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Pitting of chrome on motorcycle

hi, My question is I have two motorcycles in my garage AND IT SEEMS THAT ALL OF THE CHROME IS STARTING TO PIT AND IT Has a green color to it, can this be from sulfur I have been told I have Chinese drywall in my house and it is admitting sulfur gases in the garage. Thank you

Jim O'Keefe
consumer - Englewood, Florida
June 14, 2009

The green is either nickel or copper under the chrome plate corroding. Do you live by the ocean? Do you ever clean off your chrome? I live by the ocean in Maine, I have no problems.

George Brackett III
- Maine
June 19, 2009

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June 25, 2009

The green you are seeing is most likely the copper underneath the nickel chrome breaking down. I do not know how old your chrome is or how it was done. I know a lot of the newer motorcycles and the overseas chrome parts that you can get for them have a lot of copper plating on them followed by a thin nickel chrome. This is great for a real pretty smooth shiny finish. But copper does not give the same corrosion resistance that nickel does.
I think you have something in your garage that has some type of chemicals getting to the chrome. It could be swimming pool chemicals. fertilizer, battery acid or any number of solvents or cleaners. The chrome only needs to be in the same room for this to happen. I have even seen dryer vents ducted into a garage cause destruction on chrome.
sulfur in the Chinese drywall sounds a bit far fetched. But parts with Chinese chrome plating on them are usually inferior and more prone to corrosion.

Frank DeGuire
- St. Louis, Missouri, USA