Fork Tube Re-Plating

[classicmoto]

I am going though the old bike this winter and trying to fix any problems -- one of which is that there is some little rusting of the chrome on the fork tubes.

Can anyone suggest a good place to get them fixed, i.e. replated? I would be interested in knowing approximate cost of this service.

Is it possible to have the original chrome replaced with one of the new friction reducing finishes such as Diamond Like Coating? If so, who offers this service?

Thanks!

[elskipador]

LE can put on new coatings, but it might be cheaper to buy new legs.

[classicmoto]

Okay, I will look into LE. However, I would prefer to find an on-site plating house to avoid middle-man price increases.

Either way, I don't know about cheaper though -- each tube is $200+ OEM best price...:wow

Please advise...

[elskipador]

http://www.frankmain.qpg.com/

[Hooli]

Originally posted by elskipador
LE can put on new coatings, but it might be cheaper to buy new legs.

I believe that cRa1g got the inner chrome bits of his R1's legs ti-nitrided by Race Tech. It's something that I haven't seen on any street-going R1 since.

[classicmoto]

Sent them an e-mail.

Lindemann Engineering has pricing on their website -- $500 for DLC or TiNitride, YIKES! Too much $$$$$$$$$$$$$

[rick]

Replating is expensive $$$$ but, you can get them polished for, I dunno, $30-$50. Aftershocks, LE and any other suspension can help you out with that.

[jim lindemann]

Hard coatings are very thin, and have to go over a perfect surface to work and seal.
We can get hard chrome done as well, almost the same price $450. The tube is ground down until perfect,(no defects) sits in a hard chrome tank until oversize at the smallest point, then ground to size. hard chrome builds at .001" an hour, and a tube can have over .040" of chrome when done! OEM is about .002", so it is more durable then OEM.

I have seen pretty badly pitted tubes and shafts polished and the seals last for years, but I have seen some fail rapidly as well.
If rechrome is too much $$, try polishing and see!
Lindemann