New zinc plated 1987 200x axle

**honda200x1987** · 09-09-2013, 10:45 PM

Just got the pictures from Mike at VMS, I bought this axle from a member here and it was NOS never used but the Zinc plating was eroded in spots so I sent it to Mike ,he stripped the old plating and had it plated with the standard zinc. I should get it soon, Looks good huh?

**bkm** · 09-09-2013, 10:54 PM

I would expect nothing less coming from his shop. Like all of his work, its probably better than new.

**honda200x1987** · 09-09-2013, 11:43 PM

Here is a picture of a 1986 200X with less than 5 hours on it, if that, it's original and like brand new as it came from the showroom floor,a member here owns it. As you can see the rear axle is a standard Zinc just like my 87 200X, looks like mike did a super job matching up to the original plating.

**Dirtweed** · 09-10-2013, 06:01 AM

Where is this shop again? He does a better job than my local.

**wonderboy** · 09-10-2013, 08:01 AM

So many questions...

Did they have to pop off the sprocket hub to do the plating?
Do those just press off?

So, this machines uses regular "white" zinc. My 350x appears to still have some original plating (in good condition) near the hubs that appears to be gold toned. I just thought that the 350x axle was supposed to be white or bright zinc just like this 200X axle.

Does anyone know if the 350x is supposed to be the gold-toned zinc (or was it Cadmium back in the day)?

... oh and by the way: That axle looks SUPER!!

**honda200x1987** · 09-10-2013, 09:13 AM

Mike Palmgren from Vintagemotorsports, he is a member here and he knows his stuff. The axle was plated with the sprocket hub attached and as for the 350X I am not sure if it was a yellow Zinc but I have seen near brand new 350X but not sure if it was standard Zinc,. I can tell you that I have seen 3 NOS 86-87 200X axles and 2 of them had yellow Zinc and 1 was a standard, alot of times Honda does different plating on Replacement parts. It could be your 350X had a replacement axle or it actually came with a yellow Zinc but only the sport models like the ATC250R came with the yellow out of the crate to my knowledge. There is a low low hour like new 1986 350X video somewhere on youtube and it was posted a few years ago, might want to take a look at it , the 1985 350 might be different, what year is yours?

**wonderboy** · 09-10-2013, 11:28 AM

Mine is an 85 350x. It is so hard (actually impossible) to know what is original and what is replacement sometimes. I'll look for that video.

**Flyingw** · 09-10-2013, 12:17 PM

I have a guy here in OKC I've been taking bolts to for replating. My last build I just finished I had him white zinc the rear axle. It came out beautifully. 75.00 to re-zinc the axle. Great price considering the cost of a pristine axle. White zinc offers a great protection but the yellow zinc offers a better environmental protection. That's why some parts are yellow zinc instead of white zinc.

**wonderboy** · 09-10-2013, 02:19 PM

Man is that pretty!

So to further hi-jack the thread (sorry 200x!) what did you have to do to prep the axle to be plated? Do you have to bead-blast, scrub, polish, buff, etc? I've been intrigued by all these nice pretty re-plated axles and am thinking about doing mine.

**Dirtcrasher** · 09-10-2013, 02:34 PM

I have a NOS and 2 extended Durablue axles. I need to plate them. The sprocket hub is removable however it is an extremely tight tolerance and fine left on.

If anyone presses one off, do not place the press on the threads. Use a hollow piece of tubing on the shoulder, I have even needed to heat them up........

**Mickey Dunlap** · 09-10-2013, 03:09 PM

So far I have over 1000 bolts I have tumbled in a Eastwood Tumbler and finished them in the tumbler with corn cob media that I'm sending off to get both white and yellow parts done for all my projects including my Team Honda 200x,but the race axle I'm not sure of. I have it in the lathe right now sanding it but it still has little dents form rocks that will never come out so I don't know if I'm going to plate it or polish it good and clear coat it.

