Iron Butt
Posts: 1158
Richmond, Virginia | As someone who chromes aftermarket the fact of the matter is that it depends on a few factors.
1. what you are chroming
2. the process used in chroming
3. what your intended outcome is
There are many on here who feel that aftermarket chrome (such as what we do), is too expensive. What they cannot wrap their minds around is what it takes to do an actual chrome process. To the average Vision owner, you go into your dealer and look at chrome accessories that Victory is making 1000's of in a run. Certainly if we made 8000 sets of something the price would be cheaper.
When you take a product into a real chroming company we have to study the content of the original product, what its made of, test its density, heat tollerance, test the product etc etc etc a lot of stuff most of you dont even wanna hear about. When we chrome your part, yes it will cost you more.
Now to whether the OEM chrome is better or worse then the after market? Bud, thats simply gonna depend on who is doing it and
the materials used. I know you dont wanna hear this, but Quality is only something YOU can judge.
Anyone on here to posts an answer that A is better then B doesnt know what they are talking about unless they actually do either
A or B themselves.
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Iron Butt
Posts: 1158
Richmond, Virginia | Craig, when we chrome a Victory part we take it down to the parts cleanest surface (not referring to clean vs dirty) i mean we take the part down to its basic form. then we re-build from there. 5 steps to re-build for us. If you have someone who is simply chroming overtop of that aluminum finish, then you are right, the chemical reaction is going to look less then superb either from the start, or down the road as it ages. if you paint a gray wall white, you get a dirty white wall. if you apply a base coat and prep the gray wall before the white paint, you get a prettier white paint finish |
Tourer
Posts: 323
N. Miami, Florida | As VaParadox said... it's all in the process used, and the prep of the metal on which you are plating. As a custom parts manufacturer who does a lot of chroming, all chrome is not alike. 'Production' plating is a 1/2 assed rush job and corners are often cut to accomodate a price point. Many who offer 'triple show chrome' don't really offer it. I have stripped parts for rechroming made by other vendors and am appalled when I find no copper, as without copper it is not 'triple', but rather only nickel then chrome. Copper gives the best possible base over say aluminum. The copper goes on and is then buffed. The Nickel goes on and is then buffed, then the chromium and a final buff. This is very labor intensive and time consuming, but it is what true 'show quality' chroming is all about. Does it cost me more to use my loca guy who is one of the best in the country (does all of Eddie Trotta's work for Thunder Cycles, After Hours Choppers, Weston Choppers, the Chop Shop, Thug Cycles, and OCC just to name a few). We use the 16" rule... if you can't see any imperfection from 16", it doesn't exist. Whereas most big shops go by a 30" or so rule, meaning you don't see anything from 30", but you might from 16". I could send my parts to Brown's or ChromeMaster or many other big plating houses and get it done cheaper, but I don't settle for second best. This is why in my almost 3 years in business, NEVER, NOT ONCE, have I had a part returned for any imperfection, bubbling, pitting, or peeling. Not one. Chrome is like oats... If you want nice fresh oats you'll pay a fair price, but if you're OK with oats that have already passed through the horse they are a lot cheaper! Here's an example or two of our triple show chrome finish... 
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chrome vs chrome
