If it's bare aluminum my go-to for years has been Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish, although there are lots of good ones. If it's clear-coated then actually you are polishing paint and can't make a big difference in the shine, it will always be sort of semi-shiny. If it's clear-coated and the clear coat is peeling, then it's near impossible to get a consistent shine and you may need to consider stripping the clear coat and polishing from scratch. In that case I have used a chemical stripper and the aforementioned Mothers.

Mothers

 

Thanks very much.

 

I can testify to Mothers, and use it here myself.

 

I have been using this product since 1970 and works well. Slightly abrasive. Plus you need to check whether the part is actually aluminum first (saw someone using a aluminum cleaner on a plastic cover once.)

Aluminum (autosol.com)

 

My brother uses Autosol on his 1957 Feathercraft aluminum boat and swears by the stuff only thing he doesn't like is the price.

 

He may be putting too much on. I had 1 tube that lasted me since 1969 until 1990. I got another tube and found out most of the Honda parts are plastic so still have that one (somewhere).

 

Brasso

 

Flitz is amazing

 

I use a sewen cotton wheel and white jewlers Rouge. For tight spots a inexpensive rotary tool with smaller cotton wheels. Then polish it further with a high quality wax. This is for solid aluminum and steel parts. When ever I have a aluminum part off the bike I use my bench grinder. I keep one side of the grinder with cotton wheel and Rouge at all times. Jewelers rouge comes in different grits, usually denoted by color, but white normally works well. I was a tool and die maker turned cabinet maker. You can get the Rouge at either machine shop suppliers or most wood working suppliers carry it. A bar of it will last years. I use it to put an edge on cutting surfaces mostly.

 

Hello -
Can anyone recommend a product I can use to polish/brighten/restore the crankcase covers and other aluminum engine surfaces on my 85 Shadow VT500?
Thanks,

Mike

Hi, Mike.

I tried and can recommend this one MOTUL E6 Chrome & Alu Polish. With chrome and aliminium it works well. I also tried it for stainless steel polishing (after somesmall scratches of the side metal protecton) - also good.