# Cleaning a Silver King



## merkaba (Feb 27, 2013)

Hi All, 
I recently scored a mostly original '35 Wards Duralium and started breaking it down for basic maintenance. The frame has a nice patina to it but looks like someone in the distant past tried cleaned in with something mildly abrasive and left light scratches on the frame. Other than that the frame only has normal scratches from use over the years and no major damage. Will polishing the frame detract from the value or should I just use mild soap and a soft sponge to clean and retain the character of the bike? I would probably buff over the scratches from normal use leaving them to show its battle wounds and buff out the fine cleaning marks. Also, the stainless fenders have some dents and scratches that I was planning on removing. Can I chrome polish the rims and delta light? The reason I ask is I'm an amateur coin collector and know that trying to restore a coin completely destroys the value and so would like a little input from the bike community as to how far I should go with it. I will try and get some good detailed pics up when I get home later but this is what I have so far. 
Thanks for reading my post and I appreciate any input, Collin


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## cyclonecoaster.com (Feb 27, 2013)

*Go through the drivetrain & regrease & ride*

They were never high polished from the get go -- embrace what it is -- Bar keepers friend on the chrome rims - light - fenders - even the frame -- powder - add a little water to a toothbrush try it on a small test area & if you like what you see rinse & repeat - nice early window frame like my rat rod bike build ( pictured below ) - ride vintage - frank


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## bike (Feb 27, 2013)

*Just wait a while*

you may come to enjoy it as is- the original surface tell as a story/history. You can't un buff it, but you can always do it if need be. Many restored bikes (not sks thankfully) are now mistaken for repro- ouch! Make it safe and do what you like after a while- 

Unless you are a metal wizard, stainless is very hard to work and polish- try some scrap fenders first.

There are plenty of threads here where people wish hey left their bikes alone and years later only want the originals in as orignal cond as possible- 

hornets nest I stirred up:
http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showth...hen-you-find-a-bike&highlight=crusty+original


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## Ranger Dan (Feb 27, 2013)

To me it's not stupid, and if that were mine I'd have a hard time keeping a buffing wheel away from it ... those things look spectacular with a high polish.  I'm with the "do what you like with it" crowd.


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## merkaba (Feb 27, 2013)

Cyclone coaster, I love the look of your rat rod build! I do agree with you guys that the bike is only wears its original scars once so I'll end up just giving it a thorough cleaning. I'm not familiar with the bar polish but I'll look into it.


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## babyjesus (Feb 28, 2013)

*Good Question*

I just built and orig nice nice wingbar and asked the guy I bought it off what he thought about me polishing it. 
He said no way - and he said that it takes about 10 years for them to get the old/dirty/patina'd look again. So
once you polish there's no turning back.


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## Ranger Dan (Feb 28, 2013)

*Lots of Questions*



babyjesus said:


> I just built and orig nice nice wingbar and asked the guy I bought it off what he thought about me polishing it.
> He said no way - and he said that it takes about 10 years for them to get the old/dirty/patina'd look again. So
> once you polish there's no turning back.




To me it's an interesting dilemma because, by the same token, once one decides to never do anything unretractable, the option to do so is off the table.  So one has made a more or less binary choice and eliminated the value of the other option.

By the other token, a man may take ten years or more to evolve his viewpoint on a (somewhat trivial) matter like this.  By then, maybe his patina has returned.

I'm not sure why this sort of issue necessarily has to be a philosophical dogma that pits one camp against another, but it seems to be a persistent low-level friction among the bretheren.  Understandably, the OG camp might feel as if their collective "commons" is being impinged upon through the reduction of the market pool of unmolested bicycles and parts.  How does that concern weigh against the notion of individual property rights?  Hah! -- in the end, is this an aesthetic or a political issue?

I don't know, but personally, I try to be responsible and let the bike and its own situation suggest to me what it's to become (or remain).  I wouldn't want to "waste" a decent original finish because of a whim on a different color, nor would I readily break up a nice original for the sake of turning a profit but also don't decry the fact that some have chosen to make the bicycle trade their living.

For whatever reason I can be as easily persuaded to the POV of the guy who decides to preserve it as original, do an overproduced restoration, cobble a frankenratrod together, or whatever.  Hey, I just like Bike, in all its manifestations (with a few exceptions).

I still hold the opinion that I should do with them what I want, and let others do the same, even if that means letting them decide to let others tell them what they should do.  In another ten years, however, my viewpoint will have evolved, and the patina on my shopworn personage will have acquired a crunchier grit, but not necessarily an enhanced value....


