[Sankar]

You can use Brasso. It works well.

Another tip: To polish the chrome after you have done with the Brasso use ordinary Talcum powder and rub it in circular motion using banyan cloth. It will put a good shine on the chrome. You can do this after you have washed your bike too!

[desideep]

Now i am in a good shape to comment on this. firstly what you refering to as crome is not crome that is Polished aluminum. second you can either use the brasso as a lot of them said or just get some Rubbing compound, i got one by 3M it was around 120Rs and it worked wonders. but make sure that you keep both of these away from your paint other wise you would be HURT.

[panky12345]

right deep, thats indeed polished aluminum, service center guys suggest buffing.. no clue

[bharatbs]

Turtelwax comes with a alloy and chrome polish in a small tube. I am not sure if it will remove the stain though.

[desideep]

Originally Posted by panky12345

right deep, thats indeed polished aluminum, service center guys suggest buffing.. no clue

Buffing again i s a good option will bring back the glorry and shine to your Aluminum parts. if you are not too keen on that then just take it to your Mechaninc or Do it your self with the rubbing compound. If not even that then take a very fine sand paper and a soft coton cloth or a jute and work it out. but that would be the risky bit cause you may screw the finish of your Timming and clutch case. Who do you get the bike repaired from?

Turtelwax comes with a alloy and chrome polish in a small tube. I am not sure if it will remove the stain though

Again Turtel wax would be a expencive affair which would do no good. and then the 3M Compund did work for me and i expect it to work for PANKY aswell

[Gill]

Pankaj sorry for Hijacking the thread!
What is differnce between chrome and Nickel?
Secondly as Deesideep poined out Polished aluminum,it think In a bike poilshed aluminum cosists of engine and clutch covers and front shock absorbers!
So what i drive out of this is chrome is for steel parts like silencers and nut bolts,where as aluminum polish is for engine and clutch case and other heavy parts.
what say?I have doubts on this,always been confuse on this terminology.

[-GT-]

Coca Cola or Pepsi is a good de-scaler. I have used them to get the oxidisation off our silverware very successfully. The material has to be soaked in the coke or pepsi for a couple of hours though; and the coke or pepsi has to be freshly opened up. My 2 cents!

[shan2129]

hi everybody !

My Bull is new, The Bend pipe, silencer & everything shines great. But the engine parts ( chrome ones ) & the Front Shock is too Dull . here is a pic that might explain. I have heard about the white powder, but am not sure how to get hands on it. Also which Wax polish should i use .

Refer pic :

* there are small water type marks & i have seen other bulls, it does not shine as much

[throttleking]

Originally Posted by GTO

I'll tell you what's the best (from our Padmini / Ambassador days). Used to be some chrome-polish white powder available at most auto / cycle shops. Cost only 10 - 20 bucks for a box of 30ish ml. Buffing that powder onto chrome works wonders....I had even used it on my Classic's bull bar a handful of years back. I am sure that the product will still be available.

I have used it on my BSA Street CAT (read Cycle) he he he, yes it works really well

[Pretorian]

On the lines of stains, my mechanic gave me a recharged battery (amco) and the lead was dripping over my crank case, I tried cleaning it, but its seems to be there, any advice how to clean it ?

[Seacat]

Hi, I read thru the post and replies . I too have the same problem. Rust spots on the chrome rims of my Bajaj Avenger. (I live next to the sea which compounds the problem.)
I tried cleaning it with some WD40 but did not help. In fact it removed the chrome layer a bit !! .
These are very micro fine spots mainly due to water spatter when it rains.
Any more suggestions ???
PM me at njo@zebecmarine.com if you can.
Warm regards,

[ArizonaJim]

I've mentioned this before but it wouldn't hurt to say it again.

First, chrome is a very hard, dense metal, rather brittle material.
Harder than many metals, it is difficult to machine with a cutting tool but, it still can be machined if the cutting is done with abrasives like grinding.

The chrome on vehicles is applied to the base metal by using a plating process.
Without getting into the details, it is sufficient to say the final product has a very thin coating. By "very thin", for decorative chrome it may only be .025 mm (.001 inch) thick.
That's about 1/3 the thickness of a human hair.

