South West Bikers | Motorcycle Forum

Hi, have just bought a Yamaha XVS 1300A in great condition apart from a bit of corrosion on the front forks, i suspect this is probably salt damage, i have tried polishing this out with solvol autosol with no real luck, has anyone any idea how to polish this surface damage out other than removing the fork legs and getting them professionally refurbished? cheers, Arnie

You found something then Arnie - thought you was waiting for a bit!! You won't be allowed out on your own now if the wife likes it. Changing mine at weekend too.

If you get some pictures up of the corroded areas then we can suggest other ideas,
Might be able to get the worst out with flatting it back gently,

Hi Damian, yea couldnt resist it, will be in touch about a ride somewhere, i will try and tempt my opo, the one with the Suzu M800 into going as well, but i know even if it looks remotely like rain he won't come, lol. What are you thinking of then an R1 maybe?

Hi Boylard, i will see what i can do about the photos although when it comes to techie stuff like putting pics on this site i'm a bit of a dunce.

Just use photobucket. It's easy that way.

driverbrook wrote:Hi Damian, yea couldnt resist it, will be in touch about a ride somewhere, i will try and tempt my opo, the one with the Suzu M800 into going as well, but i know even if it looks remotely like rain he won't come, lol. What are you thinking of then an R1 maybe?

Honda CBRf - collecting Saturday so give me a text when your ready to clock up some miles

Sorry, havn't a clue wot a photobucket is, will get some advice from the wife, she is better on this thing than i am!!

driverbrook wrote:Sorry, havn't a clue wot a photobucket is, will get some advice from the wife, she is better on this thing than i am!!

http://www.photobucket.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Its just an image hosting site. Register, press upload to choose which of your pics you want to be uploaded from your pc and hosted on Photobucket, and then it'll give you a "code" to enable you to post your pics on here. Just copy and paste and hey presto. My PC skills are pants too, so if I can , you can. If it don't work just keep pressing buttons until it does What's the worst that can happen

I have had serious problems on the forks of my Harley. I swear by Solvol, but for the tougher problems, go to 'Toolstation' or 'Screwfix', and spend, literally a few quid in a couple of polishing wheels for your drill. They are made of cotton, don't scratch, & saves a lot of elbow grease.
You don't have to use a lot of Solvol either.
Brings em up like mirrors.

Hi Steve, thanks for your tips on polishing, i will do as you say, sorry about the very late reply, the computer seems to have a mind of its own lately, cheers.

Is it the lacquer thats gone all white & flakey or has that already gone & the aluminium that's corroded?

If it's the lacquer then no amount of solvol will help - better to whip the forks off, paint stripper off the lacquer & polish the forks with wire wool & solvol or polishing mops on drill, once done it will be simple to keep on top of them.

billinom8s wrote:Just use photobucket. It's easy that way.

imgur.com is simple too and you don't even need an account.

Before & After using a cheap mop kit:

Hi, very impressive, my forks could do with the same treatment, can i ask where you bought the polishing kit from, Cheers, Arnie