| Author | Message | ||
     Tlagocj |
hi guys, I am going to give my S1W a major facelift, right now she is the bone stock "snow white" I want to paint her gloss black with either (1) a nickel plated frame (or) (2) a silver powder coated frame BUT, I have heard that any electro plating, chroming, nickel plating etc.. weakens the metallurgy. does anyone }have experience with / or informatio}n about this ? | ||
| Road_thing |
Rocketman, Rocketman--wherefore art thou, Rocketman? Tlagocj--Rocketman plated the frame of his S1 a few years back--it looks great (at least in pictures, I haven't traveled to England to see it in person). Hopefully he'll see my tag line above and chime in. rt | ||
| Bomber |
Also check with Sipdey regarding the lack of longevity of ceramic exhaust coating on the frame -- rubs through pretty easily,if I remember right electroplating WILL weaken the base metal (specially chrome plating) -- the effect is called Hydrogen embrittlement -- given your frame's mild steel composition, I don't think there will be enough of a weakening to be to concerned about -- mild steel is an amazingly forgiving and elastic material | ||
| Court |
Bubba Boswell, the HD/Buell dealer in Memphis did a gorgeous (there was a shirt made depicting it) 1996 Buell S-1 White Lighting with a Nickel frame. Boswell's Harley-Davidson/Buell 401 Fesslers Lane, Nashville, TN 37210 T: (615)242-6067 http://www.boswellsharley.com (Message edited by court on August 21, 2006) | ||
| Tlagocj |
Hey guys, thanks for the feedback. Also, as per my mag wheels, I am thinking to remove the paint on these and polish them (if possible). Any idea as to what metal they are made of ? or if this has ever been done ? Here in Beijing (I live in China), aluminum polishing is very popular when customizing bikes. And again, thanks for the ideas | ||
| Bomber |
TL -- if they're stock tuber wheels, they are an aluminum alloy -- the finish is just a tad rough, but they polish up nicely -- | ||
| Spiderman |
It isn't a ceramic coat on the frame, it is a powder coat that is supposed to look like polished alum. I am not sue if it was the coater or the coating but it looks like crap after about 1.5 years of hard use. I am doin somthing special this winter, bwahahaha | ||
| Bomber |
oops -- sorry Spidey -- course, folks like you n me really pack a lot of wear into a limited amount of time -- mebbe we should be Test-to-destruction type engineers? ;-} | ||
| Spiderman |
I have been tryin to get that job at Buell for years  Just wait till ya see what's up next, bwahahaha... | ||
| Bomber |
Spidey -- you already GOT that gig -- now you just need to get PAID fer it! | ||
| Rocketman |
Tim, I sent you mail. Go for the nickel. It looks great even after 7 years of use and weather.  Rocket | ||
| Rocketman |
From another thread yesterday, this pic is shot with a 2 mil pix Sony Ericsson 810i camera phone on low resolution.  It's not the best quality but if you save the pic then enlarge it you can see how the nickel has mottled and dulled somewhat over the years. Allow for the fact I've not polished the frame for several months and I've been working in the area of the pic so there are glove and hand issues that will dull off the finish on the frame. There isn't a great deal you can do to make the nickel look 'less weathered' not that it's bad or anything because it isn't, but you can always put a sparkle on it when you clean and polish it. So give the frame credence and not the pic if you get my meaning. It is only a picture after all. I'm well happy with my aging plated frame. By the way, I love the chrome plated finish too but I opted for the nickel as that's more traditional for classic frames like Rickman, Spondon, Dresda, Moto Martin, Seeley etc etc and nickel is more go than show. Rocket | ||
| Tlagocj |
hi Rocketman, thanks for that info w/ photos. a Big Help. I think I am going w/ the nickel plate also, in your profile, you mentioned your frame has a "welded brace" in "Other Buell Mods", sounds very interesting, could you also post a photo of that, thanks a 1,000,000 | ||
| Rocketman |
Tim, that is the welded brace just above the date in the above pic. Or at least the front part of it. Yes it's worth having a additional tube welded in that section if you're going to plate or repaint the frame. Much better than that butch looking Westek billet brace! Rocket | ||
| Spiderman |
Hey Rocket, How much did you pay to have her plated? Here in the States I have been quoted as high as $2500.00  | ||
| Rocketman |
Back in 99 I remember it costing around £500. That is just the plating cost, which is I assume what you're looking for given you labour your own Buell, rather bloody well too it has to be said Spidey. $2500 seems excessive to me, even at today's rates. I bet I could get the same job again for not much more than £500. Rocket | ||
