It will work, you will wind up w/ a reflective grayish  finsh, and coat it w/ something tough. Laquer is better than nothing, a good  exterior or marine polyurethane clear coat would likely do better. Make sure it will work on bare metal. Instead of trying to get a slick reflective finish,
scotch-brite it usising WD-40 so that it has a nice satin finish for a lot less work, Alway stroke it parellel to the centerline of the pipe w/o crosshatch (like  when taking "herman to the circus") then clear powder coating is a thick, very tough finish that looks great.

I've sandblasted old tools and clear-coated them - like parts for old Stanley planes.  Looks surprisingly decent - like a really good silver paint job.

I just made a shifter for my truck this morning, did it the same way.

Got the idea from the Harley shop down the street.  Greg's right, the clear-over-steel looks really good.