Mainline, here's the deal with me..if I'm being anal and the bolt is like a special S suzuki bolt I'll replate it. If it's a phillips head engine case screw or normal 6 or 8mm plain or flanged I'll buy new, nut's and washers I buy new and these days even spokes I'd rather buy new. I was plating but the time involved and the ritual you need to follow for good results has me heading off the the local bolt shop pronto. Surprising how cheap it is to replace most of the nuts and bolts on a bike if you go to a fastener supplier..good chance he'll have most of what you want for under $20..compare that to weeks worth of cleaning and plating and cursing and replating even then they are shiney but still don't have that new look. Depends on the bike and fasteners needed I guess but for normal garden variety stuff it's so much easier just to pay the man or use something out of the bucket of bolts one collects over time. Even plating places are a bother sometimes, parts lost in plating tanks does happen
having a kit at home if you need it is great and I'd recommend it but buying new if available is just so much easier
buying new bolts is like buying new plugs..they're consumables..try making a sparkplug at home in the garage for under $3.95
