Do the engine cases have spiderwebs in them, too?
The clear coat cracks and lets corrosion occur.
Aluminum foil , wadded up, spray with water, scrub chrome.. darn if I know how it works so well.
Now, how to get the aluminum cleaned up,, much bigger hassle.

The forks are chrome plated steel.  When they rust it can raise the chrome off the underlying steel.

There is really no way to fix this once it happens.  If it only occurs up above where the lower fork tubes slide up/down......it is a cosmetic issue.  If it occurs down in the slider/seal area....the forks are going to wear out the seals and the forks will weep oil.


The aluminum pieces get moisture under the clear coat, and then the corrosion makes the grey spiderweb appearance.  The only way to fix that is to strip the clear coat, sand out the corrosion (which usually goes pretty deep), and then make a near factory brushed appearance with Scotchbrite or a more shiny appearance by polishing or buffing.  Unless you put a clear coat back on....the aluminum must be polished regularly to keep it from tarnishing.

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 09/09/15 at 20:15:15:


No, just cobwebs.

This happens throughout the fork tube except for where the seals touch during its travel, surprisingly enough. Maybe the fork oil residue protected that area.

Thanks for the input, guys.