Turned out beautiful! What is the curb weight compared to stock now ? DO you have to clear-coat your polished aluminum to avoid corrosion/oxidation?
Thanks Vince, curb weight is 163kg. Thats 20kg or 25kg less than the new naked bikes from BMW or KTM (S1000R or1290 Superduke). In regards to preventing oxidation - I havent found a good method yet to clear-coat polished aluminum. Either the coating doesn`t stick reliably or you lose the gloss. So the frame needs to be repolishing from time to time.
That is good weight loss then!
Regarding alloy and keeping it bright, look into a product called Sharkhide metal protectant. Its distributed by Flatwater Inc. in O’Fallon Illinios. It works really well to avoid constant repolishing and goes on easy.
About the frame - have you considered either clear anodizing or clear power coating? I’m not sure, but I believe it can depend a lot on the type of alloy. I’d be interested to know if you tried those options and they didn’t work.
Taking it all apart again would frankly suck, I’d think? Another concern with powder coating is the heat during cure. Some alloys lose some integrity with that high of heat cycling after being welded on. Another full heat cycle might alter the metallurgy somewhat.
I’ve not seen a anodizing in clear that can leave a brilliant shine such as straight polish. Maybe someday.
I fully agree with that. Also, considering a color rather than anodizing in clear - the frame is quite a complex part to anodize and Im not sure if its possible to get a homogeneous surface colour. The best thing would be black powder coating… or moving that bike to southern california where the air humidity is low enough to prevent oxidation.
Fla or SoCal … Salt air is salty air either way. We get a nightly marine fog layer that is inescapable and tends to corrode everything uncoated, even most stainless steel.
-But if I coat it with Sharkhide it buys me months of no polishing.
I have multi-piece wheels on my cars so they can be a lot of work if not coated. I powder coated in clear my outer polished rims to save the labor.
I really like the lines for the tank and tail. Always a treat to see custom work vs. copied stuff. Thanks for sharing.
Very nice looking bike. Excellent design and great execution. A quick question though, what are you using for a front brake reservoir? Can’t say I am familiar with it.
Eric
Congrats! Looks amazing!