SV650 Corrosion/Rust removal?

Hi Guys,

I will introduce myself as this is my first post on here.

My Name is Jordan, 21 Years old, and a Recent A2 Test Graduade. I had 3 125's over 2 years before finally upgrading to a blue '99 SV650SY (Currently restricted to 47BHP). I'm absolutely loving it, It is now my pride and joy!

I work as a technologist in Education, I love me gadgets! And I love messing around with electronics and pulling things apart just to learn how they work. I'm also a lot like this with bikes now

Here is a picture of my SV

http://img.pixady.com/2015/03/303405_bike_2.jpg

Now, as this is my pride and joy, I polish/wax this thing as often as I can to keep it shiny and protected from water. However, certain things are starting to get to me now...

Things such as the front fork legs looking like they have been eroded by acid, rusty bolts and rust on other parts of the frame and some on the bottom yoke. The top yoke looks slightly corroded too.

So, I am a guy with lack of tools and correct knowledge of which tools to buy to help me restore shine back to these parts. Bolts, I would assume I can just buy replacement stainless steel ones.

As for the forks, they looks a lot like this guys:
http://www.sv650.org/SV_restore/Img_1440.jpg

and somehow he managed to get them like this!
http://www.sv650.org/SV_restore/Img_1470.jpg

Now I read his posts but he didn't quite details the tools, products used to do this.

I was hoping someone here could perhaps point me in the right direction for what to buy and a bit of guidance in order to remove the corrosion and polish and lacquer it all back up to some real shine again!

I'd prefer not to buy the most expensive tools, but just something good enough that can do the job.

Thanks in advance!

[maviczap]

If you have the tools, then remove the forks from the yokes.

Get some good paint stripper, not Nitromors! and strip the lacquer off first.

To get a good shine, then you can use some wet & dry paper to remove the corrosion (1200 grit paper)

Then most people use Autosol to bring up the shine. Its quicker with an electric drill & polishing mop, but you can do it by hand.

To get a really good shine, a cotton mop and going through the grades of polish will get a super super shine.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Metal-Poli...item4635cf1916

You may not get all the corrosion marks out, but the alloy does buff up well.

Remember to protect it after you've done this, maybe with some wax or clear lacquer

[carelesschucca]

Hi mate
im also 21 with a rusty blue curvy with a belly pan!



can you tell which id done at that point? :P

I just used different grade wet dry to get all the old rubbish off then polished them with this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2814489882...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

As you can see they came out acceptable - but i didnt spend ages on them making them perfect.

I didnt relaquer them, i thought using some wax/wheel sealant and repolishing them would be enough to stay on top of it ...its looking like i was wrong though! lol




Edit - its my first time posting here - why are the pictures massive? lol

Hello and welcome.


Stainless steel bolts are good but generally not where high tensile strength is required or depending on your budget you could also use titanium bolts but these can cost a fortune.


That looks like it would take a long time to get that finish, I guess he used some type of mechanical polisher a bit of elbow grease and a lot of time!.
I have seen silver wheel paint used on the legs which looks good its hard wearing and it will be the method of choice when I have to do mine.
Clean off all the corrosion with sand paper, next I would probably use an acid etch primer then paint and finish with lacquer to seal it up and get a nice shine.


Good to see you bought the best shape SV!.

[maviczap]

Yes, they're very susceptible to corrosion on our salty roads!

ACF80 might have prevented the corrosion being as bad.

The only real cure is to powder coat or paint them. But sooner or later you're going to get a stone chip, which will then start to corrode underneath.

I don't know if anyone has had them anodized like the GSXR forks & I don't know how impervious to corrosion anodizing is?

If you're riding all year, then keep on top of it.

Your downpipe is too filthy, you need to polish that too.

Don't know why your pics are too big, depends on your image host I think. On Flickr I can choose the image size

Plus 1 on the downpipe.

Get that polished up too .

All depends how much elbow grease you're willing to put in i guess. I used a Dremel with a polish attachment and autosol to do mine.

On the forks i tried to keep it polished as best as possible then used a good wax to try and keep on top of it.

Worked for me, but i dont ride all year round and mine had only don 5k summer miles when i got it, so it wasnt bad in the slightest to begin with, im just abit OCD.

[carelesschucca]

Thinking about it if you do remove the forks for a clean up, I'd give them a wee refresh while they are off, new oil and springs maybe seals too. Well worth the expense.

Originally Posted by carelesschucca

Thinking about it if you do remove the forks for a clean up, I'd give them a wee refresh while they are off, new oil and springs maybe seals too. Well worth the expense.

Uprated springs would do a lot of good wouldnt it on the SV.

might aswel do the back whilst you're at it haha.

Anything you can get in stainless steel, change it out. Improves the look of a bike by miles. What I done with my fork lowers was polish them and then boil them in washing soda to help passivate them. It looses some of the shine but it vastly helps them from furring up. That's the problem with Japanese alloy, its utter she-ite and furs up at the first sign of moisture.

And with tools, halfords advanced range is always a good bet but in the end, you get what you pay for.