Wheel rims!

[chunk166]

Hi Guys 'n' Girls,
                        My rear wheel is looking a bit worst for wear as the paint looks its seen better days!! I have been watching a few videos on YouTube about polished rims! Some of them just use paint stripper & then metal polish to get a shine,the other way i understand is to use different grades of sand paper,which takes ages to do! I would like the idea of doing it to my bike but i'm not sure if i'm confidant enough to do it as i don't want to balls it up (i'm a little heavy handed & impatient)!!! Have any of you tried the paint stripping way & is it easy? or should i just give my wheel another coat of paint!


Cheers Ray

[ChristoT]

Paint is there for a reason, to protect your wheels. Leave it on.

[chunk166]

I've seen on another post someone ask about the paint whether it was satin or gloss? Is there that much of a difference between them? Would hammerite smooth do the job?Sorry for the questions as i've not had this problem n other bikes!!!

[ChristoT]

I've seen on another post someone ask about the paint whether it was satin or gloss? Is there that much of a difference between them? Would hammerite smooth do the job?Sorry for the questions as i've not had this problem n other bikes!!!

Afraid you're talking to the wrong person for this! I would imagine Hammerite would work quite well, as you can paint engines in the stuff, but please don't quote me!

[apage16]

As it happens, I've just been reading about hammerite this morning. I have some rusty renntec bars to paint. they're steel, so no trouble there. But I'm afraid that for aluminium, bare zinc and galvanized metals you need a special primer as they don't allow the paint to bond. Considering our wheels are very likely an alloy with a high zinc content (a variant of MAZAC an aluminium/magnesium/zinc alloy) theres an almost 100% chance the paint will just flake off again unless you use primer first.

I've actually polished my rims. Just the outer corners though. I took the sandpaper route. Not too bad tbh. Notoriously thin Japanese paint! Nowhere near as tough to get off as the anodizing on the swingarm and rad trims. (I'll be leaving them as they are!

Anyway, once a month with a little autosol keeps the rims nice and shiny. And I'm still riding now. So its no fair weather bike. I plan to do the back wheel at next tyre change (so I can get under the balancing weights).

But, each to their own!

[ChristoT]

At work, we use Etch prime on our aluminium parts. We key the metal with sandpaper, then paint on the primer.

[Deefer666]

Unless you have an OCD issue with cleaning then DO NOT polish your wheels. They look great for approx 5 minutes and then they will get dirty, tarnish and corrode and to maintain then you will have to polish them virtually everytime the bike is ridden.

I am a lazy bugger so all my bikes have either painted or powder coated wheels

[apage16]

Ha! I feel your pain Mark!

I quite like that little bit of extra elbow grease for a tiny bit more bling! 

They match the polished engine covers too!  :lol

[mickvp]

I would also advocate not polishing your wheels. if you do, you are inevitably going to have to put clear lacquer on to get any chance of a durable finish - which then means you could have just painted the wheel again in a much shorter time.

I assume when you are talking about using hammerite, we are talking rattle cans, and not painting it on with a brush. to paint on with a brush and get a good finish you will need to colour sand etc which takes time, effort, and finesse.

Yes, there is a difference between satin and gloss. gloss is really shiny(after lacquer, which it has been designed to be used with) like the paint on the tank, so its satin you want. Some people will tell you that you can use gloss, but dont laquer it which cuts down the shine. This is true, but again, you will affect durability. satin paint is generally the same price, so go for that.

if you just want a reasonably quick job, that will look OK (it will look good if your patient and willing to spend the time on it) you should first sand back the wheel using an intermediate grade sandpaper (at least ~400 grade, work up to at least ~800 for a better, smoother finish).

then put 2-3 thin coats of something like this (let dry thoroughly between coats, and a light sanding between coats with fine grade paper helps too):

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/store...yId_165625

then 2-3 coats of this (again, a quick light sand between coats, give plenty of time between drying - and try and spray somewhere out of wind etc if you can):

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/store...65505#tab2

put your last coat on extra thin, and dont sand afterwards, leave to dry and thats you done.


