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Never tried this with a bike frame but in my (limited) experience lacquer does not play well with mirror polished Ali. A blasted/matted finish provides a much better base for adhesion. What grade sanding did you take it to before polishing? I don't think you should have scratches from the sandpaper left over. I'm looking into taking an Ali frame back to raw and once the paint has been stripped I will go down to 1200 grit before using something like a wire wool to get a more even matt finish.
TLDR: if you want mirror polished don't lacquer it and put aside a day a month to re-polish it.
jono84
I’d appreciate a bit of advice. My old fixie frame (aluminium, nothing special, polished finish with clearcoat) was a bit of a mess, quite scratched and very ugly corrosion tracking under the lacquer. I have sanded off the old clearcoat and the scratches and have been polishing it back up. I have got it up to a good shine but not a perfect mirror finish - there are still some tiny scratches from the sandpaper, but it looks quite good I think. Current condition pictured below.
What I am trying to decide is whether to clearcoat it again. I have some spray lacquer but not sure if it’s worth it. What do people think? Does the lacquer over the top of a bare aluminium frame make much difference?