TOPIC: Chrome...

Stan, if i was to chrome the bikes parts the way you god it i would have to go to the bank and take the loan, enough to buy a house here in Germany to be able to pay for that. the bike looks so stunning.

Hunting around I found a guy (Carlos) here that used to work at "The" chrome shop that all the custom car guys used. It died when the EPA killed so many platers.

So Carlos has no website, but seems to do all of the LoRider work in down (remember, this is Texas). I'm going to go by and see him.

Here is his Instagram Account

Thank you Daro. I remember now, actually the pipe 1 and 6 cost 120 each. He said it's more difficult to hold it for polishing etc. because of the collector cluster attached.

Yes, chrome plating is expensive... But I don't doubt you about higher prices in Germany, or elsewhere in Europe. I have an idea. Have you tried checking Poland? It's next door. Poland is generally cheap in comparison. I am sure lots of tech industry prices became closer to the rest of Europe, hence no borders for the EU members, but still, might be cheaper to do it there.

I just read discussion about insurance prices. It seems you get quite good deals on it in Germany! Here, I am paying about $1600 a year at 43% discount for a daily rider, and $350 for collector plates for the KZ1300. That's without collision. That's a lot of cash out of the pocket, which could be used for keeping the bike pretty

Stan, yes Poland would be a good starting point for chrome, I remember the guy who was working at some factory where they chromed things and he did the front light and stuff for me once for a bottle of vodka. Good old days.. rebuilding bikes in the garage all night, till in the morning... smoking cigarettes while watching you glorious progress, all the excitement about it and so on, this times, they gone now mate, nothing of it is left. Different matter, insurance I'm paying is barely 70 euro @ 40 percent for accident free license holding after 10 years and it would be even cheaper for a H plate. Road tax its a laugh also not even worth mentioning and speed limit free motorway, unfortunately I still cant afford H2, but the day will come. he he.

Not to get off topic too far... yes, I know which times you are talking about. Yes, you could get a lot done for a bottle. Poland was just so incredibly cheap by 'Western' standards. And the quality of work and knowledge level of engineers and machinists were superb. Now, that capitalism has been around for a while, I bet that got jeopardized by the race for highest profits. It's a double edged sword. I know about this quite a bit, as one of my grandfathers was a director of H. Cegielski in Poznan, a factory making big marine engines (Sulzer for example), and was a head of Polish engineers association for a while, and my uncle was urban development chief engineer for my city ((bridges, roads, etc.). But still lots of quality places there. If you ever need to service or make a hunting rifle, my cousin has a quite famous gunsmithing shop in my city. Lots of customers from Germany! Last time I visited him he had a customers 100,000 Euro costing rifle there for service. Crazy how much some of these things can cost!

Back on the bikes subject, still off topic though, I bought a 1956 500cc AJS for US $200 in Poland. I wish I could go back and buy every vintage motorcycle there was!

Talking about chrome plating, if you would find a good service, there is a cheap but great bus service between let's say Berlin and Poland. I paid $20 to go from Poznan to Berlin. You could pack all the parts that need plating and take them Poland. Then have them send back or go pick them up on the weekend. And enjoy Poland at the same time! The good thing about Poland is everything is relatively close.