Not to mention it being a giant mirror. If you spend anytime sitting on it I am sure the sun would be bouncing off of it right into your eyes..................

Plus polished alumium is a pain to keep clean. I had polished billet wheels on my Prostreet chopper, it was a show bike and after the first time it saw rain, I had to take the wheels off and machine polish them again becasue no matter what I tried there were small water spots. \

I say have it powdercoated with one of the translucent colors.

Your right, you probably wouldn't wanna chrome something you have to touch. I'm doing little parts that don't get touched or very rarely do

I think you have the right idea, mine are colored and look great

just adding my 2cts worth here, but i am experienced in polishing. I have done a few dozen street bike frames, along with countless other odd and end parts. aluminum is a very porous metal and extremely soft. it will never keep its shine if it is in constant contact with hands and feet. the trick is to keep it up once it is polished. you could very well "clear" it after you polish it, but in my opinion, it takes away from the actual shine you get from doing all the work to polish it anyways. if you do decide to go that route, the best polish by far that i have used to keep up a finish is called Simichrome. It has been in my case hard to find (minus the internet), and also costs about its weight in gold, but is totally worth it if you go with polishing something. if you need any advise on the steps to take, PM me and ill do my best to help you out. Not that im some pro at doing this, but ive spent my fair share behind a DA sander and a buffer to know a little. lol