Triumphrat

quagmire · 05-02-2008

I want to give my Tiger a nice cleaning this spring before a local meet and my ego really wants to win one trophy with this bike. When I restored the bike I polished the prinary cover and outer gear box cover but not to a mirror finish. I was told that the bikes didn't come out of Meriden like this so I tried to keep it as "factory correct" as possible.

What is the consensus among you guys about this? I ride this bike. It is not a trailor queen. The exhaust pipes have a little blueing so the bike isn't a 100 point show bike but the paint is immaculate and the resto is correct. All parts cad plated as they should, etc.

How should I clean up the aluminim? I was just going to clean it off and use some SemiChrome to bring out the luster. I'm not taking the stuff off to put it on a polishing wheel, so everyhting will be done by hand.

Any hints, advise, how to's?

Thanks

Peter

GrandPaulZ · 05-02-2008

I would do exactly as you did before.

This IS, in fact, how the new Triumphs looked; polished but not to mirror finish.

Note the exterior aluminum bits on the engine:

Primary cover, Timing cover, Tranny cover and rockerboxes are all SMOOTH cast, and should be lustrous. Crankcases are rough cast and should be bright and clean, NOT polished. The contrast when complete and assembled should be immediately noticeable.

Valve lash inspection caps should be shiny as new, but were not polished. I usually polish them in place when the rockerboxes are polished, as I do the inspection caps on the other covers.

NHOJ from Maine · 05-02-2008

have you ever tried never-dull?
spelled something like 'nevr-dul', comes in a silver can, availabile at most hardware stores..
i swear by this stuff.. old school, works on aluminum, chrome, any bare metal.
it is cotton wadding impregnated with 'stuff'..
works absolutely great!

quagmire · 05-02-2008

I have never dull. Maybe I'll give that a whirl.

Paul, the rockerboxes get polished? I just left mine dull after bead blasting them,hmmmm, and those to the list.

jimballard · 05-02-2008

Hi Quag,

A nice shine on the polished parts is what is required (we all used Simichrome on them in the "old days") to do it up right. The rocker boxes on the 650's should be left alone, just like the head. The rocker boxes on the 500's were actually smooth like the primary, etc, so they were polished to a shine. If you've a mind to, try the Cape Cod polishing cloth, which is available in some hardware stores (hopefully); I've had some good luck with them in maintaining the finish once the covers are done up.

Hope this helps...see you at the meet: Jim

aceaceca · 05-02-2008

Mothers aluminum polish works well on both smooth parts and rough cases. On the cases use a brass bristle brush working in circles then wipe off. On the smooth stuff, about a 3-4" buffing wheel on a drill does an amazing job. You can almost get it looking like you took it off and did it on an 8" buffer.
Something in the polish makes it last for a long time too.

weslaf · 05-02-2008

get some semichrome , i just ordered two tubes from jp cycles , my old man swears on the stuff , he says that kirby use to make a aluminum polish that was great as well but we are talking 30 yrs ago

sydt160 · 05-03-2008

I bought some ALU-MAGIC from Hein Gericke,this stuff is easy applied with a cloth ( no hard finger rubbing needed)and rubs of with a mirror shine,i noticed this stuff is on Ebay for sale also,but its cheaper to buy from Hein Gericke.
This company also makes chrome Polish,which is called CHROME-MAGIC,havnt tried the Chrome polish yet.
I have added a photo below of a polished casing,i didnt put any hard work into it,think the whole side took me 10mins
Ride Safe
Syd

ps: Here is the add for the Alu-Magic i copied from a website.

METAL POLISH FOR CARS, MOTORCYCLES ETC.. LEAVES A PROTECTIVE COATING THAT GIVES UP TO 3 MONTHS PROTECTION EVEN IN BRITISH WEATHER. SUITABLE FOR ALL MAKES OF MOTORCYCLE AND CAR. ALSO FOR GENERAL USE WHERE PROTECTION IS NEEDED

RECOMENDED FOR AJS ARIEL BSA DOUGLES NORTON TRIUMPH HONDA SUZUKI KAWASAKI YAMAHA AND HARLEY DAVIDSON

250ml BOTTLE

FOR ALUMINIUM, COPPER, BRASS AND STAINLESS STEEL

FOR CHROME, SILVER AND GOLD PLATE USE CHROMEMAGIC. SEE OUR OTHER LISTING

quagmire · 05-06-2008

Just for the record. I had some Never Dull around and took a few minutes and worked on the primary cover. The stuff works great. A little bit of elbow grease and the aluminum came out nice. Not a mirror finish but polished to a nice shine.

Tomorrow, off comes the exhaust and foot pegs so I can give it a complete polish.