The fork lowers on my nc30 have been polished by the previous owner, it's always annoyed me but I never got around to painting/powdercoating them when I last had them apart for a refresh.

So I'd like to paint them soon. Would ideally like them powdercoated, but I'd rather not pull the forks apart again so masking and painting will be the only option.

I don't have a great history of getting paint to stick over the long term to polished surfaces. How should I prep the fork surface tp get the paint to adhere properly? Should I be using a primer (or etcher?) prior to paint?

It doesn't look great with polished forks at the mo, but will look far worse if I paint them and it starts to come off!

Any tips?

Key the surface with some scotchbrite, etch prime(upol acid etch is good if using cans) then paint.

And use some thinners to wipe down first.

Thanks guys, I'll get started on this soon.