Main tip, Dont bother with a metal polishing kit!
Most of the polishing I do never even goes near a polishing wheel of any sort
Go & buy some 240, 400 & 800 grit sandpaper & use either soap or a bit of dish washing liquid in the water, Work your way down through the grades from 240 & you can bring the polish up fine enough to see your fingerprint in the reflection when you finish it off with 800, Then go to some polishing cream on a rag (like the Mothers mag & aluminium polish) or go down to 1000 or 1200 sand paper if you want a show quality finish before you hit it with the cream
Lots of people might say just use a wheel of some kind but it does not even the surface out like sandpaper if it is done properly & just using a wheel can put ripples in the surface & I have seen that many times before, Its a quick way to polish but can end up looking very crap
Basically you smooth off the surface with the rougher 240 or in some cases maybe 180 if the aluminium is pretty crappy & has marks or paint etc
The 400 smooths off what you have done with the 240 & so on, When you get the 400 going you will see the surface starting to polish & the water will actually start to bead off the aluminium which means the surface is getting smoother, When you go down to fresh 800 paper it will seem rougher than the worn down 400 but it will eventually smooth off to & even better shine, If you have a build thread post some pics when you get some done
My forks (And my frame you see in the pics above) have not been near a polishing wheel at all
I am going with a black frame anyway not because I couldnt be bothered polishing it but because I simply wanted to go for a more modern look
Lots of polished parts & a round headlight for example can make a 90's bike look like something from the 80's + I now have some green ZX7 wheels & I think it would look too lairy with a polished frame & green wheels?
My new ZX7 wheels>