Polishing Fork Tube Lowers
Eddie D. with a Note from Night_Wolf

Note from Night_Wolf:
Forks on the "S" series Boulevards don't seem to have the same finish as the older
"VS" Intruders & as such seem much Easier to polish
The_Mistress (My 2006 S83)

I've had many requests for a write-up on how I did my fork tube lowers so here it is...

A) Jacked up the bike on motorcycle jack (I have the Sam's Club model by the way).

B) Removed front wheel, brake caliper, front fender.

C) Put axle back in (this prevents tubes from spinning while you're working them).

D) Tied back the speedometer hub and brake caliper to frame so they'd stay out of the way.

E) Covered the bike with a sheet and various towels, the dust and polish will fly when you get into doing this!

1) Use heavy paste type paint remover to remove the clear coat. Be sure to get it all off now so you won't waste any time sanding off clear coat!

2) Start with 220 grit (yes 220) sandpaper to sand away the circular grain that's in the tubes from the factory. Sand in up and down motion (criss-crossing the grain which runs horizontally) until you can no longer see the factory grain. Also at this point decide if you want to do the rough areas near the caliper and fender mounts. I did these a little but not a great deal, this is up to you but decide now and sand these areas heavily with this grit if you want them smooth later on.

3) 400 grit - sand tiny circles all over the surface of the tubes - this will remove the up and down marks you created with the 220 grit.

3a) Repeat this entire step using 600 grit.

4) 1500 grit - Now you're starting the "polishing" process. I wet sanded with this grit some and also used a little mothers aluminum polish starting with this grit.

5) 2000 grit - wet sand, sand, sand, sand, sand....

6) Electric drill with polishing pad (6" size) attached to 6" drill extension. Place a glove (leather) on the hand you're gonna' use to stabilize the drill extension with or you'll burn your hand! Ask me how I know this! Also, be sure to place something soft over the metal end on the the drill extension or you'll find out just how soft aluminum is! Again, ask me how I know this! I used a large rubber washer-like thing and it works well but I had to super glue it on there so it wouldn't spin off because it came off several times without gluing it. Using Mothers Aluminum Polish start buffing with the drill/polishing pad contraption, keep the forks wet with the mothers aluminum polish (I used my fingers to apply the polish, works well and feels kinda' kinky ). Go over and over and over all areas of the forks up and down, side to side, all around. I estimate I repeated this step approximately 10 times, each time I started with the fork tubes soaking wet with the polish and buffed until the polish became hot and dry and caked on the fork tubes (the polish turns black with the aluminum residue at this point) then after it was baked on slowly buffed it off with the drill/polishing pad contraption. As you buff away this baked on dried black polish you'll see the shine you're looking for underneath. The more you polish/buff the better the shine gets. Good luck! I spent approximately 16 hours doing mine over 2 days. I might also add it would be a good idea to buy two of the 6" polishing wheels to go on the drill extension. That way when it's all done you can pop on the fresh brand new clean pad and go over it one final time.

This Tip Courtesy Of Eddie D From The Cafe


Notes From Night_Wolf
Because the finish on the "S" series Boulevards is "thinner" I skipped all steps &
started with 800 grit WET sandpaper followed by 1000, 1500 & 2000 grits
Then I started with polishing compounds on a buffing pad on my drill & the results
are above in the Pictures of my 2006 S83 aka The_Mistress

There is a lot of useful information on this site, but errors are possible
All Images/external links open in New Tab
Helpful answers are $1.00 each dumb looks are still FREE
These Tips come from many people, on the various
motorcycle forums I frequent.

If You Attempt Modifications & Ruin Your Motorcycle
It Is Your Problem.
If You Are Not Mechanically Inclined,
Get Help From Someone Who Is
I Am Not Responsible For Use/Misuse Of These Tips & Tricks
Use @ Your Discretion

© 2002-------> Intruder Alert.Ca