I figure if I was going to be home I would finally tackle restoring the exhaust on my 848. I bought the bike used and the pipes were in a sad state with substantial tarnishing and stains. I haven't rubbed this hard for this long with my right hand since I hit puberty. Long story short, after 2 days, 8 Scothbrite green pads, half a bottle of Brasso, a 1/4 tube of Autosol, and endless regret for having even started this project I must say I am very pleased with the results. I really like the satin finish of the pipes. I purposely left some imperfections for a more industrial look.
Actually here is what I did: 1. Scottish Brite with Brasso to get most of tarnishing and stains out (save some pieces of the used Scottish Brite for later). I had to do this step many times because my pipes were in such bad shape. 2. Just Scottish Brite for stubborn stains 3. Autosol (multiple passes and for hard to get to areas) 4. Use Scottish Brite pieces from step 1 to create satin finish. I tried steel wool finish 1 and 0 but they were not rough enough. The used Scottish Brite pads with Brasso in it from step 1 is worn down enough to not create scratches that are deep but enough to scuff up the finish from using AutoSol.
After a week you’ll be buying & or using your existing buffer of choice & spending hours of your free time polishing it all over again It’s what happened to me
LOL! I did exactly that on my previous bike. I am trying to convince myself that I prefer the brushed/satin look. Lets see how long that lasts!!! MUST.AVOID.BUFFER!
Top tip! Next time make sure you have a small orbital sander with plenty of Scottish brite. You’d have had them done within a few hours! Nice work all the same.
Next time you will be naked when you polish, then you will know youv sunk to the deepest recesses of bike ownership.
Amazon full of em. The cotton buffer wheels worked for me. You will use quite a few. Some come with a very crumbly block of terracotta coloured polish. It’s pants. Any liquid metal polish is far better. It’s what worked for me.
Luckily i’ve got one of these polishers for my job. It takes 75mm velcro fastening sanding discs aswell. Started carefully with 180 grit on some welding spatter and a scuff under bottom pipe and then 320 grit, 500, 1000, 2000 where needed. Then the metal polishes. A soft interface pad between polisher and disc of choice helps on curved surfaces. https://www.powertoolmate.co.uk/Products/EB%2FMILM12BPS-421X
Wow! A lot of serious polishing skills going on here. I simply sent mine off to the soda blaster along with the frame and it came back looking great.
Great effort @tboooe, polishing is strangely addictive. I use jewellers rouge bars and before metal polish, they're sort of wax cutting compounds. Maketh things very shiny..
