Re-chroming is not a coat of chrome over the old one

The most common misunderstanding about re-chroming a motorcycle part is that the new chrome goes on top of what is already there. It does not. Every part that comes into our workshop is taken back to bare metal first, and everything that happens after that depends on what we find underneath.

That is why two sets of handlebars that look identical in a photograph can be very different jobs. It is also why we ask for pictures before we quote, and why the honest answer to some parts is that they are not worth saving.

Here is what actually happens to a motorcycle part between arriving with us and going back in the post.

The re-chroming process, step by step

1. Stripping

The old chrome, nickel and copper are stripped chemically, along with any lacquer or paint. Nothing is sanded off in bulk, because aggressive grinding removes the original metal and softens the edges and profiles that make the part look right. Once it is stripped, the bare steel shows its true condition for the first time, usually for the first time in decades.

2. Inspection

This is the point where we can tell you what you actually have. Pitting that was hidden under old plating becomes visible, as do previous repairs, filler, dents, splits around fixing holes, and rust that has gone through from the inside of a tube. If what we find changes the job significantly, we come back to you before going any further.

3. Repair and preparation

Dents are worked out and damage is repaired where the part allows it. Pitting is polished out, which means removing metal down to the bottom of the deepest pits so the surface is continuous again. There is a limit to how much metal a part can safely lose, so on very deeply pitted parts some marks may remain after plating, and we will tell you before going ahead. Chrome is a mirror, not a filler, and it will show every flaw left beneath it, so this stage is where most of the labour in a re-chroming job sits.

4. Copper

The first plated layer is copper. Copper is soft enough to be polished to a genuinely flat, deep surface, and it is what gives a finished part its depth rather than a thin, papery brightness. On a pitted part, copper and polishing may be repeated to bring the surface up properly.

5. Nickel

Nickel goes on over the copper. This is the layer that does most of the corrosion protection and carries the brightness, which is why a part that has lost its chrome will often still look silvery underneath.

6. Chrome

The chrome itself is a thin, hard, blue-tinted layer over the nickel. It protects the nickel from tarnishing and gives the finish its colour. Every item here is triple plated as standard, copper, nickel and chrome, with no extra charge for it, because we do not consider anything less to be a proper job.

7. Final inspection and packing

Parts are inspected at each stage rather than only at the end, and checked again while being wrapped. They are returned by insured courier anywhere in the UK.

Every item is hand-wired through this process. Hand wiring is slower, and it is the reason we can control where the plating builds up on an awkward shape like a headlamp shell or a set of bars.

Which motorcycle parts can be re-chromed

Most of a bike's brightwork can be brought back. The parts we see most often are:

• Handlebars, including bars with pitting around the clamp area and mounting holes.
• Exhaust systems, downpipes and silencers. These need honest assessment, because a pipe that has rusted through from the inside cannot be saved by plating the outside. Heat discolouration is not a problem; holes are.
• Mudguards and stays, including guards that have been drilled or have splits around fixings.
• Headlamp shells, rims and fork shrouds.
• Wheel rims and spokes, assessed individually, since a rim with corrosion at the spoke holes is a different job from one that is simply dull.
• Levers, brackets, chain guards, kick-start levers and small fittings.

We chrome plate single parts and whole sets, from a pair of levers up to everything bright on a bike.

Fork stanchions are a different job

Fork tubes are worth a separate mention because people often assume they are the same work as decorative brightwork. They are not. A stanchion has to seal against fork seals, so it needs a hard chrome deposit finished to a tolerance, not a decorative finish. If you have pitted or scored fork tubes, send us photographs and tell us the bike and the dimensions before posting anything, and we will tell you honestly whether it is a job for us.

Some parts are better polished than plated

Cast aluminium engine cases, carburettor bodies, clutch covers, yokes and levers are usually a polishing job rather than a plating job. Aluminium takes a mirror polish extremely well and looks right on a bike where those parts were never chromed in the first place. We polish aluminium, brass, copper, stainless and mild steel in the same workshop, so if you send a boxful of parts we will separate what should be chromed from what should be polished and tell you which is which.

What to do before you send parts to us

You do not need to clean or prepare anything. We strip and polish everything as part of the process. There are only two things worth doing before parts go in the box:

• Remove what we cannot plate. Rubbers, bearings, bushes, wiring, badges, glass and anything plastic should come off. If something is seized and you would rather we dealt with it, say so and we will look at it.
• Photograph the parts first, both for your own reference when rebuilding, and so you can email pictures to us for a budgetary estimate before anything is posted.

Heavy paint or thick lacquer is the one exception to the send it as it is rule, as removing it adds an extra stripping stage.

Can you re-chrome motorcycle parts yourself?

Home kits and brush plating systems exist, and they can put a bright layer on a small, already smooth part. What they cannot do is the part that matters: stripping back to bare metal, polishing out pitting, and building copper, nickel and chrome to a proper thickness in controlled tanks. The finish people are unhappy with after a home kit is almost always a preparation problem rather than a plating problem, and the part still has to be stripped again before it can be done properly.

Talk to us about your bike

Email photographs of your parts, with sizes and the finish you are after, and we will come back to you with a budgetary estimate and a timescale. Or call us on 01934 820 454 to talk it through first.

FAQs About Re-Chroming Motorcycle Parts