polished control housings - Motorcycle-Journal Forums

profane · 08-23-2006, 09:28 PM

Ok, we have all seen curts awesome bike. In this thread a few were interested in the control housings. Well, no one makes "slip over" fake plastic chromed housings for the m50. I decided I hate that grey ugly paint they have on everything. So I said fudge it.

I have only done the housings and have not touched the master cylinder or anything else yet. I think after I get my new handle bars made up I will just chrome it all any way.

So here is what you need:

A drill-
I use Dewalt cordless.

Arbor-
A drill arbor you can pick up at most tool/hardware stores.

Scotchbright or Paint stripper-
I used scrotch bright to remove the paint. Though Im sure paint stripper will work just as well. My reason for using scotch bright was for:
A) I already had this and wanted to keep my cost cheap.
B) Since the housings are not made of Aluminum I knew the surface was going to need some light grinding. These are made of pot metal better known to some degree as Pewter. The surface is not smooth and slightly pitted, and you will want to remove those pits. This is the best start for that, or at least for me. You have three levels to work with, red, brown and finally blue. If you do not have these at your disposal you can buy them in a set 1 of each pad and the backing pad for your drill for around $20.00.

Sandpaper-

I skipped a few grits and probably shouldn't have. The more you gradually build up the better. I used: 220, 320, 500, 600, 800, 1200, 1500, and finally 2000 grit. Start with the 220 or lower and build up. Removing all the scratchs from the previous grit. You can do this wet or dry. I did it mostly dry until about the 1500. I did it dry and went back over it wet, the same for the 2000. THIS WILL TAKE TIME, so you must be will to spend the time or take the thing apart several times in order to this which I did. I used my bike for everything so leaving it apart was not an option I wanted to explore.

Buffing pads-
I used two:
Firm and soft.

Polishing compounds: at lowes- level 3 and 6.

After using the sand paper use the firm pad with the level 3 polish. This is were your drill and an arbor take place. This will remove fine scratches and act as a pre polish. Then level 6 with the soft pad.

Taking apart the housings:
This is fairly simple, though watch out for:
The horn button does have a coned spring, don't lose it.
The turn signal button stays attached to the housing. To remove take a pair of needles noses and lightly push and spread the plastic "U" clip. Cup the signal button well. On the outside of the housing and underneath the button is a spring, don't lose it. It is a little pain to put back in as well.
The flash/pass button will fall off as well. The little rod slides out, so go ahead and let it so you don't lose it.

For the right side it is a bit tricky. You have to undo the throttle cables from the throttle. The controls and electronics are tight in this one. Look at it close before removing anything or you may find yourself lost when putting it back together. No spings that I recall in this one.

That is pretty much it, or what I remember anyway.

Pics:

Stock:

After:

And this is what I did with my fender mount fasteners and reflectors on the front. They need to be cleaned up still and chromed but it works for me.