Step 1: Stripping
When it comes to first-class chrome plating, preparation is everything. A careful, complete prep job is the most important step in the chroming process, necessary to produce a clean, absolutely bare surface for the new chrome treatment to adhere to. This includes removing any old chrome, nickel or copper plating, as well as any paint or other coating that may have been applied to the part. At Santa Ana, stripping is done chemically, with each part dunked in a sulfuric acid–based chemical dip prior to being plated. Once in the chemical bath, a proprietary combination of powerful acids break down any foreign materials attached to the metal and leave behind a pure surface. If a piece is in really rough shape the Santa Ana team might sandblast it first, which can help remove rust or other more stubborn substances. The Santa Ana crew watches the parts very closely during stripping and takes great care not to overstrip—leaving pieces in the bath for too long can create or reveal pits, small imperfections in the surface of the base metal, flaws that will mar the finished part’s appearance. Unlike paint or other coatings that can hide such small imperfections, chrome, which is a thin, fine coating, will actually magnify the problem and expose a greater amount of porosity than if the part was given a different coating. Because of this, a good chrome shop will pay extra attention during the stripping stage to prevent such damage.

Step 3: Electroplating
ZZZAAAPPP! Once the metal has been polished to a mirror finish, it’s ready for electroplating. Electroplating is the process of passing an electrical current through a piece of metal suspended in a liquid solution of metal ions, in order to make two different metal materials bond to each other and create a hard coating on the part being plated. The industry standard for chrome plating is triple-plated chrome, which typically means that the part is first plated with copper, then nickel, and chrome on top. Santa Ana Plating goes a few steps further with its plating process, applying a minimum of five protective layers (nickel, copper, a second copper coating, a second nickel coating, then, finally, chrome) for maximum corrosion resistance and the brightest shine.

Copper is a malleable metal that can help to cover up any minute imperfections that the polishing process might have left behind, which explains why two doses of copper are applied early in the process. The first copper coating is actually an alkaline copper solution. After this coat is electrochemically applied, the part is set to dry and then rebuffed by hand until it looks like a new penny. Then the piece is cleaned and sent off to the dunk tanks for a second copper plating—this one acidic, not basic—and cleaned again before a dip in the tank of nickel solution. This last nickel-plated layer is actually what produces the shiny reflection in the final chrome piece.

Step 4: Final Inspection and Buffing
After the chromed piece has finished curing, the final step is a close inspection by one of Santa Ana’s many discerning quality experts. If any blisters, waves or other imperfections are detected, the piece is sent back for a complete rechroming until it is flawless. This is essential for long-term durability, the Kakuks tell us—even the tiniest blister can grow and spread after a few years, ruining the piece. Then each piece takes a whirl on the buffing wheel until it looks absolutely show-ready, the envy of everyone who sees it at the next bike night.

There you have it—the magic of chrome plating in four easy steps. Even if you’re not quite a chrome expert yet, you’ll at least know a bit more about what to look for and what questions to ask before you box up that next part and ship it off to the chrome shop. Chroming is anything but a simple process, and laying down a quality chrome surface like they do at Santa Ana Plating is only accomplished with plenty of patience, preparation and careful attention to detail. Thankfully, you don’t have to be a chemist to appreciate or understand that.

After yet another cleaning the part is at last dunked into an inky black chrome bath. Why black? Santa Ana uses hexavalent chrome, which in liquid form resembles a murky, coffee-like fluid that looks anything but shiny. There are two types of chrome plating used in the motorcycle aftermarket: hexavalent chrome and trivalent chrome. Hexavalent chrome produces a brighter, show-quality finish; trivalent is lower-quality chrome plating that is usually less expensive but not as durable. The tank is electronically charged to adhere a very thin layer of hexavalent chrome to the metal. When the metal piece is first lifted from the chrome vat, it appears as though something has gone terribly wrong: The piece has a distinct yellowish tint, as if it has been afflicted with jaundice. Not to fear—one last quick chemical bath and voilà, the chrome piece emerges crystal clear.

Step 2: Polishing
After the part has been thoroughly stripped and cleared of any old coatings, it is polished to ensure a smooth, blemish-free surface. Chrome is essentially a shiny reflection of the surface of the metal underneath—if that bare metal has any flaws, uneven surfaces or other imperfections, these will be visible in the final product. Santa Ana does all its polishing the old-fashioned way, sanding the part with various grades of sandpaper, working from a very rough to a very fine grit, until a smooth, even surface remains. After polishing, the part is thoroughly cleaned again to remove any residue—the first of many cleanings the piece will undergo during the chroming process. This constant recleaning after each step is one of the things that distinguishes a good chrome job from a poor one. Even the smallest bit of foreign debris or residue on the base surface can blister or pit the final chrome coating.

If the huge volume of parts passing through the shipping and receiving area of Santa Ana Plating in Santa Ana, California, is any indication, the answer to that question is a resounding yes. Santa Ana Plating is one of the nation’s largest chrome-plating facilities, equipped with several enormous chroming tanks and a skilled workforce with the expertise and ability to chrome nearly any piece the man in brown drops at its doorstep. Santa Ana has been putting the shine on for nearly 40 years now, and though they’ll chrome just about anything put in front of them, Santa Ana’s new owners, Tony and Collette Kakuk, tell us almost 75 percent of their total business is taken up by sportbike parts. Everything from the smallest rear sub-frame support bolt to entire framesets were being chromed the day we visited, lending visual support to Kakuk’s claim.

For as much as we love it, very few of us know the first thing about how chrome plating is done. Part of this has to do with the nature of the plating process itself, which is a series of complicated electrochemical reactions that create the hard, durable chrome coating on the outside of the base metal. If you’re anything like we are, you probably had a hard enough time grasping basic chemistry back in junior high, much less advanced theory like this. But the first step to understanding any obsession is education. In order to grasp our obsession with chrome, we decided to pay a visit to Santa Ana’s plating facility, cameras in tow, to find out everything there is to know about the chroming process. The Kakuks were happy to oblige, and they patiently walked us through their operation step by step. Here is how a first-rate chrome job gets done.