Removing Clear Coat From Aluminum

What product are you guys using to remove the clear coat on the aluminum parts on these bikes? I have a high speed buffing wheel like the one XJoe550 uses in the instructional videos. My iPad will not play the videos so I can't see what he did. I was starting on my rear brake plate but that clear coat is hard stuff and thought it would be easier to strip it first before attempting to polish.
On another part of this what do you use to seal the parts to maintain the shine?
Thanks

 

aircraft stripper gets the clear off, that clear coat will gum-up your wheel.

as in some kind of spray or occasional buff-up?

 

Was not sure but is there something to keep the shine without clear coating or constant buffing and metal polish?

 

not that i know of. there may be some miracle product that is intended to separate a man from his money....

 

i've seen stuff aimed at truckers that claims to keep those big gas tanks and wheels shiney...?

 

You should only need to poilsh once a year.

 

Yea if you leave it in the living room and only ride on nice days.....
NOT good for the bike and not good for your better half sanity !

 

Wax.

 

I have used Aircraft Remover to strip clearcoat from some valve covers with great deal of success.

It's evil stuff, but it's water-soluble and eats paint in a hurry. Be advised, though - your average thin rubber gloves are no match for it. It stings even through them.

 

My preference is the wire wheel. If you like shiny, this is a no-no, since it will leave you scratches that you'll then have to remove (sand, buff, what have you). I think brushed looks cool. If you don't have a crazy aggressive wheel, it doesn't leave deep scratches. It removes the clear coat in a hurry.

Whoops, forgot to say I'm not using a grinder/buffer, I use the drill-mounted kind. Keeps you from doing too much damage. And you can get into small spaces.

 

As K-moe said, once a year if you are a fair weather rider. Toomanybikes is also correct. But you can minimize that by washing the bike within a day or two after it has gone through hard rain. Wax will also reduce any oxidation after a rain storm. But only use wax made for aluminum. Do not use a silicone based wax since it will actually reduce the shine. I use Mother's Aluminum polish after buffing. It find that it does slightly take a bit of the brilliance away was obtained from buffing. But very little. But it is worth the protection from the wax. Aside from that, it the one or two instances where I have noticed some minor oxidation, hitting with Mother's Aluminum polish by hand or even followed by a buffer on the drill, brings it back to life for about 15 min worth of work. I don't like riding in rain, so I'm a fair weather rider. Mainly because I don't like getting sick.

 

Well I found some stripper at the local lumber supplier that is not harmful to Aluminum. I stripped the clear off my rear brake plate and was able to polish it up with my stand mounted buffing wheel. It turned out pretty nice and I polished with Mothers Aluminum Polish. So now I'm looking at the engine side covers and the front lower fork tubes. I got a whole lot of work to do now.
Some of the clear is yellow and other parts are flaking off so the stripper should clean that off real well.

 

Someone caught the polishing bug!

 

Winters comin.......
Need something to do other than shovel snow.
Although, out on the WET coast, we do not get alot of snow at the lower elevations.

 

The bike in the picture was Razz1969's before it got ripped off and destroyed. I kind of like the painted fenders and the black motor and exhaust.
I would love to get a pair of those rear shocks for my 83 750. Wish I knew where to order some.
My Aluminum covers are not looking very good and its going to be a lot of work to polish them up, maybe going black might not be a bad idea.
The seat looks custom also that would be nice to duplicate also.

 

Also make sure to dry completely after washing or riding in the rain.

 

leaf blowers are great for that

 

They look like RFY shocks, there are plenty on ebay, they are quite affordable.

 

Don't use a leaf blower all the road grit and or any acid or what ever else is in the rain can stain use a soft clean rag. I polished this crank cover over 4 years back. Dry the aluminum then you can use a leaf blower to get the water off the rest of the bike.

 

Wow nice looking engine Cutlass

 

He spent a long time on it, including the paint on the case covers. There is a thread somewhere around here...

 

that belongs in a jewelry store