Anyone paint the fork legs?

Lodogg2221 · July 16, 2012, 05:07:21 PM

Ive been going over my new to me 95 Magna, and short of getting different fork legs, or polishing these, I was thinking of possibly just painting the legs black.
Has anyone done that? Just trying to picture how it would look.

Im trying to get away as cheap as possible but still have a good looking bike when Im done. I could do the polishing myself, but its really time consuming....and it would require attention from time to time that chrome or painted surface wouldnt.

Thoughs?

hootmon · July 16, 2012, 05:28:37 PM

If you are going to paint them, I would suggest checking out powder coat instead...
Yes, a few more dollars, but much more durable!

roboto65 · July 16, 2012, 05:48:20 PM

Had mine chromed they take a beating it did not last so I would think paint would not last but as Hoot has mentioned Powdercoating would be the way to go.

Lodogg2221 · July 16, 2012, 05:55:10 PM

We dont have a good powdercoater around here, so its either paint or polish.

I was just thinking paint because lots of bikes have painted forks, and I figured if I used a good tough paint, I could touch it up if ever it needed it.
My Concours (and lots of my other previous bikes) didnt have any chips, and it was just enamel....covered in bug guts though.

I just hate to do all that, and have problems. Maybe Ill just leave em alone...

hootmon · July 16, 2012, 06:21:55 PM

I polished mine, and they stayed pretty good with minimal repolishing..

Lodogg2221 · July 16, 2012, 06:33:02 PM

Then thats what Ill do.

After thinking about it, prepping for paint will put me 75% of the way there anyway. The metal seems pretty smooth already, so maybe it wont take too much work with the finer grits to get it nice.
Now I just need to find a good clutch perch and master cylinder...

hootmon · July 16, 2012, 08:44:58 PM

I used steel wool and some course liquid polish... Took me about 2.5 hours for a leg.. came out almost like Chrome...
There is a product called Speedy metal polish, good stuff! Used that at the end to give it a real polished finish...

Lodogg2221 · July 16, 2012, 11:29:57 PM

Quote from: hootmon on July 16, 2012, 08:44:58 PM
I used steel wool and some course liquid polish... Took me about 2.5 hours for a leg.. came out almost like Chrome...
There is a product called Speedy metal polish, good stuff! Used that at the end to give it a real polished finish...

So you didnt sand it at all? Man, that would be MUCH easier....

magnagregcan · July 17, 2012, 02:32:13 AM

FWIW, I had my fork tubes and rims powder coated in matte black, and am very happy with the results.

hootmon · July 17, 2012, 06:49:44 AM

Quote from: Lodogg2221 on July 16, 2012, 11:29:57 PM
Quote from: hootmon on July 16, 2012, 08:44:58 PM
I used steel wool and some course liquid polish... Took me about 2.5 hours for a leg.. came out almost like Chrome...
There is a product called Speedy metal polish, good stuff! Used that at the end to give it a real polished finish...

So you didnt sand it at all? Man, that would be MUCH easier....

I probably should have sanded 1st, but the steel wool left a very smooth finish..

v4_jeff · July 20, 2012, 08:16:52 AM

This sounds crazy, but hear me out...

A guy I work with got the idea from a forum he's on to Plastidip the rims on his brand new Dodge Challenger. I laughed and basically said, "good luck with that, it'll probably look decent at first but we'll see what it looks like in 6 months..." figuring he was going to ruin a brand new set of perfectly good rims. Well 6 months later it looks as good as it did on day 1. He took his time with it to make sure he got a good result of course. It really surprised me how well it turned out and is holding up. Supposedly if he gets tired of it he can peel it off and it's like it never happened.

Now your mileage may vary, and I'm in no way endorsing this method, but it might be something to look into. This stuff should hold up way better than paint and should be much easier and cheaper to apply.

edit: I said PlastiKote at first but that didn't sound right. Just confirmed with him that it was Plastidip that he used... The tool coating stuff...

Lodogg2221 · July 20, 2012, 04:24:52 PM

Ive heard of that a lot on car wheels. Seems to work very well.
Might give it a shot....what could it hurt? If it doenst look good, I can always peel it off and start over!

Troystg · August 29, 2012, 08:04:13 AM

Quote from: magnagregcan on July 17, 2012, 02:32:13 AM
FWIW, I had my fork tubes and rims powder coated in matte black, and am very happy with the results.

Where did you have it done? I may be interested in getting my rims done.

Troy #309

magnagregcan · August 31, 2012, 07:15:00 AM

hi Troy, I had mine done at the local powder coating shop. It's all these guys do: they do anything metal, large or small. Both guys are X navy and both drive Harleys - not that it matters. They guarantee their work and had to re-do my rims (no charge) because the clear coat they had applied didn't hold up. someday I'll post pics of my 2000 which now has over 70,000 Km (44,000 miles)(they tell me it looks like new!).
Anyway, I like the black crinkle finish which looks good even with a bit of "dust" on it. The belt drive I installed last year is holding up well, but does "dust" a little. Cheers!
Greg