Has anyone changed the nightmare-to-clean unlacqured engine cases on their bike for the black painted ones? I've simply had enough of them on my T100 now. Annoyingly it looks like Triumph used to do a kit for this but there are none to be found now, so it'll have to be the individual parts... If you did this, did you regret it after a while?
Why not powder coat the ones you have, with Triumph prices that must be a cheaper option. The alternator cover is listed at £133 and the clutch cover at £250!!
Not sure what you mean by 'Triumph used to do a kit for this'. A kit for what? Changing engine cases from polished to black? As Samsgrandad says, powder coating is going to be an inexpensive option. Or cerakoting, which can be done clear, so you could retain the polished look without the nightmare-to-clean, although it's not cheap. Of course check out ebay if you simply want to buy black cases, they quite often come up, but I'm sure you've thought of that.
Triumph do replacement engine cases in black for the T100,T120 Street Twin etc, for silly money, unless they've recently stopped. As I said they're not too hard to find on ebay. Motone make their own replacement covers.
Yes. It had the two casings in black, gaskets and badges, and was much cheaper than the £400ish to buy the parts separately. Used parts are almost always marked in my experience and powdercoating means having somewhere to store your bike while you wait a week or three for the parts to come back. Tried adding clear coat once - never again, and I've had bad experiences with pattern parts before too. I seem to be jinxed in that department...
I had a quick butchers on ebay, looking for Street Twin engine cases (as you know they're the same). There were a couple but as you said, they both had minor damage. I have seen them come up in mint condition, so they're out there if you're patient. So it looks like your choices are to buy new cases, wait patiently for decent used cases, get yours powder coated or cerakoted (cerakote clear is not the same as DIY clear coating, this stuff is tougher than powder coat) or go for cases from Motone (which I have done and their cases are easily as good as the originals, but not cheap. I got mine during their last 20%-off sale). If trying to keep the ones you have looking good is a pain in the arse, which it sounds like it is, then I'd bite the bullet and shell out the cash. Or be bike-less for a week or two while the powder-coaters do their job.
I'd like to keep the parts standard so looks like bullet biting time. You never know how picky insurance companies will be when making a claim "oh powder coating the cases made your bike more desirable so we're not going to pay out. No we dont have a record of you informing us"...
Buy a tube of Rub n Buff silver leaf. Apply sparingly with an old toothbrush, leave for a couple of minutes, then polish. Stops corrosion on alloy cases.
I think Dartplayer has found your answer, well done that man. I know insurance companies can sometimes be a bit uncooperative and some of them may try to wriggle out of paying-up, if they can show you've not followed their rules. But I can't believe any of them would try to get away with that particular excuse. Perhaps you were joking?