Patina

platinumsmith · Jun 1, 2011

I recently acquired an original looking '74 Commando. Had the boys @ Big D tune it, forks to chain. My plan was to be superSound mechanically & then proceed with cosmetics, starting with functional cosmetics (my handlebars are bent so that's first). Several of my buddies along with others have been using the word "Patina" in regards to the look of my bike. I'm diggin' kind of bein' off the hook about polishing all that stuff.
Also, I've seen a couple Commandos with grab rails & Corbin seats. That's growin' on me.
I think some patina gets contrasted with some new stuff. My headlight shell is pretty bad.

DogT · Jun 1, 2011

Big 'D'. Sounds like Tejas? Pictures of the patina would be good.

Dave
69S

Hobot · Jun 1, 2011

Unless its completely painta'd double taker and oil grime layered, half way patina just makes an old obsolete beast look that much longer in tooth. But once all polished up, which means half new parts and other half labor intense reworked, its on going maintenance and repair if road going any to matter. There is usually one or two classic rust and oil grime examples at big rallys it would be sacrilege to touch up. Photo's to judge to death please.

platinumsmith · Jun 1, 2011

I'll get a picture, or two. I appreciate the advice, here in Dallas, Texas.

rvich · Jun 2, 2011

"Patina" suggests that it has aged gracefully and shows signs of use as opposed to abuse or neglect. So yeah, patina is a good thing.

Russ

MelloYellow · Jun 2, 2011

Patina? Here's patina!

:mrgreen: :mrgreen:
MelloYellow

jeffdavison · Jun 2, 2011

that's a thing of beauty... a true survivor.

JD

gtsun · Jun 2, 2011

I like that word, it's a good thing in sone ways. Last week a friend jokingly told me that dawn dish soap is on sale and he would gladly buy a bottle for me if I couldn't aford it! It was his way of saying my bike needed a bath and while he is correct, I still pointed out that I have put more miles on this bike in the last two week ends then he has put on his in the last two years!! I was asked recently if I would enter my 850 & my BSA 441 Shooting Star in a big time car show soon. Not decided yet if I will or not but either way a good bath is in the near future. I polish the aluminum on the Norton, the 441 gets cleaned but I leave the old "patina" in tack.

platinumsmith · Jun 2, 2011

A few representative pictures. The last one is a video. Blast away.I won't be hurt.

maylar · Jun 2, 2011

Ever shoot pool with a well used cue stick? Chalk embedded into the shaft's pores and the wood polished from thousands of strokes through a player's fingers... that's patina.

Rust isn't.

The chrome footrests on my Norton show some scuffing and are a bit dull with age. I won't rechrome them. It took my feet 36 years to make them look that way.

KSUWildcatFan · Jun 2, 2011

That's a good-lookin' bike. Could you polish it up to a fine shine? Sure. Do you have to? No.

It looks very good as is. Personally, I'm a fan of polishing (or of painting parts that don't polish well black--oops, that's probably heresy among some people), but your bike looks great as-is, at least in the pictures you've provided here.

Hobot · Jun 2, 2011

Patina is a type of aging that preserves a surface visually while plain ole neglected corrosion is just ugly. Relates to bobber vs rat bike taste too.

Patina (pronounced /ˈpætənə/ or /pəˈtiːnə/) is a tarnish that forms on the surface of bronze and similar metals (produced by oxidation or other chemical processes); a sheen on wooden furniture produced by age, wear, and polishing; or any such acquired change of a surface through age and exposure. On metal, patina is a coating of various chemical compounds such as oxides or carbonates formed on the surface during exposure to the elements (weathering). Patina also refers to accumulated changes in surface texture and colour that result from normal use of an object such as a coin or a piece of furniture over time.[1]

crusadersports · Jun 2, 2011

MelloYellow said:
Patina? Here's patina!

:mrgreen: :mrgreen:
MelloYellow

Now that is a very graceful patina! I especially like the side panels, as finished by the Luftwaffe! Nice to see a bike that doesn't need sunglasses to enjoy :mrgreen:

There is of course a whole industry flogging us bits to 'personalise' our bikes. Yet if you do nothing but enjoy the machine over several seasons, do a bit of work here and there and get it wrong once or twice, you get the patina nicely matured for nothing. Something money can't buy. And they can't sell it.

We get so concerned about the bike. It's great to leave a wee bit of ourselves in there somewhere....

john robert bould · Jun 3, 2011

ER, Patina? Looks like a old barn find, are the fork stanchions really that rusty? sorry patinaized

We old brits use the word's" Oily rag" which means lost its shine due to age, Dull, Mat, faded...good words....Rusty, pitted and corroded..bad words. But if it runs well,and you are happy, thats all that matters. Stafford Classic Bike show ,lots of bike are polished behond the bounderies of common sense,crank cases like mirrors, frames like black glass..every bolt is stainless polished .
never riden..arrived in a van, what for?....a bit of blue ribbon, with a tin cup, This is the opposite end of the spectrum

marinatlas · Jun 3, 2011

I also lost most of my shine due to age ........do i need some Botox or whatelse, no we are like our bikes more than 40 years old ! that's life and it's good.

Hobot · Jun 3, 2011

Old age wrinkles and patina beats the snot out of buried and totaled decayed.

Patina

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