| Spiderman |
I'msending my frame over there!! Our wonderful EPA is so strict on plater in the states no one wants to do it, so the few people that do charge a premium. I just got done restoring a Norton, to chrome the swing arm, wheel hubs, headlight bucket/trim ring, axle, rear brake lever, shifter, fenders, and various other bits and the owner spent aprox $3500.00 It ain't cheap her, at least in the midwest  | ||
| Ceejay |
Spidey, Theres a guy down here that quoted me at 1200 for the full tuber frame-prep and everything, I've seen some of his other stuff, mostly hot rod intakes, bumpers, etc. and what not and it looked good. Course that was over 2 yrs ago, but he would just do all the prep and then drop it into someone elses tanks... | ||
| Rex |
Jay from ATC also nickel coated his S1 frame. Thanks, REX | ||
| Chromer |
$3500.00 WOW I'm in the right business. Joking. I have been doing plating for over 35 years. It is all I have ever done. Sounds like a bit of misinformation going on here. I am not here to hawk anyone for business but if you have any questions about plating I will gladly answer them. | ||
| Tlagocj |
Hi Chromer, Can you give me a general idea / estimate of what you would nickel plate a BUELL "tuber" frame for ? thanks, Tim L | ||
| Spiderman |
Chromer, those are prices from local sources here in michigan. 80% of platers in mi. only do industrial coatings and will not touch anything other that so the few places that will do it at a premium... i tried brown's down south but they do not do frames. | ||
| Chromer |
Hello. sorry it took so long to get back. I would have to take a long look at my frame on my bike( '97 s1) before I could say how much it would cost. One of the biggest problems is filling and draining. Since plating is a total immersion process the frame must be able to fill and drain quickly and thoroughly. Or it must be absolutely air tight and incapable of filling at all. The frame would have to be able to go from tank to tank without dragging chemicals out with it. If it does not drain well enough it contaminates the various baths it is going into. When this happens it causes harmful effects to the process of that tank. The aftermath being poor plating and possible pollution affluent (big EPA no no). Even before all this takes place the frame must be thoroughly stripped down to bare clean metal. If you have ever done paint stripping you will know what a pain in the butt this is and if it is powdercoat it turns into a full blown nightmare. Of course an individual hobbyist doesn't have to worry about responding to reporting agencies about what they are going to do with the stripped paint waist. I do because I am strictly regulated by the EPA. In a nutshell I need to know how much work you want to do in prepping before sending it to me.For instance on a brand new hardtail frame that has never been painted and has not rusted I usually get between six hundred and eight hundred dollars. However if I have to get into stripping the paint or powdercoat and do a lot of polishing before plating it can get very costly. As for spending $3500. I use to own an old Norton and $3500 worth of plating would have to be more than just a restoration job and most likely a full custom plating job with parts that weren't plated originally. | ||
| Sickquad |
Hey Chromer, not to get off subject, but do you know of a good chemical to use to strip off powdercoating? I have some aluminum parts that need stripping before polishing and I'm having some trouble getting all of the powdercoat off without using real heavy grit sandpaper. Thanks for any info | ||
| Shazam |
check my profile....go with the chrome, no adverse effects for me in a couple of years of abusive riding....have since sold the frame but I have a ton of pictures if you'd like some more It was extremely cheap here in KC at a bumper replating facility, I think it cost me about $375 with all the additional parts I had done (kickstand, headlight brackets, tail dection and so on...). comparatively the powder coater wanted $800 The chrome will clean up much easier. with the amout of work involved, Chromer is right, I think it should have cost a lot more? | ||
| Mmmi_grad |
what was the name of the company that does cheap chrome, weed all like to know  | ||
| Chromer |
I strip powder coating using an epoxy stripper with a high concentration of methyline chloride. Then bead blast. Usually have to do this repeatedly until the part is stripped. $375 !!! wow that is cheap. you got a super deal. I would go broke just trying to plate it and this would not include stripping and polishing. Go to: www.triangleplating.com if you want to see some of my work |
