S
suzukifan
Guest
I knew someone who made a bet with a friend that he could make an engine in a GS1000 look like brand new again in two days or less with an engine that was really corroded and in very poor looking shape.
This is what he did:
Taped up the motorcycle frame and any rubber parts, removed or taped any emblems, etc after removing the gas tank, seat and side panels (this exposed most of the engine in the frame so he could paint it). Lightly sanded the exposed engine, found a silver paint that had the look of polished aluminium (I believe he used a high quality paint that had a primer included or did not need a primer and the external temperature of an engine, while very hot should never reach the temperature that a high heat paint that would be needed like in an exhaust) which took about a full day's work. The guy showed the motorcycle the following day and he's friends thought he replaced the engine with another one in good condition because they didn't think he could polish the engine so quickly. If you really inspected the engine closely, you would see it was painted but most people who looked at it agreed it was like night and day. If you are restoring a bike, this is not the way to go. If you have a daily runner that looks bad, this is a quick and dirty way to at least make the aluminium engine look new again. Painting a black engine is even easier. This also can protect an engine until you have time to properly polish one when you have more time. The paint can be removed to the original surface before it was painted and while the paint is on, it acts as a barrier to protect the aluminium from corrosion.
This is what he did:
Taped up the motorcycle frame and any rubber parts, removed or taped any emblems, etc after removing the gas tank, seat and side panels (this exposed most of the engine in the frame so he could paint it). Lightly sanded the exposed engine, found a silver paint that had the look of polished aluminium (I believe he used a high quality paint that had a primer included or did not need a primer and the external temperature of an engine, while very hot should never reach the temperature that a high heat paint that would be needed like in an exhaust) which took about a full day's work. The guy showed the motorcycle the following day and he's friends thought he replaced the engine with another one in good condition because they didn't think he could polish the engine so quickly. If you really inspected the engine closely, you would see it was painted but most people who looked at it agreed it was like night and day. If you are restoring a bike, this is not the way to go. If you have a daily runner that looks bad, this is a quick and dirty way to at least make the aluminium engine look new again. Painting a black engine is even easier. This also can protect an engine until you have time to properly polish one when you have more time. The paint can be removed to the original surface before it was painted and while the paint is on, it acts as a barrier to protect the aluminium from corrosion.
