Chromed crank cases!!

michipons

michipons

Hero member
Location
Palma de Mallorca
Hi all!

Finally it might be that I have found enough valves to rebuild the 500 head, should be at home within next days/weeks, from Wolfang and Riccardo Oro. Now I am only missing the valve guides, but it looks not so complicated as the valves… so we will see, but looks that I will have finally have all necessary spares!

Couple of weeks ago, I left my crankcases to the guy who usually makes me the polishing, chroming and that sort of stuff. He is in the yacht industry, so is quite professional.

I didn’t want to make more mess in my workshop polishing myself, and didn’t have time either, so i though it was a good thing to outsource this job. I asked for a good “near mirror” finish, without getting crazy.

So after couple of weeks, today, the guy called me and said, your parts are ready, but come over we need to talk…😱

Some missunderstanding with his employees happened, and they chromed the parts!!! I was shocked, for several reasons:

First I was delighted with the result, I really like the shiny appearance, despite beeing totally out of the Laverda look.
Is super clean, and stays so.
So initially I like the result, that I even didn’t know it was possible to get.

He offers me to remove it, but I say, no, leave it. I want to try if it will work. But of course I have some concerns.

Will it peel off with the heat and oil? Will be the gaskets dry or will leak oil? Will it resist the heat/cooling cycles??

For the time I have put it in the oven for 1 hour with 150 degrees and no cracks in the chrome, i tried to peel it off in hidden places, and is very well attached to the surface…. So the plan is to mount it, ride the bike and after few km, check for oil leaks, check the chrome stays attached in the inner parts of the cases and check for oil residues.

If it works, I will be very happy😎, if it doesn’t… well, more job for me🙍🏼‍♂️

I think many other bikes (not Laverdas) have chromed cases and they hold ok, right?

Well here some photos of the result!

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You could get some tassles for the ends of the handebars perhaps, to complete the look? Maybe some looong forks and some fishtail mufflers (both on the right of course!). :D

But OK, I've aluminium covers chromed before, often seen peeling but maybe only on ones exposed to the weahter and maybe mostly the outside when exposed to harsh weather rather than the inside which is nice and corrosion-free? Thinking optimistically, the peel probably starts from corrosion, as we know chrome is a porous surface and not fully rust-proof. Either way, monitor and ejoy, looks like a nice job and something different!
 
What was the old saying? 'If it don't go, chrome it'.
Seriously, If you like it and it stands up to life in the fast lane, why not?
At least it'll provide a point of discussion wherever Laverda riders meet. 😉
 
Thats a pretty major fuck up by the polisher/chrome guy.
You seem to taking it rather well Miguel.

I reckon I would be gutted.:cry::cry:
 
My take, it's not easy to tell the difference between a mirror polish finish and chrome. The chopper blokes used to do chrome case covers. It wouldn't be my first choice but sa la ger. Spell check doesn't like my French?
 
Mallorca is a marine environment, stuck in the middle of the Mediterranean like it is. So it'll probably develop blisters where salty moisture gets in through micro-pores and corrodes the aluminium beneath the plating. Chromed aluminium always seems to go that way eventually. But it'll probably happen quicker where you are than on a Harley in Las Vegas (in the middle of a desert). I guess that's why it's not a popular finish on motorcycles.

It's possible to un-chrome them. Pretty much a case of putting them back in the chroming tank and swapping the electrical leads around to reverse the electrolytic process. The chrome will be stripped from your parts (now the anode) and deposited back onto the cathode. Chrome platers do it all the time to remove old chrome. It's the environmentally preferred method (as opposed to acid etching) because it recovers the chrome for re-use. There's probably a coat of copper under the chrome that'll also have to be removed in a similar process.

If it was my job, I'd be mega pissed off. I'd insist that they remove the chrome. It's their stuff-up and their problem to put right.

Nice polishing job though.
 
Vince said:
My take, it's not easy to tell the difference between a mirror polish finish and chrome. The chopper blokes used to do chrome case covers. It wouldn't be my first choice but sa la ger. Spell check doesn't like my French?
Click to expand...
Not so sure. Always catches my eye when cases have been chromed instead of polished. For some reason it jars with me. Too much of a contrast with the crank outers and fins.
 
So where's the chrome on that Z1R CK?

I agree I'd be extremely pissed off and would immediately demand it be removed. We used to get Honda Fours and Z Kwakas with 16 inch hog rear wheels and everything chromed coming into the shop at times - the chrome always pits and once it has a tiny way in the corrosion is unstoppable - and the finish looks really ugly. Sorry but IMHO chrome on a Lav alloy cover is akin to the tassles and hog wheels mentioned thus far. The alloy is just so beautiful - and NEVER looks like chrome no matter how much you polish it.
 
The only chrome you'll find on the Motodd is the suspension tubes/rod and the fittings on the throttle cable.
I'd have them remove it while the offer is there.
 
Wow! This thread has created a big interest!🤣

Well, finally, as a bittersweet taste, I have decided to remove the chrome, polish them and return them to their original state. I say bittersweet, because I have a "choper" touch and I like shiny engines, but a Laverda is a Laverda, and I know that in time I might regret it if I don't do it now.

I don't think the finish would have caused any problems in any case, nor would it have affected the bearing clearances as it only has the balance shaft bearing.

But well, now I know that I can get this finish, maybe some "caferacer" will ask me for it one day!
 
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