Ducati Monster Forum

Would I need to disassemble my forks to anodizing the outter shell? (What's that part called?) Could I just anodizing the surface of it, or should I sand it down first?

I want to andozing it gold, but all the andoziers have no idea what I'm trying to say.

You will have to strip them, then take the stanchions to the shop and tell them you want them gold.

Complete disassembly required.  You'll also need to get most all of the oil off of the surface (or at least that's what my anodizer tells me).

AND whatever anodizing you have done....be sure it's *hard* anodizing.  That way, it won't color fade and will provide a much tougher coating to the fork leg.
 
My local guys only do two colors of hard anodizing.  Black and clear.  But, the clear isn't *really* clear....it's a brownish/grey color.

Shop around...  A lot of production shops only carry what sells in volume and a lot of their customers don't give a shit what color things are so long as they have the right surface hardness and characteristics they want.  You'll (most likely) need to find a shop that's more into it and would have the color you desire...

Best of luck!

I shipped my assembled forks to Ducati Omaha.  They disassembled them, had the stanchion tubes anodized (black), reassembled with new oil and shipped them back.

How much do they charge?  If you don't mind me asking.

Thanks

+1 on the charge.

I dunno what DO charges, but anodizing (hard) shouldn't cost you more than $100.

+1 but i guess he also had to pay for them being taken apart. I luckly live by 5 anodizers (yay nyc!). I just didnt want to waste $30 in fork oil just to get them anodized. all they do is dip them in a solution to clean it, then use it as an anode in a solution of the color you want it, pull it out and let it drip dry. (yes i know theres more to it, but not that much more). I was told colors are all organic, except for gold, so you could get by with regular anodizing if you are doing gold. everything else fades. I want to p/c my wheels a bit darker than these rims and get gold forks. then get candy apple sparkling red gas tank.

(http://www.mcnews.com.au/Wallpaper/Buell/2006/wallpaper/Firebolt_XB12R_LHF_Blue.jpg)

The whole deal (including shipping) was under $500.

Thanks.  I'll have to check it out.  I'll look for pics of your bike.

Here's two:
(http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d147/pompino/DSCN2132.jpg)

(http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d147/pompino/DSCN2032-1.jpg)

Sharp pics.  I don't know if I understand this thread completely though.  I was always told that you needed to take apart the the forks to get them annodized and that is where the expense is incurred.  Now I have nonadjustable forks (Monster 900 Metallic) and if I am reading this correctly the forks don't need to be broken down completely.  Is that correct?

No you have to strip them completly that includes seals etc.

black and gold.... so nice! just post pix... but you will have to beat the guy who added the gold swing arm... he is my hero

That bike is the shit! But i wouldnt want to cop his design. he polished the nanodize his bike didnt he? make the beast with two backsing insane amount of detail in hat bike.

This is not true.  My anodizing specialist told me that there is no difference with respect to UV fading between normal or hard anodizing.  They both will fade eventually and at the same rate.

Not my experience, nor that of anyone I know.

Caveat emptor.

UV fading is inevitable, but more a product of using organic dyes and improper sealing.  A more UV resistant ano uses an inorganic dye and a deionnized water / dichromate and/or teflon seal.

I've seen regular Black Ano go purple in *weeks*, on a part that was indoors near a window, no direct sun.

My Hard Black Ano forks are still looking good, 10 months and counting.

A customer's set still looks good too, 2.5 years and 20k miles on 'em.

this is the main reason I  HATE anodizing.  colors never match and god help you if you buy one thing then try and match it with another anodized thing down the road.  its a crapshoot, sometimes it holds up and sometimes it doesn't.

Again, this may not be a question of hard vs. normal.  It may be organic vs. inorganic dyes
along with the types of seal used.

I find that hard to believe seeing as my experiences are similar to Speeddog's with regard to sun-fading.  I had a set of black-hard-ano forks on my CR for 5 years and they never appreciably faded.

YMMV...

http://www.finishing.com/379/70.shtml (http://www.finishing.com/379/70.shtml)

Fading also seems to be a result from lack of seal.

I stand corrected.  I'm guessing the outfit that did my hard-ano must have had it sealed.  Which raises the question, did they add the seal to just the outside of the fork-tube, or the inside also.  If they did on the inside also, did that have an effect on the hardness of the hard-ano with regard to wear from the bushings?

Thanks for the link!

so... is there a consensus on a place worth shipping parts to for ano?

I want black hard-ano done on some parts. Some are already anodized (like a bracket here or there, or a fork tube).

Seems like a decent business could be made on doing a 4-week cycle for parts. First week of the month is hard ano, second week is gold, third week is silver, fourth week is red, and have wild card blue / black / green week every once in awhile.

If one person/company was doing this and it was predictable and uniform, then it would be a great asset.

yeah....cept for the EPA.

Those chemicals are a pain in the ass to work with/keep safe.  I'd guess half the cost goes to the Govt/taxes/mandatory expenses because as you all know, the Govt knows best.  [roll]

That's a shame. I'm interested in learning to do it myself, but I need bare aluminum stock to practice with to go with the necessary chemicals. Gotta get it right before I go and wreck some nice part for one of the bikes or guns.

I looked into it a few times.  For small bolts or parts, DIY at home isn't too bad. 

Caswell plating has all the stuff.

For large parts, forks, frame, etc....it's not even close to being cost effective.    I used to have no money and all the time in the world, so I did most stuff myself.  Now I've got a little sliver of money buy no time, so I send stuff off when I can.

you can get scrap aluminum frm a lot of shops. I have about 3 bucket full of raw aluminum scraps that i use to build various things with.

(http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r166/jmoth79/IMG_0810.jpg)

(http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r166/jmoth79/IMG_0813.jpg)

(http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r166/jmoth79/IMG_0811.jpg)

MIL-A-8625, Type III Hard Black Anodize w/ Nickel Acetate seal

that looks bad ass. where did you get that done and what was the cost?

Thanks.  I'm pretty happy with the turnout.  Honestly if I had to do it over again, I would've had them polish them in between stripping and anodizing.
That would've made for a slightly glossier finish. 

Surface Finish Technologies Inc.
215 Judson Street
Elmira, NY 14901

$100 minimum lot charge.  This included both fork caps and front turn signal brackets.

isnt the inside of the fork coated with something too?

Looks good, thats a reasonable price. how durable does it look? can you chck back with us and tell us if it fades any bit do they have other colors?