Mk3 Commando Steering Lock Removal and Paint

Almost the last job before finally being able to start the build up of what was a sad, butchered Mk3 wreck (approx. 60% had to be replaced or was incorrect/not present) is to refurbish the fork yokes.

The steering lock had no key and was heavily corroded, so needed replacement.  I bought a long 1/8" Bosch HSS drill bit, thinking I would drill out the roll pin.  Using slowish speed and lubricant did nothing except make the roll pin shiny!  Giving up that approach, I decided brutal was the next best option.  Using a large punch and hammer, two blows pushed the tumbler down to the locked position, and two more blows saw the lock assembly drop out after shearing the roll pin - why did I waste money on the long drill bit.........?

Now the yokes are cleaned up and ready for paint, but what paint to use?  Both Norman White and a colleague at work recommended silver Smoothrite.  Norman's own bike certainly looked okay with that.  However, having bought some and tried it on a test piece, not only is it really thin and runny, it also dries to a matt finish - Norman's yokes were only shiny-ish, but definitely not matt.  I know the original Norton applied finish was not really gloss, but was also not matt, which could get grubby pretty quickly and just looks wrong too.  I have read a few reviews of Smmothrite that comment about a formulation change, so maybe Norman's (painted a few years ago) was actually a different paint?

I'm sure this question has been asked before, but website searches did not come up with anything, so does anyone have a spray paint recommendation,  ideally aerosol/   I do not want to powder coat the yokes, even though that would likely be more durable.

Regards, Andy