GS1100 Alloy swing-arm finish? Paint? Powder coat? Plasma??.

[Diamondj]

I finally got around to trying out the new bead blaster I got a while ago and the first thing I blasted was a ratty looking GS1100 aluminum swing-arm. The grunge came right off but what I thought was the aluminum surface looked a little mottled. So I hit a few spots with the buffing wheel. Some small spots look like chrome but the rest is still a dull silver. I then tried a little aircraft paint stripper to see if the dull "aluminum" would come off but all the stripper did was shine up the paint a little. So what did Suzuki coat the swing-arm in? Is it paint or powder coating? Is it even removeable (other than spending an unreal amount of time burning through it with the buffing wheel)?

Thanks!

Jim

 

[Billy Ricks]

I'm not sure what it is, but spray on oven cleaner will get it off. It will turn bare aluminum black and it takes several applications to get all the coating off. The black does polish out though.

 

[Diamondj]

Thanks Billy! I'll grab a can of oven cleaner today and give it a try.....

Jim

 

[Anonymous]

I believe that the swingarm has an anodized finished. It is an electro-chemical etch that leaves a hard coating. I think the only way to remove it is to sand it off.