Grotty wheels!

Powdercoat them mate, the only time I clean them is at tyre change

Well, tastes differ, but I prefer something other than black powdercoated wheels on a Touring model. The front wheel looks like a big balloon. On a fully blacked-out Roadster, perhaps, but the Touring needs bling.

The wheels are essentially untreated aluminium, except the inside of the spokes and parts on the hub which have some kind of silvery coating (I'm guessing powdercoat).

How to polish aluminium isn't a secret, there are numerous guides on the interwebs. The big issue is access. The humongous brake disc in the rear makes getting at the wheel to polish it almost impossible. Last winter I put the bike on the lift and just removed the wheel, removed the disc and went to town on it.

Started with 800 grit wet sanding, then 1200, then 2000 and the final step was a machine polish with Flitz metal polish. I used a drill, and rotary polishing wheels of various sizes.

It's lasted fine, though it's slowly dulling again - aluminium oxidizes instantly which forms a protective layer that keeps the shine for a while. But it did take a few days to do, which was fine since it wasn't riding weather anyway. But I don't see any realistic way of getting the entire wheel shiny except dismantling it to this point to get access. You can do it solo assuming you have a hydraulic lift and some kind of lift adapter so the bike stays on the lift even though you detach a wheel.

There is a whitewall under the tape. The result was also not 100% perfect, but I was still pleased with the end result.



If you're not keen on doing this once a year or so, there are other treatments besides black powdercoat. I'd choose a "chrome" powdercoat first personally, even though it doesn't really look chrome, more like a bright silver. I'm also intrigued by a process I've seen only on a web site thus far, CalChrome Clear - CalChrome.com

If you want to try to work around the brake disc, it's not 100% impossible, it's just a huge pain in the ass. You'd probably have to do a little dismantling to simplify - specifically, remove the pannier, and unbolt the pannier rail on the right-hand side.

Then get a fast (2000 rpm or more if possible) hand drill, and buy these:

Buff Ball | Super Mini 2" (w/ FREE 1.76oz Paste Polish)

You may need more Flitz polish than that. The buff ball on a stick can kind of, sort of, get in there and if you rotate the wheel and work from the rear of the bike you can more or less get in there. I just couldn't get at everything that way and lost patience.

The large buffball might also work Buff Ball | Large 5" but you need to find some kind of extender for it to get it in there, maneuvering the whole drill that "deep" into the wheel is probably not happening with the brake disc still on there.

Also, removing the fender is another idea to consider. It's quite easy to do - you just need to remove the seat, then remove the bolts on the sides that hold the fender to the subframe and (if you want to lift it off completely) unplug the three cables that connect the rear subharness from the main electrical harness. They're under the right-hand side panel. It's a 5-10 minute job. With the fender out of the way, it would be
vastly easier to attack the wheel from multiple angles.

Here's a picture from when I detached mine to do the LED taillight conversion. The area marked 1 is where you can sorta see where the fender was bolted in on both sides. The other areas are what you'd have to remove to get the right-hand side pannier rail out of the way. After that, polishing would no doubt be far easier. Removing the fender is quite easy and you don't need a stand or anything.

Orrrrrr, leave it dirty. I've had very few people lay down on the road to look at my back wheel. But if they do, I'll deserve the heckling I get

I don't polish it for other people, I polish it because I like the wheel looking spiffy when I lie down next to the bike and admire the rear wheel under the panniers. :-D

On a fully blacked-out Roadster, perhaps, but the Touring needs bling.

Ouch! Now all I can see is a balloon up front.....I've lost all confidence in it's handling abilities

The @laraza wheels look just fine, and complement well the custom paint.

I'm really impressed with the work @cr0ft has done. And there is powerfully magnetic appeal of the @Rocket Scientist approach (which I suspect most of us do by default).

I'm probably going to follow @cr0ft 's lead on this at least once -- he has led me astray before and I'm a sucker for seemingly good things for the Rocket.

Thank *all* for sharing.

Joesmoe said:

The @laraza wheels look just fine, and complement well the custom paint.

I'm really impressed with the work @cr0ft has done. And there is powerfully magnetic appeal of the @Rocket Scientist approach (which I suspect most of us do by default).

I'm probably going to follow @cr0ft 's lead on this at least once -- he has led me astray before and I'm a sucker for seemingly good things for the Rocket.

Thank *all* for sharing.

Click to expand...

Thanks for all the replies chaps, awesome! It does appear that you colonials across the pond are better catered for in terms of "Buff Balls" if you'll pardon the expression. I've checked online and can only get that thing delivered from the States with postage of around 40 bucks, ouch. Now you come to mention it, the dirty look's kinda growing on me now though! I might consider the powder coating route as well. Thanks again for all the replies, exept for the one who didn't like the red text but had nothing else constructive to add,....geeeez!!

Bruce said:

Hi All,

My beautiful new (old), '14 reg R3T is being let down a bit by her wheels. Her previous owner fell out of love with her I think as she didn't seem to move much for the 12 months before I got her. I've managed to clean all the paintwork and chrome and she's beautiful, just a bit of a shame about the wheels. They're a bit dull and tarnished and I was wondering if any of you have any good tips for getting them bright and shiny again. I'm crap on the spanners too, so taking the wheels/brakes/anything else off is not really do-able for me, but that is the other problem, accessing them properly. I've tried Solvol Autosol but that's going to take me about 3 years to do it that way! Anyone know if there's another way? There are also some stone marks on the front forks where water's got under the lacquer and the Autosol has no effect whatsoever on this, any tips or is it just live with it? Thanks for any replies, cheers! p.s. I know I'm a lazy bastard, but if there's an easy way I'd love to hear from you.

Click to expand...

Once i realized how hard they were to keep polished i chose to ignore them and spend the time drinking Rum on Sundays..........

Wrecka said:

Once i realized how hard they were to keep polished i chose to ignore them and spend the time drinking Rum on Sundays..........

Click to expand...

Being a Brit I'm more of a whisky and gin type of bloke myself. "The Botanist" for gin, (try it neat, awesome), or Lagavulin, Aberlour 12yr, and Old Pulteney are favourites. I don't know if you can get these wherever you're from, but the Botanist in particular is pretty spectacular. Around 40 revs per minute, it sure will put hairs on your chest!!