Having said ALL that. if you add up the costs above (~£20 for the materials you will need I reckon, including sandpapers if you dont have them), I have a place local to me that will powdercoat my wheel in a day for about £35-40, so its generally not worth all that effort if your not going to be really thorough and do  good job, I would rather hand over the extra few quid and have someone put some really durable powdercoat on, then there is some comeback for you if the job happens to be substandard.

HTH

Mick

[chunk166]

Thank you for your comments,i was going to be lazy & paint on top of the existing wheel paint so i didn't have to rub it down after a good de-greasing  :eek  But to polish is a lot of work to keep clean & i'm not patient enough to do the sanding, so it might stay as is for now  :lol


Cheers Ray

[Yamazer-92]

I think I read somewhere that powder coating certain rims can make them weak and prone to cracking due to the extreme heat they have to use in the painting process. If you google it, there are a lot of cases to back that up. Whether it would affect the fazer rims I don't know but to be safe I would do it the way mickvp suggests. I plan to do mine at some point soon, I cheated on my old Suzuki rims and just sprayed them and lacquered and it was pretty decent but got some stone chips fairly quickly. I think sanding and priming would give a much better and more durable finish.

[mickvp]

I think I read somewhere that powder coating certain rims can make them weak and prone to cracking due to the extreme heat they have to use in the painting process. If you google it, there are a lot of cases to back that up. Whether it would affect the fazer rims I don't know but to be safe I would do it the way mickvp suggests. I plan to do mine at some point soon, I cheated on my old Suzuki rims and just sprayed them and lacquered and it was pretty decent but got some stone chips fairly quickly. I think sanding and priming would give a much better and more durable finish.

the actual powdercoating process is a magnetic process, and involves no heat. It is true though that the coating needs baking on afterwards though. Its not the heat thats the issue, but the way the wheels are cooled afterwards thats the issue. if they are cooled too quickly they become harder, and more brittle. the proper way to cool them is to switch the oven off at the end of the day (with the wheels still inside), and let the wheels cool inside the oven overnight, then removing them the next day when they are cooled (which is known as annealing, for those who dont know/care :lol).

to be fair though, the rims dont need to be THAT hot so as to cause issues, but I have heard of companies who put the ovens up full to quicken the drying times.

As long as you make sure beforehand that the powdercoating place you use has some sort of annealing process, and that they dont take the wheels straight out the oven and take them out back of the place outside to cool (which can cause hot/cold spots and warping in extreme cases) it should be fine  :thumbup

[fireblake]

Earlier this year i rubbed my wheels down, used a Primer/filler and several coats of Smooth Hammerite, i did a gentle rub down between every coat and after a week drying i took my bike on a 20 mile ride to get some nice new tyres. the tyre fitted put the bike on a ramp and then proceeded to show me where the paint had come off in several places, some patches were 5 or 6 cm's square. Very pissed of and will let a professional do it next time. I only did it myself to save the bearings but my fronts were knackered anyway so not much to save. I might do them again in a few years.  Or not


Mickey

[adeejaysdelight]

Why not powdercoat them? I did this on my CBF last year as they were corroded. I had them done in white and they look great, still. Keeping them clean is easy, unless they get covered in chain wax. Then it is a bit of work. It cost me £80 for the pair.

[fireblake]

What put me off Powder coating was when they chipped, water would get underneath and lift larger amounts off. This could not be repaired like a paint touch up so needed to be done again. This was about 20 years ago so might be different now


Mickey

[Deefer666]

It takes a lot to chip properly applied powder coating, I have an FJ frame that was powdered in 1997 thats really been through the wars. It was my race bike, then my road stunter, then sat under a tarp in the garden for 6 years and no chips no scratches and if I wipe it with a damp cloth it comes up as good as new.

[fazersharp]

I've actually polished my rims. Just the outer corners though. I took the sandpaper route. Not too bad tbh.

Lets have a look then!!!
I have rim tape - are you saying thats the bit you have done

[karlo]