Best protection for bare aluminum?

:?: Hi all, hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

I'm working on my 750 as time & weather allows for the last few months. Most of the aluminim was corroded as the DPO left the bike out side for 3 years. Anywhere the clear coat had mostly worn through & looked like crap I took the part off & used my bench grinder with a fine brass buffing wheel.

I painted the side covers & seat rails with silver rustoleum Hammertone & it looks really nice.

All the bare parts, engine/tranny covers, and aluminum brackets I am either removing the part if it's not a big deal & just buffing it out with the bench grinder and a hand drill with different attachments.

I plan on doing the airbox in wrinkle black. The brushed aluminum looks really nice.

I don't want to clear coat the bare parts. What recomendation do you all have for something I can brush on or coat with a quick wipe down a few times a year to keep her looking nice?

Thanks.

 

I have had good luck with aeresol furniture polish,such as lemon Pledge. However there is no foolproof quick fix to keep your engine looking great...I buff mine with Simichrome about 3 times a year,along with all the other aluminum parts. It took a long time initially to get the aluminum looking like chrome,but I can now polish all the covers,the rims,front forks,muffler/footpeg brackets,and brake backing plate in about 2 hours. I have yet to strip and polish the grabrail.
NevrDull is also a great product that may be just the ticket for your brushed covers,although they may get shinier with each use.

 

i work at a Freightliner truck dealership, and on all of our sales trucks we have a guy detail them....

for the bare aluminum wheels, fuel tanks, air tanks, battery and tool boxes, he uses this stuff that comes in a 1 Qt. bottle, its aluminum polish with some type of wax. it works awesome at cutting away any minor oxidization, as well as leaving a layer of wax behind to protect. it really works great, as the trucks only get detailed once when they come in and some of them have been on our lot for up to 3 years.

the brand name is "SPEEDY". its blue, and comes in a clear/white container. http://www.speedymetalpolish.com/index.html

 

Any one try Zoops?? The hot rodders like to use it here in MN. Kinda spendy though.

 

I've used Solvol 'Autosol' (a German product) for the last 34 years on my nearly all bare-aluminum Norton with great success. I recently discovered Mother's Billet Metal Polish, a cream in a glass jar (expensiver) finer than both Solvol and regular Mothers. It's my new best buddy now. I've stripped and re-polished all the aluminum on both my XJs and it's what I'm using to keep them spiffy.

 

Mothers aluminium polish is the best, it polishes and protects.
Spray or brush coatings always goes yellow, in time & then you have to strip it back.
You have to use the polish every few months, depending on the weather conditions.
With ally' there is no quick fix.

 

best way? whe the xj and xs bikes came from the factory the aluminum was not shiny it was brushed,

I was told the best way to get back to the factory finish was to clean the area then use #0000 Steel wool to brush it up clean it again dry and use clear coat to protect the finish and the shine

 

Steel wool imbeds microscopic particles of steel in the aluminum which can rust or start corrosion. If you want the "brushed" finish use grey Scotchbrite (finer than the green variety.) I LIKE the fact that my bike is shinier than stock.

 

I've used MINWAX brand Carnuba Wax on my cars and bikes for years. Originally developed for use on furniture Carnuba wax contains natural palm oil and buffs to a high shine. Minwax sells it in the Yellow Can, hardware stores.

 

For cast aluminum, I clean with carb cleaner, then coat with wd40. This works well with the old bmw's, which are mainly casl aluminum.