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1300 Mods & Fixes; Polish Sidestand, Cruise Control, Grasshopper & 1800 seat on 1300
Polished Kickstand by Boz
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Kickstand Polishing Technique
Disclaimer: These instructions could cause unintentional scratches to your bike, so make sure that you have taped off the surrounding areas. Be careful with the chrome plated plastic parts near the kickstand. The author accepts no responsibility for any damage to your bike that may occur during this procedure.
This is a great project to do at night or in the cold of winter when you cannot get out of the garage. I get a little detailed here, but I didn’t want to miss anything. Also, the finer grits are about $3 a pack, but you may find other uses for them.
Needed: Masking Tape, scissors, dust mask, Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish (or equivalent), clear enamel (clear coat) spray paint, old cotton t-shirt or terry cloth and sandpaper – see below.
One sheet of each of the following grits:
60, 100, 150, 220, 320, 600, 1000, 1500 and 2000. (the first 4 grades (grit) from any hardware store, the last 5 are wet/dry paper from an auto parts store or some Walmarts. (3M or equivalent).
Optional: Motorcycle lift, disposable gloves, paste wax, bucket of water with a drop of car wash soap, Dremel or Roto tool.
Cut out two or three 3” x 4” pieces from all your sandpaper sheets. Start with the lowest grades first. This will also sharpen your scissors.
Good news- no tools are required, just your strong fingers.
Not so good news – this takes some rubbing and some patience – wear gloves if you want. The more you rub, the better the results. I did this without removing the kickstand. You may get better results if you remove it, but I would not recommend it for novices, like myself. The springs (there are two) look a little tricky.
Step One – If you have a lift, raise the bike about 4 inches and either extend the outriggers or insert blocks beneath the tires to reduce rocking. If you have no lift, put a 2 x 2 under the kickstand so that you can sand around it. (2 minutes)
Step Two – To avoid scratches, tape off the steel spring, the “hinge”, especially the wire connection and plug. There is no need to sand too close to the top of the stand because it will mostly go unnoticed. (3 minutes)
Step Three – A full sheet of sandpaper folded into eighths will make it difficult to get the paper to conform to the curves. As stated above, cut your paper down to 3” x 4” pieces.
Optional – If you have an orbital sander, try this: insert a sponge between the paper and the sander, but you’ll need to use larger pieces of sandpaper. This will help with the curves. Do NOT use the sander if you plan to wet the wet/dry paper.
Step Four - Put on your dust mask. Start with 60 grit sandpaper and sand the stand (sorry) until you eliminate pits and pockmarks. This is the hardest step, but the most critical. Alternate sanding “with the grain” if there was one, then buffing with the paper like shining shoes. Always finish sanding “with the grain”. There is no need to sand the underside. Once it looks like smooth brushed aluminum, move on to the next higher grade.
Optional – With a Dremel tool you can start the de-burring process with the drum sander attachment. Be careful with the flat part as it has an awkward shape.
Step Five – Go through each grade and sand until the paper or your fingers get weak, whichever comes first. Don’t rush this process, because if you have scratches, you have to go back to a lower grade and move on to higher grades. The stand will get brighter and brighter. This is a “diminishing abrasive” technique and works best if you graduate to the next higher grade, always in order of lower to higher. Sand out all the scratches from the previous grit. Spend about 5 – 10 minutes for each grade.
Optional: For grades 320 and higher, you can dip the paper in water, which will probably make it easier and cause fewer scratches.
Once you’ve finished with the 2000 paper (your hand is now silver), rub some Mothers Aluminum Polish on the stand until the rag gets black (about 20 seconds). Repeat 3 more times. At this point, it will look like chrome.
EDIT 4-13-04: Since the kickstand is made of coated steel, you'll need to seal it with clear spray paint. Cover EVERYTHING on the bike except the kickstand. Clean it off with a degreaser or solvent to strip off the polish residue and apply two light coats. NOTE: If you see scratches in the surface, you can eliminate them by going back a few steps and repeating the same process of graduating up to higher grades of paper. It took me three tries (trial and error) to get it like I wanted it. Hopefully, these instructions will save you some time.
