To Chrome or not to Chrome...that is the question...soooo...what's the answer?

For the past couple of winters I have thought about chrome plating the front end of my bike. I haven't got around to it yet & maybe it's just as well.

Polishing is another alternative that could very well be more pleasing. However, I have found out that if it's done properly, it won't be much less expensive!

I recently spoke with Steve, the owner of Killer Krome in Calgary. His customers include award winning custom car & bike builders and he makes no apologies when he says that his services are more expensive than anyone else's in the area.

According to Steve, the actual chrome plating is a small percentage of the total cost. Polishing aluminum & stainless makes up most of his business, not chrome plating. Preparation is the big ticket item. It is time consuming & labor intensive, thus expensive. Preparation is polishing out all of the flaws.

Steve said that aluminum that has been polished properly will be easy to maintain & stainless won't be a problem. He also mentioned that when plating the lower fork tubes there is the possibility of having oil seal problems.

You can check out his work at http://www.killerkrome.com

Professional motorcycle customizer, Denny Berg, prefers mixing different metal tones rather than dip a bike in chrome. According to Denny, polished stainless & aluminum has it's own characteristic hue that is more pleasing than a monotone chrome reflection.

The front end's comin' off this winter. I'll surprise ya next spring as to which route I took.

Any thoughts on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

Gary

Gary,

I prefer polished stainless to chrome. I find that after a few years the chrome has fine lines from wiping the bike. Bugs me big time. In contrast, stainless is harder and if it does become scratched then it’s not big deal to polish it out.

Polished aluminium vs chrome Same argument, however, the aluminum must be polished at least once a year. Even then I find that it’s not as shiny as chrome and tarnishes quite quickly.

Chrome looks very good if your bike is black, there’s just something about black and chrome. For other colours, I think aluminium works.

Just my thoughts,

Doc

Thanks for the input Doc

All the parts will need to be polished out prior to plating, so I'll get that done, see how they turn out and decide from there.

Your right about black paint & chrome. They were made for each other.

Gary

I agree with Doc about the polished stainless, looks great and lasts so long. I've exchanged many fasteners on my bike with stainless and smoothed & polished them myself with great results. If I'm correct, the Yamaha specs say that the fork tins are stainless(they do look like brushed ss) so polishing these would look awesome. Although chrome has a bluish tinge to it, it looks great alongside polished ss.

Thanks for the input Big Al!

Doc's also right about polished aluminum requiring a good polish every year to maintain it's shine. I thought about polishing the hubs of my wheels but getting at them to keep up the shine would be a real pain. I like the look of the wheels that came with the bike & I can't afford to replace them so I've decided to have the hubs plated.

Do you know if the spokes are stainless? If so, a little elbow grease wouldn't hurt them either.

Thanks

Gary

No, the spokes are not stainless. They are plated.

The plating 'polishes' off very easily and they turn black.

Doc

Thanks Doc!

You just saved me a set of spokes.

By the way....did you find this out the hard way?

Gary

Gary,

No. I didn't have my stock wheels long enough

I'm also not much for polishing spokes, they take too much time.

Doc