Rusted Chrome Plating is Best Restored by Re-plating, but Steel Wool is Surprisingly Useful

The appearance may be improved by entangling point rust with steel wool.

After washing the surface with water using car shampoo to remove mud and dust, spray a rust-preventive lubricant on the plated surface and gently rub it with extra-fine steel wool. Just as a fine-grained compound does not scrape off the painted surface very well, the finer the steel wool, the more rust spots can be scraped off without damaging the plating. However, it is important to use the right amount of force, because rubbing too hard will cause the plated surface to become cloudy.

The pinhole-like marks where the chrome plating was broken do not disappear, but the red rust has been rubbed off and the dullness has disappeared, and the chrome plating has regained its luster. If you give up on rusted plating because it is no good anyway, that's the end of the matter, but if it shines this bright with just some time and careful work, that's good enough. If you want more than this, you should ask for a remanufactured plating.

The enemy of chrome plating is moisture, so the best defense against rust is to avoid storing it in damp and rainy places. This is true not only for the chrome plating but also for the entire motorcycle, including the paint and rubber. Also, after riding in the rain or after the bike is stored outdoors with the body cover on, you can prevent rusting of the plating by removing the cover and wiping the wet areas with a cloth or by removing moisture from the inside of the cover. It is also effective to coat the chrome-plated surface with a chemical such as NAKARAI's MEKKING, which creates a silicone film on the surface of the chrome plating. If red rust does occur, depending on the degree of rusting, it may be possible to remedy the situation.
Although it is not a cure, but a temporary fix, steel wool, which is also used to remove burnt-on pans in the kitchen, may remove red rust from the surface of the plating.

Red rust on chrome-plated surfaces is hard, and metal polishing chemicals alone may not be able to remove even a small core of rust. Steel wool is expected to catch such foreign matter and entangle it with fine metal fibers. Industrial steel wool has a coarseness setting similar to that of sandpaper, and by selecting the finest grit and rubbing while applying rust-preventive lubricant, you can remove spot rust as well as dirt and dullness from the chrome-plated surface.
However, it is not effective for rust that has progressed beyond spot rust, or for areas where the plating has peeled off like a scab. Also, rubbing with steel wool may cause the plating film to peel off.
This is not the fault of the steel wool, but the rust that has progressed under the chrome layer has peeled off.

Hard scrubbing will cause the chrome surface to cloud over with minor scratches, so it is important to use the right amount of force.

Rims polished with steel wool and spokes replaced with new ones transform the wheels from their old look before the work was done. Rusted rims should be coated with Mekking to coat the chrome plating.

When rubbing point-rusted claw plating with steel wool, the trick is to rub gently without pressing down on the steel wool after spraying it with a rust-preventive lubricant to make it more slippery.
It is true that chrome plating is harder than paint, but if you scrub too hard just for a temporary fix, you will get fine scratches and dull the luster. Steel wool is not necessarily effective against all rusting of chrome plating, as rusting conditions vary from one to another. It is natural that rusted chrome plating is in poor condition, so the plating may not shine.

Also, since the rust originates from beneath the chrome layer, even if the red rust is scrubbed off, it will leave pinhole-like traces on the surface and will not return the surface to a like-new condition.
Nevertheless, depending on the condition of the material and the timing of the work, the rust may be less noticeable than expected and the metallic luster unique to chrome may be restored.
We want to easily improve the current situation while understanding that reclaimed plating is the best choice. In such cases, you may want to try steel wool polishing.