Shiny ..

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Taid
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Shiny ..

Post by Taid »

Way way off forum topic ..

Remove if not acceptable, and slap my wrist ..

I had a '60' registered (though it looked brand new to me) Triumph pull up alongside me (I was in the car) at traffic lights .. i nearly reached for my sun-glassses, it was so bright.

So, can aluminium be polished to look like chrome, or do they plate aluminium nowadays ,or is a different metal now used for engines?
Last edited by Taid on Sun Jul 11, 2021 6:56 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Now sold ... 1956 AJS 16MS Bitsa .. HSU 414 .. rebuilt/re-registered 1987
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dave16mct
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Re: Shiny ..

Post by dave16mct »

Presuming it is a Bonneville T100. The alloy engine cases are chromed.
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Taid
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Re: Shiny ..

Post by Taid »

Thank you D .

I did notice it was a Bonneville something ..

Learning something new every day .. today's new thing is that "aluminium can be chromed"
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Now sold ... 1956 AJS 16MS Bitsa .. HSU 414 .. rebuilt/re-registered 1987
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dave16mct
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Re: Shiny ..

Post by dave16mct »

I had one for about 4 years. The chrome was perfect but some had chrome lifting on the engine casings. I was given a chromed rocker box but never got around to fitting it. It was a great bike and took us on rallies to Italy, Switzerland, Northern Germany, Cornwall, Orkney, Northern and Southern Ireland. Can't remember any problems except the alarm going off in the middle of the night at a French hotel.
PS you can chrome plastic too!
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Mollbhan
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Re: Shiny ..

Post by Mollbhan »

I seem to recall a lot of Triumphs from the late sixties and seventies as having chromed engine casings, chrome didn't stay on long though.
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Taid
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Re: Shiny ..

Post by Taid »

I had always understood that aluminium and its alloys couldn't be plated because the aluminium-oxide on the surface forms as soon as the metal is exposed to the air and couldn't be removed , and that it was this that prevented successful plating ..

Something else I was wrong about ..
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Now sold ... 1956 AJS 16MS Bitsa .. HSU 414 .. rebuilt/re-registered 1987
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dave16mct
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Re: Shiny ..

Post by dave16mct »

Well they were definately alloy and chrome plated. We visited the factory at the same time as my bike was built (I bought it 2 years later S/H) and watched them being built.
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Re: Shiny ..

Post by Mollbhan »

The silver jubilee Bonneville from 1977 had chromed engine casings, not a great success the chrome didn't take properly to the alloy and soon peeled off.
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Taid
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Re: Shiny ..

Post by Taid »

I wonder if these latest chromed alloy components will be better ..

Reading up about the process they talk of a thick (.002 inch) copper plated layer, but that still depends on the copper/aluminium bond to support the chrome ..
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Now sold ... 1956 AJS 16MS Bitsa .. HSU 414 .. rebuilt/re-registered 1987
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