Paint Flaking - Cylinders

[Nortoon_imp]

My cylinders are in a bit of a mess!
Have a look at these pics....







It was new in Aug 2014, so its mid way thru its 3rd winter. It lives outside and I ride all year.

I have a hose right by where I park my bike and always wash her down if she's been out in the wet. Extra thoroughly in winter.

It's just the cylinders really, the cases and Cylinder heads all seem to be holding up quite well. I had the spark plug manifolds re-placed under warranty for the same problem.

I understand that things age but I'm a little disappointed with the quality of the paint. Is that un-reasonable?
I'm out of warranty by 6 months now, so it's all academic really.

I was thinking of painting them in situ with a HT Black satin paint. Not ideal but it's got to be better than them looking all scabby like that. Especially as the rest of the bike looks so nice....

"in situ" ?

Are you thinking about using a wire brush to remove the flakey stuff, and then using a brush to paint the cylinders on the assembled bike? That might be a little tricky.

Removing the cylinders and having them bead blasted and spray painted would be better, but expensive and time consuming.

Either way the motor would look better all aluminum. Just compare a picture of the 2014 Deluxe versus the 2017 EX. Having the motor all aluminum makes it stand out as the centerpiece of the motorcycle.

I know there is heat resistant aluminum spray paint, because I painted the steel cylinders of my 1966 Yamaha 305 with it when they rusted.