Author: Boz
Polished Kickstand by Boz
Kickstand Polishing Technique
Disclaimer: These instructions could cause unintentional scratches to your bike, so make sure that you have taped off the surrounding areas. Be careful with the chrome plated plastic parts near the kickstand. The author accepts no responsibility for any damage to your bike that may occur during this procedure.
This is a great project to do at night or in the cold of winter when you cannot get out of the garage. I get a little detailed here, but I didn’t want to miss anything. Also, the finer grits are about $3 a pack, but you may find other uses for them.
Needed: Masking Tape, scissors, dust mask, Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish (or equivalent), clear enamel (clear coat) spray paint, old cotton t-shirt or terry cloth and sandpaper – see below.
One sheet of each of the following grits:
60, 100, 150, 220, 320, 600, 1000, 1500 and 2000. (the first 4 grades (grit) from any hardware store, the last 5 are wet/dry paper from an auto parts store or some Walmarts. (3M or equivalent).
Optional: Motorcycle lift, disposable gloves, paste wax, bucket of water with a drop of car wash soap, Dremel or Roto tool.
Cut out two or three 3” x 4” pieces from all your sandpaper sheets. Start with the lowest grades first. This will also sharpen your scissors.
Good news- no tools are required, just your strong fingers.
Not so good news – this takes some rubbing and some patience – wear gloves if you want. The more you rub, the better the results. I did this without removing the kickstand. You may get better results if you remove it, but I would not recommend it for novices, like myself. The springs (there are two) look a little tricky.
Step One – If you have a lift, raise the bike about 4 inches and either extend the outriggers or insert blocks beneath the tires to reduce rocking. If you have no lift, put a 2 x 2 under the kickstand so that you can sand around it. (2 minutes)
Step Two – To avoid scratches, tape off the steel spring, the “hinge”, especially the wire connection and plug. There is no need to sand too close to the top of the stand because it will mostly go unnoticed. (3 minutes)
Step Three – A full sheet of sandpaper folded into eighths will make it difficult to get the paper to conform to the curves. As stated above, cut your paper down to 3” x 4” pieces.
Optional – If you have an orbital sander, try this: insert a sponge between the paper and the sander, but you’ll need to use larger pieces of sandpaper. This will help with the curves. Do NOT use the sander if you plan to wet the wet/dry paper.
Step Four - Put on your dust mask. Start with 60 grit sandpaper and sand the stand (sorry) until you eliminate pits and pockmarks. This is the hardest step, but the most critical. Alternate sanding “with the grain” if there was one, then buffing with the paper like shining shoes. Always finish sanding “with the grain”. There is no need to sand the underside. Once it looks like smooth brushed aluminum, move on to the next higher grade.
Optional – With a Dremel tool you can start the de-burring process with the drum sander attachment. Be careful with the flat part as it has an awkward shape.
Step Five – Go through each grade and sand until the paper or your fingers get weak, whichever comes first. Don’t rush this process, because if you have scratches, you have to go back to a lower grade and move on to higher grades. The stand will get brighter and brighter. This is a “diminishing abrasive” technique and works best if you graduate to the next higher grade, always in order of lower to higher. Sand out all the scratches from the previous grit. Spend about 5 – 10 minutes for each grade.
Optional: For grades 320 and higher, you can dip the paper in water, which will probably make it easier and cause fewer scratches.
Once you’ve finished with the 2000 paper (your hand is now silver), rub some Mothers Aluminum Polish on the stand until the rag gets black (about 20 seconds). Repeat 3 more times. At this point, it will look like chrome.
EDIT 4-13-04: Since the kickstand is made of coated steel, you'll need to seal it with clear spray paint. Cover EVERYTHING on the bike except the kickstand. Clean it off with a degreaser or solvent to strip off the polish residue and apply two light coats. NOTE: If you see scratches in the surface, you can eliminate them by going back a few steps and repeating the same process of graduating up to higher grades of paper. It took me three tries (trial and error) to get it like I wanted it. Hopefully, these instructions will save you some time.
Author: Boz
