Painted my Chrome bars

[BDC]

And it worked just fine.
Couldn't find decent apes in black locally so I bought a chrome set.
Gave them a good sanding with 160grit sanding pads/scourers till they came up like brushed steel finish, hit them with 2 coats of grey Etch Primer and 2 coats of Rattle can gloss black with a light sand in between coats.
Then I put them on the bike to see how resilient they are. And it worked fine - good adhesion.
The finish isn't perfect yet because I didn't want to go too hard if it was going to be fragile/chip off - but next time I'm working on the bike I'll whip them off, give them another coat or two of black and a couple of clear acrylic and they should look pretty good.
So yeah - AFAIK you can paint chrome handlebars.

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[pebblewurm]

I've thought about covering bars with heat shrink tubing, similar to the celluloid covered bars from the turn of the 20th Century.

 

[Hukah]

And it worked just fine.
Couldn't find decent apes in black locally so I bought a chrome set.
Gave them a good sanding with 160grit sanding pads/scourers till they came up like brushed steel finish, hit them with 2 coats of grey Etch Primer and 2 coats of Rattle can gloss black with a light sand in between coats.
Then I put them on the bike to see how resilient they are. And it worked fine - good adhesion.
The finish isn't perfect yet because I didn't want to go too hard if it was going to be fragile/chip off - but next time I'm working on the bike I'll whip them off, give them another coat or two of black and a couple of clear acrylic and they should look pretty good.
So yeah - AFAIK you can paint chrome handlebars. View attachment 151059.

good to know. Thx

 

[JA331]

I’ve found the most durable rattle can paint is the heat proof engine stuff. i use vht. I’ve painted alot of things including a stainless handlebar recently without priming. Dries quickly too and great finish. 10 years ago i restored a 67 mustang with the deluxe interior. I had the chrome console parts replated and later had to paint a number of sections black. I lightly sanded those sections, hit them with etch primer and then gloss black. Painted this bike with vht ford engine dark blue but this was primed first. Key is to use a quality brand of paint that cures quickly in contrast to the cheap stuff can take weeks. I have a straight 8 3 speed and planning on some ape hangers, but smaller than yours though. Thats a sweet setup you have there @BDC.

 

[Hukah]

I’ve found the most durable rattle can paint is the heat proof engine stuff. i use vht. I’ve painted alot of things including a stainless handlebar recently without priming. Dries quickly too and great finish. 10 years ago i restored a 67 mustang with the deluxe interior. I had the chrome console parts replated and later had to paint a number of sections black. I lightly sanded those sections, hit them with etch primer and then gloss black. Painted this bike with vht ford engine dark blue but this was primed first. Key is to use a quality brand of paint that cures quickly in contrast to the cheap stuff can take weeks. I have a straight 8 3 speed and planning on some ape hangers, but smaller than yours though. Thats a sweet setup you have there @BDC.View attachment 151694

Thanks for the tips. I have an old handlebar set that has a shape I want on my bike but the chrome is long gone.
I will be painting them after I clean them up well.
I'll give VHT a try.