How to Polish Brake Rotors on a Harley Davidson

There are a number of different ways to polish the brake rotors on a Harley. Brake rotors can be removed and sent to a shop to have them professionally done. Another method of polishing brake disks is to simply use silver polish or stainless steel cleaner on your rotors. You can even purchase chromed Harley brake rotors. For the Harley enthusiast who wants to go the extra mile to polish rotors without the expense, try wet sanding them and then using stainless steel polish to get them much closer to that chromed look.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Sandpaper (800 grade, 1000 grade, 1,500 grade)
• Electric drill with sandpaper attachment
• Electric drill wheel ball
• Water
• 12-by-12-inch plywood sheet
• Wood screws
• Stainless steel polish
• Chamois

1. • 1

     Remove the brake rotors from the motorcycle. Secure the rotors to the plywood with wood screws through the bolt holes. This will help keep the rotors from spinning while polishing.

   • 2

     Wet-sand the brake rotors. Start with the 800-grade sandpaper dipped in water. Rewet the sandpaper every 20 seconds or so. Switch to the higher grade sandpaper after a few minutes. The rotors should take about 10 minutes each.

   • 3

     Polish the brake rotors. Using the electric drill wheel ball, apply stainless-steel polish to the wheel ball. Polish the rotors on both sides. Remove the polish with a chamois.

   • 4

     Remove the rotors from the plywood. Replace the brake rotors on the Harley. Take bike for a test ride to make sure the rotors are remounted properly.