Shiney Stuff....

[crazy steve]

Ok, here goes.... my maiden voyage into posting pics.



Let's see what I got....

78E original owner

[crazy steve]

More Shiney Stuff

Hmmm, only got one image. Let's see if I can get the other...



Interesting; this one actually shows up instead of a link. I have no idea why they're different, but it doesn't help that my 'puter is slower than dirt.

This is all stuff that I home-polished. Gonna try doing the wheels, but we'll see how that goes.

'78E original owner

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Steve,

Very nice polishing. In your first post, you used the URL button to insert a web link instead of a photo link, and so it put the URL type tags around it making it an active link, folks could have clicked on it to view the photo.

I editted it to fix it.

The second post, you used the proper button..to insert a PHOTO and then pasted the photo link into the popup window which then put the proper "IMG" tags around it to make is show as an embedded photo instead.

T.C.

[crazy steve]

Thanks for fixing it! I also see that I could have used larger pics, but being unfamililar with Photobucket I went small for safety....

Yeah, I'm pretty pleased with how they all turned out. Not show quality by any means (given the limitations of the original parts and my equipment), but plenty good for a rider.

Thanks again!

'78E original owner

[jwhughes3]

agree - looks great

and will stand out nice in a crowd and didnt cost and arm and a leg (which makes it hard to ride if you are missing).

John in San Antonio

[Tropic-al]

Nice job, Steve.

How did you clean/polish the rotors?

Ok, here goes.... my maiden voyage into posting pics.



Let's see what I got....

78E original owner

[tw1980]

Saweeeeet,

Man after my own heart.I like shiny things!!

Terry

[crazy steve]

How did you clean/polish the rotors?

Those took a bit of time, and aren't something you can do with just hand tools.

The rotors are stampings, and it looks like Yamaha sandblasted them after they came out of the press. The only smooth places on 'em are the factory machined areas. They're also not 'flat' in the dished area, but curve towards the holes.

To get them smooth, I started out with 240 grit 2" Roloc sanding discs on a air-powered angle-head die grinder, working them until the last of the 'texture' just barely disappeared. For this, an electric drill won't cut it IMO. I then switched to 320 grit Rolocs and smoothed them further, removing the scratches left by the 240. You do have to be careful with the discs as it's easy to get 'divots' if you're not paying attention; keep the disc moving.

There's also several 'steps' and 'reliefs' that take some patience to get smooth (the front/rear edge near the machined surface, one groove in the center face, and around the machined mounting face on the back). If I had to do it over, I'd chuck them in a lathe on slow speed while I did these spots. I probably went through 15-20 discs per rotor and spent about 5-6 hours each on them.

After I was satisfied with them, I then further smoothed them with a 5" 400 grit aluminum oxide disc on an air sander. You won't get into all the nooks, but this will clean up the majority of the scratches left by the 2" discs. This didn't take all that much time, maybe a 1/2 hour each, and about 4-5 discs each. The metal is hard, so the discs don't last long.

At that point, it was off to the buffer. Using doubled reinforced sisal buffs and stainless compound, it took about an hour or so each to polish them. Supposedly, you can follow up with a sewn buff and tripoli compound to get more shine on stainless, but the metal alloy on these is too hard and it did nothing. I have a big 1 1/2 hp buffer, so if yours is smaller, expect to spend more time. Those puppies got warm before I was done!

These were easier to polish than the Harley rotors I did; those are flat and are fully machined to boot, but the alloy they use is even harder than Yamaha's. Much less prep, but I bet I polished on those for 3 hours each.

'78E original owner

[mro]

Shinny Stuff

Very Nice

Like the how 3t top clamp looks. Been thinking of doing one.

Gonna try doing the wheels, but we'll see how that goes.

When I first started on a front wheel ... got tired of holding/turning it etc.

So I made a holder. Can be used either horazontal or vertical.
I even clamped it next to the buffer to polish the rim



mro

[79XS11F]

Looks good. I have seen this sort of work before :-) When you apply the clear coating use care or the parts will loose some of that shine. Uncoated the metal will oxidize over time and loose it's shine as well.
Rob

[crazy steve]

...When you apply the clear coating use care or the parts will loose some of that shine. Uncoated the metal will oxidize over time and loose it's shine as well.
Rob

I'm not planning on any clearcoat. Yeah, this stuff will be a PITA to keep pretty, but I've never seen any clearcoat that didn't deteriorate over time and when it does, it's worse than bare metal to restore. There's some pretty trick polish out there these days, so regular applications of elbow grease will keep these parts looking good.

And seeing how the XS is the 'Honored Elder' in my stable, it'll never see rain... LOL

'78E original owner