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## babyjesus (Feb 28, 2013)

*Well Said*

That all seemed to make sense. For me it's just cuz I never bothered polish one and they look so great polished I am sort of tempted to try. Shame it stays that way for so long - but I guess I on;y say shame cuz I'm worried I might regret my decision to polish it.  I'm also lazy so for now it will sit. It's not anything to do with monetary value for me, nor originality value, just aesthetic. A brand new looking bike has its ups and downs too.


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## Boris (Feb 28, 2013)

Great bike Frank!!!


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## cyclonecoaster.com (Feb 28, 2013)

*Thank you - thank you Dave*



Dave Marko said:


> Great bike Frank!!!
> 
> View attachment 86326




It has a good look to it - a real fun ride


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## old hotrod (Feb 28, 2013)

It is your bike and not overly rare like a wingbar...polish the heck out of it if that is what you really want. It won't affect the resale unlike painted bikes. If anything, it will actually be in more demand in the end so I say go crazy...


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## fordsnake (Feb 28, 2013)

cyclonecoaster.com said:


> They were never high polished from the get go




Fact: Silver Kings were highly polished!



 




Sadly not all discovered Silver Kings will shine…I’ve seen some neglected aluminum frames pitted and far too tarnished for polishing. Trying to buff these crusty rides will only embellish the flaws.  I’ve been lucky, here are some pics of my polished SK’s. 







I polished this hextube only once 30 years ago...never had to touch it again. I sold the bike last year...it looked good as new!


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## merkaba (Mar 1, 2013)

Wow, these bikes look so good when fully polished/restored. Now I am really torn. If only I had two bikes, one to keep as an original unrestored bike and one to restore back to new. And now the collecting sickness spreads to bicycles haha. The original brochure for the silver king is really cool. Does anyone have one for a '35?


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## chitown (Mar 1, 2013)

Here is a nicely polished one.

http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/vi...k=t&sd=a&sid=68a7ce5de26a832f973db212e78beb20





 Be careful and use a mask with a good filter while sanding or buffing. Aluminum powder isn't the best thing to be breathing in. If you do sand, do a wet sanding and have a box of nitrile gloves to go thru. 

If you don't want to sand you can just use 0000 steel wool and some brasso (using nitrile gloves). That works good for tight areas like the windowed lugs. After that you can use a polishing wheel mounted to a cordless drill or and orbital sander with a polishing head on it. You don't have to take out the character when you polish it up, the inside of the forks still show the casting marks and I was able to get them to shine right up without sanding. I did sand the outside profile before polishing. 320-600-1000 grit followed by polishing compound.

View attachment 86449 View attachment 86450 View attachment 86451

View attachment 86452

OR... you can just go to a local auto shop or metal plating shop and have a pro polish it up.

Good Luck!


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## JOEL (Mar 1, 2013)

They really do shine up nice, and IMO it does not effect the value to clean them up so long as they look good afterward. If, for example, the frame were polished to a mirror finish and the fenders were scarred and dented that wouldn't look right...

Scratches can be removed from the frame using polishing compound or by wet sanding with fine sandpaper. I prefer the latter. I had one frame that was so corroded it looked like it had barnacles growing on it. Had to go to 400 grit paper to get down to the aluminum and then sand it back down smooth again. If you saw this frame you might not think it had been cleaned.


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## GiovanniLiCalsi (Mar 1, 2013)

When finished polishing the frame use some Semi-Chrome polish. This is found at a good auto supply. It will put a very nice mirror shine and protect the finish from oxidization.


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## kingsilver (Mar 1, 2013)

*Polishing silver kings*



fordsnake said:


> fact: Silver kings were highly polished!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



nice flo-cycle...do you have pics of it completed? Thanks. Steve.


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## kingsilver (Mar 1, 2013)

hand polished leaving the deep scratches alone.


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## fordsnake (Mar 1, 2013)

kingsilver said:


> nice flo-cycle...do you have pics of it completed? Thanks. Steve.



Yeah, here's where it stands now.







I purchased it last year from Chris (scrubbinrims). It took a minute rounding up all of the correct parts...I still need a SW speedo face. 
Before


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## kingsilver (Mar 1, 2013)

Looks great!


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## old hotrod (Mar 1, 2013)

fordsnake said:


> Fact: Silver Kings were highly polished!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## 1918 Ranger (Mar 1, 2013)

My Duralium turned out ok getting polished up.   





Please forgive the cycle truck picks. Weirdly they are appearing,  but not in the draft?????
1918 Ranger


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## fordsnake (Mar 1, 2013)

old hotrod said:


> ...there is no way that the bike I had was highly polished...shiney with a quick buff, sure, but hardly what I would describe as highly polished




Dave, I don't think I ever heard the story about you and your Silver King? That's really cool...how old were you in 1936 when you received it? Any photos of you and your prize bike? Please share.


