Polishing old fairing

[bagelboy]

My windshield fairing is pretty much faded and old looking. The rest of the bike is nice. Does anyone know the proper way to try and shine it up? Or know someone I can send it to have done?

[neoracer]

a picture/pictures would be nice

[bs175dths]

Have you tried the lens polishing compounds available at auto parts stores for the headlight lenses on cars?

[neoracer]

not sure if he is talking about the actual fairing or the windshield

[bs175dths]

I know,
I was just taking a guess it was the windshield as I can't imagine only the paint on fairing would be bad and the rest of the finish is nice.
A picture/pictures would be helpful.

[neoracer]

i see that bagleboy has corrected his post to read that windshield is faded, so now the best idea would be to just replace with a new one,they can be brought back somewhat using plastic polishers etc but usually its just awhile before the same condition resufaces

consider if its an original windshield its "only" 30 years old

[bagelboy]

I mean the chrome fairing under the front of the windshield, not the windshield itself. I also need to get my forks done, because they also look kind of worn and dull. If these two items were polished up, the bike would look a lot nicer. Later I'll post pics, but you know what I mean.

[bs175dths]

That is not chrome, (unless it is aftermarket), it is aluminum with a clear coat. The clear coat has aged and makes the aluminum look dull. The part can be removed from the bike and sent to a polisher or you can leave it on the bike and do it yourself.
The most amount of elbow grease will be spent on cutting through the clear coat, but once through, the aluminum can shine up to look like chrome....... at least for a little while, then it gets dull again.
I have done mine while it was on the bike and it does look good when done.
It took me some time since I polished by hand.

-Ride On

[SIR tricky]

You can remove the clear coat with paint remover... of course dont do that with it on the fairing

[bagelboy]

I have a guy who paints cars who says he will paint it the same color as my bike. Has anyone done this? Does anyone know someone who has a nice shiney one for sale!

[Dave-85-LTD]

Airstream Travel trailer dealers should have cans of spray clear coat for touch ups on the aluminum.
I have some for my Airstream, it should work fine. Some Airstream owners polish the entire trailer.

[bagelboy]

Thanks guys! I was able to get a fairly new one on eBay for about $60. I got lucky, someone had one sitting in a box for years. Beats trying to revive the one I have. The one I have is scratched and in really bad shape. Now.......on to rebuilding another set of calipers!