Finally done doing some tinkering on my bike. Polished right and left engine cover and new gaskets, new chain tensioner (thanks to our friend), Harley Dyna muffle, ceramic coated down pipe. Here are some pic of before and after.

Looking good!    I need to polish the left engine cover on mine -- glad to see how nice it came out for you.  How'd you do it?  Any tips?

I have polished my casings til they almost look like chrome and it's simple to do!  Strip the clear coating off with a dissolving solvent. I use these foam sanding pads that come in course, medium and fine. I use the medium until the finish is dull , then the fine until you begin to see a shine. Then  polish on a buffing wheel with some compound until you can read fine print from a newspaper on it. You can use a small polishing wheel on a drill but it takes longer. You can do a whole case from beginning to end in a hour or two after the clear coating has been removed. I must be doing a pretty good job at it because I have had several offers to do polishing on other,s bikes after seeing mine. It is best to not clear coat the new polished casing because it dulls it and will flake. You can hand polish it from then on to bring back the luster.

Thanks for the info -- may be a good winter project to tackle.  The before/after difference on yours is pretty impressive.  I have the same corrosion you did and want to make it go away.

AlphaBarney:

I decided not to clear coat because I heard eventually the clear coating turns yellowish and dull.  After all the hard work I didn't want to take a chance. I looked into painting the casings flat black, but again, with road chips chipping away the paint, means more work later.

built2last66:

My down pipe was rusted at the front and bottom. A new pipe cost $150 and i had mine ceramic coated for $100. I thought i better off ceramic coated and not to worry abt rust or blueing on a new pipe. I have a 1971 volkswagen and the headers and muffler are ceramic coated for five years now and not one spot of rust anywhere.

Another tip for finishing polishing. I did my clutch cover with 0000 steel wool and after put car wax on three times in a row. Keeps the shine way longer. It kinda prevents moisture to get aggressive with the aluminum. Nevertheless always make shure to get moisture or water off as soon as possible. Droplets of water will etch into the aluminum. The car wax helps with that quiet a bit.

built2last66:

I have a 1971 VW with ceramic coated headers and muffler for four years or so. No even one speck of rust anywhere.  About the rustoleum paint, is up to you but i tried before and eventually will burned and peel off.

About the gaskets, you are right. In some places they were stuck to the engine case and cover. I used paint thinner and let it soak for a while. Then i used a one sided razor blade and scraped it off carefully without making scratches on the aluminum. So far i have no oil leaks anywhere.  Before taking the covers off, i had a leak on the left engine cover right under the kick stand. No more.