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## old hotrod (Mar 2, 2013)

Once again, sarcasm rears its all too common head in a thread here...


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## fordsnake (Mar 2, 2013)

*That was genuine sincerity...*



old hotrod said:


> Once again, sarcasm rears its all too common head in a thread here...




Did you not challenge my found evidence of the term "highly polished" featured in the Silver King advertisement and catalog? Suggesting *“there is no way that the bike I had was highly polished…”* I can only surmise by your adamant opinion that you had ownership of a spanking new SK in 1936 and you are able to discern the visible difference?


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## old hotrod (Mar 2, 2013)

Yes, I challeged your single paragraph of ad copy...get over yourself and no reason for the sarcasm. The bike I had may have been buffed and lightly polished in production which would produce a very nice finish to new extrusions and castings but was not overly polished like some of the beautiful examples with mirrir finishes already pictured. I stand by my opinion as it came from direct evidence by the deep machine scratches and condition of the bike I had and other original, unpolished bikes I have looked at...period.


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## fordsnake (Mar 2, 2013)

old hotrod said:


> Yes, I challeged your single paragraph of ad copy...get over yourself




And there you have it...God has spoken!


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## Nellen0 (Mar 12, 2013)

Today i have to say that i want to clean my cycle but i dont know which cleaning product is best for this purpose if anyone know here than contact here back i will appreciate him on this sharing...?


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## 37fleetwood (Mar 13, 2013)

there is also something to be said in favor of a nice patina!


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## babyjesus (Mar 13, 2013)

37fleetwood said:


> there is also something to be said in favor of a nice patina!





I just bought that exact early model SK with the big aluminium fenders. Mine has the older style rack too
that is shorter and wider than the usual prewar SK racks. It looks so much like that one - wheels are all 
crusty too. Patina is great but I'm tempted to polish my SK collection just cuz I never bothered to before
mostly out of laziness.


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## bricycle (Mar 13, 2013)

I usually buy turds..... everyone knows you can't polish a turd.


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## Dan the bike man (Nov 10, 2017)

I bought a silver king last week. Not bad looking but can't decide if I should shine it up or leave it. Any new info. on the subject in the last 4 years?


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## TR6SC (Nov 10, 2017)

Dan the bike man said:


> I bought a silver king last week. Not bad looking but can't decide if I should shine it up or leave it. Any new info. on the subject in the last 4 years?



2013 was a while ago. I wonder if merkaba ended up polishing. If he did, the patina is probably starting to creep in. When I first read this thread I didn't realize it wasn't current, and I was going to offer him a fully polished identical SK in trade. Perhaps that would help him decide.




I find the polished SKs have a big head turning effect on the general public. People think it is a chrome bike. Now that I've commited to the polish, it makes the upkeep a nightmare. I think I wouldn't polish if I found one complete and clean. I find myself resurrecting Bastárds though. A frame that needs repair doesn't look so good, when the welds are left like scars upon loveliness.
This damage on a Flo-Cycle has gotta go.



Going.



Gone.



So Dan, let's see your bike.


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## Dan the bike man (Nov 10, 2017)

TR6SC said:


> 2013 was a while ago. I wonder if merkaba ended up polishing. If he did, the patina is probably starting to creep in. When I first read this thread I didn't realize it wasn't current, and I was going to offer him a fully polished identical SK in trade. Perhaps that would help him decide.
> View attachment 706590
> I find the polished SKs have a big head turning effect on the general public. People think it is a chrome bike. Now that I've commited to the polish, it makes the upkeep a nightmare. I think I wouldn't polish if I found one complete and clean. I find myself resurrecting Bastárds though. A frame that needs repair doesn't look so good, when the welds are left like scars upon loveliness.
> This damage on a Flo-Cycle has gotta go.
> ...






 
I think I'll leave it alone. You're correct general public will like, but upkeep is a lot of work, and might blind me!


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## TR6SC (Nov 10, 2017)

Dan the bike man said:


> View attachment 706647
> I think I'll leave it alone. You're correct general public will like, but upkeep is a lot of work, and might blind me!



Or possibly you could part it out. PM sent on the fenders!


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## Dan the bike man (Nov 10, 2017)

Not parting.


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## gkeep (Nov 11, 2017)

"PM sent on the fenders". Mike you are the worst mercenary leg puller in this nuthouse.!!! Dan, your lucky to be 2000 mile east cause nothing on the Pacific Coast is safe from TR6SC. Hide your bikes, hide your daughters, wives and grandmas, hide the milk and cookies too.


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