It is usually slightly thicker than this but you get the picture. There isn't much of it on the surface.

Chrome is not bothered by water so it is not only nice looking but it does a good job of protecting the underlying steel from rust. The problem with this is, if the chrome is too thin, any micro-pit or fault can allow water to get to the steel.
Once that happens, the resulting rust that develops on the steel will push up and break the rather brittle chrome plating, allowing more water in.
It's sort of a vicious circle.

This is why rust pitting is first seen as small rusty spots on the chrome.
If allowed to continue, more rust forms and causes more cracks... until the entire area is nothing but rust.

This brings us to how to and how not to handle the problem (and I have definite opinions about this).

I mentioned abrasives above and there are many abrasive powders available to scour the rust away. They do a good job of removing the rust but, they also remove the chrome.

The thinner the chrome plating is, the more likely it is to form small pits that allow water to pass thru it so, abrasives IMO is not the way to go.

A better way to remove the rust spots that does not remove the chrome is to use a brass wool or steel wool pad. (In the US these pads are often sold for washing dishes.)
Brass wool and soft carbon steel wool are both softer than chrome so they won't remove the chrome plating. They both are much harder than rust so they do an excellent job of removing it.

(Again a word of warning. The Scotch Brite pads are covered with silicone carbide, one of the hardest abrasives known to man. DO NOT use Scotch Brite pads to clean your chrome.)

Another inexpensive thing that removes rust spots on a chrome surface is aluminum foil.
(Yes, the thin aluminum foil that is used for cooking).
Aluminum is much softer than chrome so it won't damage the surface but it does an excellent job of removing rust.

Wadding up some aluminum foil, lightly oil the surface and start rubbing.
The rust will be scraped loose and floated off of the surface by the oil.
After doing this, the oily residue can be washed off but I recommend just wiping the oil off of the surface.
That will leave the rust in the pits and cracks saturated with oil and the oil will protect the steel against water.**
If you do wash it off, dry the surface with a rag or paper towels. We don't want the water to get back into the cracks and pits in the chrome.

So now, we have a nice chrome surface again but we are not done.

Left unprotected from water, more water will rapidly attack the surface again unless a waterproof barricade is applied.

The best one? If the surface does not get hot (over 100° C), Wax.
Any kind of wax will do but the kind used to wax Clear Coat paint jobs on vehicles is best. Floor or furniture wax can even work well.
Wheel rims, mud guards, fuel tanks, handlebars, trim.... Wax does a good job for all of these.

For things that get hot like the silencer, wax can be used but it will soon break down and lose its ability to protect the surface.

A very light oil can be applied to these hot areas and it usually will do a good job.
In areas where it is very hot like the exhaust pipe next to the cylinder head, oil will also break down and it can leave a light layer of carbon behind.

For these very hot areas, the best plan of action after cleaning is to forget about oils and waxes and keep a close eye on the area.
Any sign of rust should be removed immediately.

** As a side note, the "bluing" seen on commercial firearms is nothing more than a hard, black rust. When oiled, this black rust absorbs the oil which in turn protects the steel parts of the gun.

Good Riding to you.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by Seacat

These are very micro fine spots mainly due to water spatter when it rains
Any more suggestions ???

Use this for...
1. To remove all those fine spots
2. Prevent them from happening again



Use in the frequency of once in 3 months or so when it doesn't rains & just to be sure, when rains are done.

It easy to apply; clean surface with clean cloth; RUB the spots using C850 metal wax. Then apply one coat overall the chrome parts, wait until the liquid turns powder & then dust off the surface to get mirror like finish

[saargoga]

Once can get their Aluminum/chrome shine back by using buffing/shining metal polish. It requires pasting, slight drying then rubbing or using a good buffing machine.

you can get this in India http://www.amazon.in/Autosol-Metal-P...e+shine+polish

It can also let you completely remove those rust patches over your chrome and aluminum.

Personally I have been using BLUE MAGIC cream with excellent results.

https://www.amazon.com/BLUE-MAGIC-40...chrome++polish

[Seacat]

Thanks for the tip Aargee but tried purchasing this via Amazon but does not show up :-(