Hey group:
Was really lucky to find a local chrome shop that specializes, and has experience with, custom small quantity work. Chrome shops that provide this service are
extremely hard to find:
Adams Plating
The first thing I noticed was an employee polishing a clutch cover from a KZ650! Steve, the shop manager, stated Adams Plating does a LOT of custom bike work and is familiar with the KZ650. His shop also has the capacity to chrome small parts such as the cylinder head bolts from a KZ650.
His shop also offers pre-treatment services and he does NOT recommend
THIS
process for metal that will be re-chromed, as electrolysis tends to texture and pit the base metal, preventing a smooth final plated finish. Steve's shop uses a chemical pre-treatment to strip rust and other plating metal from the base metal. As he explained it to me, the chemical stripping can take days, but the base metal will plate out at a much higher quality as opposed to acid electrolysis.
Adams Plating does not have a website (they do plenty of business without; currently a two month lag on custom chrome work due to the beginning of the riding season) however they are friendly people who do have email capability and can provide estimates from digital photos. They service a lot of out of town customers through UPS. Check 'em out.
