Depends... Some bikes had only 1/2 or less of the forks and rear triangle chrome plated ("socks" as the British).
Other makers chrome plated the whole forks but only polished the lower half before plating so the top half looks bad without paint. Same with frames.
I think that the kelly green with black head tube Nishiki bikes with the chrome front lugs were all chrome plated. The green paint was somewhat translucent and the chrome underneath gave it an interesting appearance not found on many production bikes of that era.
The interest in chrome plated forks increased in the mid 70s after Gios and several other high end Italian builders started making them. At the same time chrome prices skyrocketed because of recurrent chrome ore embargoes against Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and South Africa.
For whatever reason, the painted fork look of a lot of high end Italian bikes caught on too so by the mid 70s a lot of European and Japanese bikes that formerly came with 1/2 chrome plated forks were now all painted.
Chas. Colerich Oakland, CA USA
David Kulcinski wrote:
> Can anyone tell me about the "normal" paint scheme for Nishikis? All of the Nishikis that I have seen have the forks & stays 1/2 painted & 1/2 chrome. When parts are treated that way, are they fully chromed & then masked & painted, or are they chromed to a bit past the 1/2 way mark & then masked & painted?
> The forks on my Nishiki are fully chromed, but I am thinking that, if/when I do a restoration, that I should do the 1/2 chrome unless there were those that had fully chromed forks. Mine has been repainted by a previous owner & I don't know what might be under the paint on the stays. I don't want to get started and use any stripper on it until I am committed to the restoration since it is my daily rider.
>
> Thank you,
> David Kulcinski
> Orange, CA