This has me between a rock and a hard place.
I have accumulated lots of stuff all genuine and mainly cases, nuts bolts, wheels, forks and the like.
Where possible i restore equipment and where i can't, i buy NOS or something else that's better.
That will be like most here.
I hate scruffy bikes and i never understand how some people spend a fortune having a bike professionally painted and cases cleaned up then put old untreated and rusty nuts bolts and washers back on with the new looking parts.
I get stuff from Motodad and Randy Marble . I deal with people from all over the Eastern States and Texas. That can work out twice as much for a given part and forces the price double of any job.
Since i bought Evaporust , i have either turned a corner or become an extremely " don't throw that away, it'll come in handy" man in the shed kind of guy.
The first pic shows a suspension bolt from my CT 3 . That bloody bike has cost a kings ransom in spares and the condition of the bolt reflects the condition of the bike when i bought it.

Now then,i discarded the bolts into a bag and replaced them with Motodad stuff.
Thing is,look what evaporust and some elbow grease has done

That's not even been plated yet !
Here's what i did to get to that point.
Evaporust for two days.
Put them to the wire brush attachment on the bench grinder.
1/2 inch chuck Bosch hammer drill in my vice on full speed with the bolt in the chuck.
Put a smooth file up to it until it went shiny. Gave it more if needed.
Held 150 grit emery up to it until it looked like it had been turned in a lathe .
Put 600 grit to it the same.
Next, course Scotch Brite going down to fine.
Then medium wire wool.
All the time on full speed.
So i have ended up with a tray full of original nuts bolts and washers all restored ready for plating.
The finish ain't perfect but i don't think it would look out of place on a bike that was in good condition and unrestored to look like new.
I recently bought some stuff from Grease that looked like total shite.
There was a decent rear shock there for a Yamaha TZR 250 3MA. I overhauled that and made it look almost new.
I sold it for 100% profit and still didn't rip anyone off in the process.
I suppose i'm saying old stuff is too good to throw away.
After all, it is original.
What's your views on the subject?

I am quite happy with the "survivor" look Dave. I agree that if only part of a bike is restored, then that won't sit well with what isn't.

I'll clean up rusty nuts and bolts with Evaporust, Autosol, wire wool and the like but then, assuming that the original plating is still intact, leave it at that.

I find that screws tend to need replacing more than bolts, but it is rather annoying when Yamaha have superseded the part to one with a different colour/finish or, even worse, one which doesn't fit (yes, RD400 airbox cover butterfly bolt, I'm talking about you!).

Obviously perished rubber parts have to be replaced with new and Yamaha still manufacture a reasonable number of them.

Keep er' going AL and Dave ! It will be a Peach in no time !!

Yes , Yamaha do that and it gets on my wazz.
Two identical parts ,one comes with a 10mm black nut on the bolt, the other a 12mm nickel plated one!
What ever possesses them? It's funny how the screws seem to be made from cheese as well. Although the Italians take the crown for that one.
The other thing is Suzuki have a whole department dedicated to older bike spares.
Yamaha are missing a golden opportunity there.
Looks like the ole plating kits going to be getting a workout.
Hey Rick, mine will look more like a Sea Cucumber as when i got the CT3 it looked like it had been dragged from the depths of the Ocean

Nut anyone?

Dido on Motodad, Randy Marble and Evaporust. Don't forget KDI.

I really enjoy the satisfaction of taking taking a crappy, rusty original bolt and polishing it and plating it, especially as I hadn't plated anything at home until a few months ago.
Knowing 95% of the bolts on my bike are 50 years old and were part of the original bike build is important to me.
There's nothing wrong with whatever approach you want to take to your restoration because it's exactly that, "your restoration", but for me originality where possible is best.
Here's a lower shock bolt I plated today, the second one is about to go in now.

It's quite amazing how good the metal underneath is Pete.
I think back to when i was a kid . My mate used to say " Jap bikes are all scrap from new ".
Funny how they look so good still .

What is it "plated" with ? - looks chrome , if so did you do that in your "home plating works"....?

KJB maybe i can answer that one.
I think Pete is using one of the kits same as what i started with.
That will be bright nickel finish.
You can get chemicals locally to do the job but you need an effective way of controlling amps for extended use.
The thing is in the preparation . The other is good contact.
The last one is ventilation! The vapour smells nice but is highly corrosive .
I wouldn't chrome at home. It's toxic as hell and you can't just get rid of the chemicals at the dump.

Oh yes i have loads of KDI stuff.