Metal Polishing

* Fine Steel Wool – This is your workhorse, you can buy it at any home improvement or hardware store. You can use steel wool on chrome, aluminum, steel, or virtually any metal. The downsides to it are: 1. It can sometimes leave behind unacceptable fine scratches on softer metals (see below for a remedy), and 2. It disintegrates quite easily, so you’ll end up going through a lot of it. Be sure to buy at least 2 different grades of it – medium and fine. The fine steel wool will produce the nice finish, but the medium is nice to help take out more significant blemishes. Be careful when using it on chrome – it works well with some, but can scratch some other types.
* Fine Grit Wet/Dry Sandpaper – You’ll want to use Aluminum Oxide sandpaper (the black stuff) – not wood sandpaper. Sandpaper, of course, will help you to remove the real significant surface imperfections from the aluminum. You should be very careful when using it because you can actually wear down the aluminum so much that by the time you’ve removed the imperfection, you’ve created an impression in the aluminum. When you get around to making it shine, you’ll really notice your “dip” in the metal. Virtually every time you use sandpaper, you should use the finer and finer grades, including the steel wool (below) to improve the finish after sanding. Try steel wool first, if the wool isn’t course enough to make a difference, then use the sandpaper.
* Metal Polish – A good metal polish, which you can buy at most any automotive dealer, is Belgum Allu. After all of your hard work (see above), apply this stuff like you would car wax. Let it sit for a while, and rub it off. It will leave a nice shine, as well as a coating that will deter oxidation. It will be necessary to reapply the polish every once and a while, especially after riding in wet weather.
* If you are looking for a low-maintenance, very good finish, use a clearcoat – if you are looking for that mirror-like shine and willing to re-polish every once and a while, don’t use a clearcoat.