Pics of polished wheels

Hey everyone. I am thinking of polishing the lips and outer edges of my wheels, but leaving the spokes and hub black. Has anyone posted up pics. of their bike with wheels polished like I am thinking of doing? I would like to see how that looks.

I also thought that I might just want to get yellow rim strips and just leave the wheels all black.

Jose

 

Not the best pic but thats black spokes with polished. I have lacquered the polished sections so they dont sparkle but less work for me.

IMO polishing the rim looks really cool and is an easy cheap way to enhance the look of the wheels.

With my paint job it (to me) makes the spokes look smaller and they don't really stand out.

Hope the pic helps

 

Yea, very noyce!

 

Joe your in Ottawa? there are a few others guys in the area a few hours south of me we need a git together after the spring thaw..... I am just over the border in NY about an hour and a half from Ottawa...

 

pap11y nice job. I've always liked the look as you can tell from my stock rims.

 

Thanks for putting up the pic and I agree Pap. I really like that look, especially with the petal rotors. That is the same setup I have, but my centers are blue. I had an old Nighthawk 450 and V45 Sabre and the factory had machined the edges to have that same kind of look. Do you have the rear polished the same way? I see that some folks polish the whole side of the wheel and I don't like that so much. I think I would prefer just the edges, like you have on the front.

What was your process to polish them?

Jose

 

Its actually a piece of cake....

Step 1 - strip the wheels with paint stripper (I did the whole wheel as I was considering polishing it all). I am sure you could strip the rims easily without affecting the spokes (you might need to mask it)



Note in this pic how nice the rims look without polish (ok the pics not the best but you can still see it a bit). They are down there waiting under the paint. Minor polish with metal polish had them looking sweet.



P.S. the first time I did this I left it and after a few months the rims looked shit (as they got corroded again - due to lack of polishing)

Thats why I think the rims are best to polish as they can be easily maintained. The spokes are too much work to keep clean (hence the black).

I still have an 8 spoke that I am going to polish on the out facing side and paint black on the underside. Then I am done..

Good luck with it.

 

What did you guys do about the machining grooves in the rims after you removed the powder coat? I didn't like the grooves so I sanded them out. Tons of work but gave a more mirrored finish. Have any of you found a coating that will stick to the polished part and won't dull the polished finish?

 

The only real options are clear powdercoat or anodizing. Powdercoat is the best, though. Otherwise, you just keep hitting it with some polish every now and then.

Jose

 

That paint stripper with a shitload of methylene chloride in it is really great on tires and gives new meaning to "keep the shiny side down."

 

I like the polished looked. Might have to consider.

CandyRed - those your other rides? Is that a '23 T-Bucket? I have memories of helping a friend restore one of those 20 something years ago.

 

i wish, theyre my fathers....
but yeah its a tbucket, big block 454, punched out to 468.
nothing on it is any older than early 90s though.
making about 600hp on 87 octcane

 

On all the bikes I've had, I have stripped and polished aluminum parts. I think it has a deeper look compared to chrome. I've never coated them because it cuts the sparkle. I've tried a few polishes for maintenance and the one I've stuck with is Mothers Mag Polish. Just need to do it once a month or every other month to keep them looking pristine. Then I'll put a synthetic polymer type coating on them to help them resist rain and stuff.

I do have an 8" bench grinder with buffing wheels and different compounds to do the first buff job. Makes it's a whole lot faster and easier. It's more maintenance but the finished product IMO turns out great.

Candy nice Bucket-T and is that a 37 Pontiac?

 

its an Oldsmobile

 

Hey Grey, SWEET ride-- my first street bike was a 83 Interceptor ---- that thing was bullet proof ----- did plenty of LOOOONG trips on that puppy Monterey 8 times, Colorado,Oregon and Utah to name a few. The best bike I've ever owned

 

Duccmann that's why I still have the bike. It's never let me down. I've got it setup for 1 up sport touring. I've been up and down the east coast many times, New England, Key West in to Wyoming in to Montana where I was doing a ton and the nice black top Wyoming road ended in to a Montana clay gravel road. Talk about sphincter valve tightener. And many more places. I just don't want to get rid of it cause it works great and it's part of me.