DIY Gold Forks?

[ajankata]

Hey guys so I'm sitting here working on my bike, and I start thinking about how much I love the gold forks on the Fz-09 and well, I want it. So i was wondering if anyone had a guide or could point me in the direction of how to go about this?I just need to know how to get them off and ready to paint and put them back on. I'm fairly new to bikes and working on them, but i understand the mechanics and how it works. If anyone could help me out I would appreciate it. Thanks.

[howworkclutch]

the 09 has inverted forks. the upper fork tubes are anodized (aluminum soaked in etchant and then dumped in color). since the upper fork tubes do not slide in/out of the lowers, they can be painted or anodized.
 
the 07 has a traditional fork. the upper slides in/out of the lower. and because it slides in/out of the lower, it must be chromed, or polished to a high sheen. this makes painting a pretty tall order. the paint has to be perfectly smooth and uniform in thickness, otherwise it will cause the fork seals to wear and/or leak.
 
the only way to get those long gold fork tubes would be to swap front-ends. which might be worthwhile if the fz09 forks weren't poop.
 
of course, if you are just doing it for looks, it might be worth the effort to swap forks.

[vi5a]

I hear about some swapping to an R6 front fork. Would love to see a write up on fit. I'm sure you'll lose a little travel but the performance must be superior to stock forks.

[ajankata]

the 09 has inverted forks. the upper fork tubes are anodized (aluminum soaked in etchant and then dumped in color). since the upper fork tubes do not slide in/out of the lowers, they can be painted or anodized. 
the 07 has a traditional fork. the upper slides in/out of the lower. and because it slides in/out of the lower, it must be chromed, or polished to a high sheen. this makes painting a pretty tall order. the paint has to be perfectly smooth and uniform in thickness, otherwise it will cause the fork seals to wear and/or leak.
 
the only way to get those long gold fork tubes would be to swap front-ends. which might be worthwhile if the fz09 forks weren't poop.
 
of course, if you are just doing it for looks, it might be worth the effort to swap forks.

Thank you for the answer. I'll just stick to stock forks for now because i didn't want to swap em out just make them look the 09's.

[bmwpowere36m3]

the 09 has inverted forks. the upper fork tubes are anodized (aluminum soaked in etchant and then dumped in color). since the upper fork tubes do not slide in/out of the lowers, they can be painted or anodized. 
the 07 has a traditional fork. the upper slides in/out of the lower. and because it slides in/out of the lower, it must be chromed, or polished to a high sheen. this makes painting a pretty tall order. the paint has to be perfectly smooth and uniform in thickness, otherwise it will cause the fork seals to wear and/or leak.
 
the only way to get those long gold fork tubes would be to swap front-ends. which might be worthwhile if the fz09 forks weren't poop.
 
of course, if you are just doing it for looks, it might be worth the effort to swap forks.

 
 
I was thinking he wanted to paint the fork lowers gold... but painting the fork stanchions (chrome bit)! Yeah, that'd be a terrible idea and never work. Paint would wear and chip VERY easily; ultimately causing the forks to leak and contaminate the oil.
 
If you want to paint the fork lowers (black bit), have at it... You could even get them anodized, which would "look" better. However if you want the "inverted" look (USD forks) with gold uppers... time to start looking for forks off another bike.

[howlinhoss]

You can get gold anodized fork tube from Race Tech. Not sure if they have stock size.