Best alloy - British or Japanese?

Which takes the best polish? Probably one for the Duck with the Norton?

 

Takes the best shine, or is less susceptible to being stripped out by a heavy-handed mechanic?

British alloy is harder, but some of it tends to be a bit porous so keeping it shiny is more of a challenge. Also remember that NONE of the British stuff was ever clear-coated to begin with.

Jap alloy holds a shine a lot better but it's SOOO butter-soft by comparison you need a torque wrench for everything. Yamaha didn't actually polish their polished alloy bits; they were belt-sanded and clearcoated. Once you get the metal "naked" again it can easily be made to shine like it was chrome plated, and it holds the shine with less maintenance.

Was that the comparison you were looking for?

 

........said the duck with a Norton.......

 

Thanks bigfitz. It s a polishing question. I've always believed Japanese to be the harder of the two and that the Brit alloy shines up better.....mmmmmm

 

All I can say is that owning a Norton Commando is like owning a silver tea set on wheels.

Also that I've never needed a torque wrench in over 40 years' worth of wrenching on the Norton, except for things like head bolts, etc. I use a torque wrench on the Yammies for virtually everything, including case bolts. And that goes back to the '80s, when I first became a Yamaha owner.

 

i think old kawasaki aluminum takes a better shine than yamaha aluminum but that's a very limited sampling

 

I thought all Kawasaki aluminum (aluminium for my brethren overseas) was painted green! 8O :wink: :wink: