just out. Of
course the air impact cost a little bit more than a hammer driven version.
>)

The designer of the Phillips should be praised. I have been able to take
out phillips screws where a straight blade would have slipped and given up
the ghost long before. The biggest problem I have is determinng what size
phillips to use. It seems that one has to use one or two sizes bigger
than you think you should. The biggest problem comes in when the other
variants of the phillips. There is phillps, cross, Deck-Mate, drywall and
more. The Japanese have their own version (JIS) which is why we have to
pound our bits (ANSI) into the screws. Here is a better explaination of
the problem. http://www.katun.com/products/toolsjis.html

I used to curse phillips screws. Now that I have some good screwdrivers I
like them better than straight bladed screws.

pierce

 

There's times when you need to remove a Phillips head screw, but to

Besides, by the time you've buggered enough screws that have cold-welded
themselves in place (why they keep putting steel screws into aluminum holes
with no anti-seize on them is beyond me...), you really *want* to take a
hammer to something...
(I'm in the process of replacing all the phillips screws I can find with hex
drive ["allen key"] bolts