Couple of questions from new owner

[sc0ttie]

I have a couple of questions about the Fazer I have.
1. The forks on the fazer I bought seem to be caked in grime/aluminium corrosion. I have a pic here to show you the extent of this. What is the best way for me to clean these forks up? Maybe they wont ever be a shiny polished set of forks again, but if they could be cleaner then I would like to try cleaning them up.
[smg id=2472 type=preview align=center caption="Forks"]


2. Under the seat I have this strange thing. Is anybody able to tell me what that is and what it does?
[smg id=2473 type=full align=center caption="thing under seat"]

[fazersharp]

The thing under your seat ___ no idea -- I think it is a Flux Capacitor.
The orig forks were a not very polished alloy that then had a coat of lacquer which gets stone chipped and then the alloy underneath corrodes which makes the lacquer then flake even more, looks like you have now got more flakes than lacquer, rub down and paint I think (sliver ) 

[limax2]

The thing under the seat looks like the mounting left behind when a Scottoiler has been removed. 
The forks you could rub them down with wet and dry emery, finishing with a fine grade. I sometimes use paraffin with the emery paper. Looking at the photo you will probably not get all the pitting out but they will look a whole lot better. Then give them a coat of clear lacquer or paint. Silver as suggested or black can look good. Alternatively polish them every few weeks. Others may have other thoughts on this.

[Yamazer-92]

I used a drill and wire brush polishing attachment when I took my forks off to replace the seals then just some autosol and a cloth to polish them up. Cleaned up pretty well and have stayed pretty clean, I just wipe them over with some WD-40 when they get dirty and use ACF 50 in the winter. I didn't lacquer them or anything but you could if you want.

[sc0ttie]

Thanks for all the suggestions on the forks and the mystery thing under the seat  :lol  since it seems caked in oil and grime i think it could be to do with a scottoiler as suggested, so I will see if i can remove it.
I will try the wire brush drill bits and se how they go and try to clean them up with those or fine emery paper if the wire brush is not good on mine. Thanks for your help and suggestions 

[Millietant]

Rather than using emery on the forks, why not try Scotchbrite pads - good for removing crap and corrosion, but less aggressive than emery.

[darrsi]

Used paint stripper on my forks to get the old lacquer off, then a rub down with wet 'n' dry before using silver wheel spray on them, with a coating of new lacquer to finish them off.

[BBROWN1664]

A lot of elbow grease and Autosol will sort the forks out.

The thing under your seat is where a previous owner had a scottoiler reservoir fitted.

[johnakay]

if you were local I could polish them up like mirror for a tenner.
I've got all the gear.

[Frosties]

if you were local I could polish them up like mirror for a tenner.
I've got all the gear.

Feckin bargain  :eek.....where abouts are you John and how many tea cups you got  :lol