**Dirtcrasher** · 09-10-2013, 04:35 PM

Sweet Mickey, so glad to have your here; It inspires us all!!

**Dirtweed** · 09-10-2013, 06:50 PM

I didn't do any prep on my axle, and it didn't turn out perfect with the yellow zinc coating I had done.
There was a bit of rust on the axle, but it looks good for what it is. Next time I am going to go with
the white zinc coating.

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**honda200x1987** · 09-10-2013, 06:58 PM

I couldn't find that video but found a decent one and it had yellow Zinc, I have found the Brochures for both the 1985 and 1986 ATC350X. The Brochure clearly shows both models with the Yellow Zinc ! You would have to remove the sprocket hub because it is standard Zinc , you would prob have to remove it like Dirtcrasher stated here in the thread and zinc it separately so it would be correct but you can zinc it yellow if you are not worried about it.

Originally Posted by wonderboy

So many questions...

Did they have to pop off the sprocket hub to do the plating?
Do those just press off?

So, this machines uses regular "white" zinc. My 350x appears to still have some original plating (in good condition) near the hubs that appears to be gold toned. I just thought that the 350x axle was supposed to be white or bright zinc just like this 200X axle.

Does anyone know if the 350x is supposed to be the gold-toned zinc (or was it Cadmium back in the day)?

... oh and by the way: That axle looks SUPER!!

**vintagemotorsports** · 09-11-2013, 08:41 AM

Hey guys, just saw this and figured I should chime in , its all about the prep on these to get a nice looking axle remember the plating will not hide anything even small sanding scratches will show up . you almost cant get the correct polished finish without chucking them up in a lathe , I always start but degreasing then bead blasting perfectley clean , I would not remove the sprocket hub as like DC said they are tight as a mother and after its plated the tolerance will be even tighter its almost certain it will get chipped ,scratched or damaged trying to press it back on and at that point you would be scraping the zinc off so you will have no protection for rust. even if from the factory one was yellow and one was standard zinc/clear it will look just fine . when you chuck it up in the lathe I always grab it from the center where the bearings ride and then use a centering cone on the end to keep it true depending on what condition the axle is in will determine what attack is next. if its a new axle like steves was I wanted to maintain the turning marks so it would look just as it did from the factory so I did everything by hand starting with say a 120 grit then to a 220 then finishing with a red scotchbrite pad and the final with a blue scothbrite and here the trick I have used for years on any final polishing and you guys are going to think I am nuts I lubricate the final pass with windex as I am using the last grit (blue scotchbrite) the windex will clean as it polishes and doesnt leave that black oil residue like using wd-40 or other thin oils that you need to clean after and because it has alcohol in it it dries real fast after you wipe it clean . I always blow it off after and then to prevent rust before it gets to the platers I wipe it down with a thin coat of wd-40 they will run the part through a cleanout tank anyway so you dont have to worry about the oil . now if you have rust pits and dings from rocks they will all come out as well but you need to attack them before any of the sanding and polishing , again you really need to have it turning in a lathe and I use and angle grinder and work each side of the axle little by little till the surface if nice and smooth then you need to get any and all of the grind scratches out but i have never had a problem bringing the ugliest axles back from the dead . I like doing the off brand axles like the tigers and even the small tri motos they have non tapered axles so you can actually cut them on the lather and put a new finsih on them , most of all the hondas have tapered axles so you cant . you want the axle finish to look almost chrome when it goes to the plating shop the zinc will dull it down alot and remember every plating shop is different the colors wont be the same across the board its depnds on how often they clean out the tanks the type of zinc the use etc and the plater I use racks all the large parts like axles and it runs on a huge line where 100s of parts are being plated at once , the small parts (nuts and bolts) are barrell plated meaning they all get put into a mesh type barrel and are spun in a solution between even these 2 process the color is different all my bolts etc have almost blue tinge to them same with the yellow much different from the rack line to the barrel plating so make sure you run a sample with your plater before to see if its the color you are after.. Mike

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New zinc plated 1987 200x axle