Torque and Chrome

A lot of motorcycles have plastic parts, painted chrome (headlight, speed odometer, etc..)?

Do the larger 1600 and 1800cc bikes have real chrome? Is the added price of having real chrome worth it?

Public Comments

1. Any of the quality bikes Do You see alot of that on low end bikes and or "Off road" bikes I really Dont know about the Japs top end stuff like Leadwings but I think they are built pretty well No I dont want one
2. Weight is a factor in performance. Unless you enjoy riding a two wheeled tractor, plastic is a good thing.
3. A lot of Japanese motorcycles have chrome-plated plastic (and so do Japanese cars!) Harleys don't, but they're a lot more expensive. So it's a matter of how much it's worth to you. I bought a BMW in 1983. I still have that bike. I was told at the time that this would be the last bike I'd ever need. It cost more than a Japanese bike but Japanese bikes were 'disposable' and this bike would last my whole life, so it was cheaper in the long run. It's true. I still have that bike. But it's a 'vintage' bike now and it doesn't have quite the performance of a modern bike. If I added up all the cost of the bike and maintenance, I probably could have bought three Japanese bikes in that time, and now I'd have a more modern bike. Don't get me wrong, I love my Beemer, but it's a different way of looking at it. Motorcycles are sold in the US as 'toys'. Nobody wants a 10-year-old bike. You can't even get the dealership to work on a bike more than 10 years old! As recreational devices, bikes are usually ridden less than 5000 mi. per year. So what's the point of making a motorcycle that will last 20 years and go 200,000 miles? Harleys and Beemers are different. They cost so much that you don't want to scrap them. I don't think they are mechanically better than Japanese bikes but they are built of nicer materials that will last a bit longer, like real chrome-plated parts.
4. Most jap bikes are tin and plastic, they need to lighten them up so they can keep up with traffic. Most people call them Bics , you know, use it awhile then dispose of it. Besides tin and plastic are cheap, you can lower the price to compete with high bikes, but once you buy one you are usually stuck with it, unless you can pawn it off on some kid.
5. japan is too small of an island to dig that much metal out of so they do plastic, the metal they do have is probably still radioactive being that they asked for it by hopping into ww2!!! the bikes built here have real metal
6. why do you bother so much about plastics?so long they work, its ok by me.The goldwing 1800 cost a bomb but the only metal part is the engine.Even Ferarris and jags have plastic.Soon manufactureres will come up with wooden bikes.When you get sick of it, make firewood..
7. After they go sliding down the pavement at 100 mps. The plastic is cheaper to replace than metal and chrome.
8. Sounds like someone just got dusted by a Lead Wing, which has an abs plastic fairing,as does the ST 1300. Other Hondas, including my Valk and VT 600 have chrome headlights. When you live near the ocean the added price is not worth it, anything plastic or painted is less hassle. Lots of parts are light weight abs with a chrome coating. This is why the correct term, "lead sled", is applied to Harleys (and no, I wouldn't own one on a dare).
9. Plastic can be plated with chrome – exactly the same chrome as on metals – the plating process is as durable, as deep and as strong as chrome on steel, without the problems of laminating steel lifting chrome off and weight, because abs plastics will regain their shape after most deformations the chrome will flex to a certain extent. An alternative, cheaper process for plastic is vacuum metalizing that is less durable but simpler and therefore cheaper.