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.
1982 Kawasaki KZ1300 A4
Building an engine from random parts. This will eventually morph into building a bike from random parts - if it ever happens. Need a frame to begin with.