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From my understanding, most people run their bare aluminum cafe tanks "bare," and just touch it up with polish and buff out any marks. The clear coat the previous owner put on it is absolutely dreadful...cloudy...and chipping everywhere. I've heard horror stories of people stripping clear coat off of aluminum...mine is flaking at the touch (I did NOT do it).
I was wondering if anyone had a method of doing it that won't be a huge pain in the ass (considering it flakes off pretty easy). I don't want to do any sanding as that would be overkill in this situation. But at the same time I don't to use crazy chemicals that will damage the aluminum. Is there a stripper out there that would fit the bill? Maybe heating the surface with a heat gun could produce some results? Heres a couple photos of the bike and you can see one of the many many many spots were you can flake the coating off with your finger nail (he probably cleared it over a polish and it didn't adhere well).
If the clearcoat is coming off that easily, then try a test area with lacquer thinner on a rag. If no results, then like the guys said - aircraft stripper.
Regardless of the product you decide to use, follow all the safety precautions...
Pat
PS outstanding ride
Take the tank off and test the aircraft stripper on the underside. I used it on the side covers of my Thruxton to take the factory clear off with absolutely no issues. Have used it on multiple other vintage bikes with no issues.
Both of my Tritons have alloy Sprint tanks and both are bare. I polish with Mothers alloy polish- the best I have found.
I'll jump on the bandwagon, aircraft stripper does the job nicely. I like the stuff in the aerosol can cause it comes out sticky and doesn't just run off.
btw, the reason it's coming off might not be that it was put on over a polish. Clear simply isn't designed to adhere to bare metal. It's meant to go over a layer of paint that it can bond to. Even professionally done clears dont work well on bare metal. I've seen a lot of really nice clear coated bicycle frames with rust issues because of this.
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