>> I think you will find that those aluminum parts are heavily
>> anodized.

> Not the ones I see.  They are bright machined or cast aluminum.

Aluminum oxide would cover the surface of any machined or cast part in
hours, so when looking at aluminum, you are seeing aluminum oxide unless you
scrape it yourself.
The only question would be about how thick a layer of aluminum oxide.
Anodizing would make the coating thicker, not easy to see.

"Bright and shiny" aluminum would be a function of the surface smoothness -
sheet aluminum, even fully oxidized, are the reflectors in bike headlight or
tail reflectors.	

Non-oxidized aluminum would only exist if it were coated, as the oxidation
process is pretty quick.
Pitted and discolored aluminum (old engine parts) is another thing entirely,
and takes some time.
As a general rule, if you can scrape it easily with a pocketknife, it is not
anodized.
There are also several alloys out there.

 

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