Polished Rims

[millsj2004]

I was recently in the Isle of Man for the T.T. I saw a number of VFRs with the same standard wheels as mine but the outer portion of the rims had been stripped of paint and polished to a bright finish while the spokes were left painted black. I thought it was a great look. Does anyone know where I could get this done?

[KC-10 FE]

If you have the patience, it is actually not too hard to do this yourself.

You have several options:

1) Take them to a body shop & let them do it. It would probably be about $250 or that's how much it would be in NJ.

2) Sand just the edges with fine grit sand paper. This would then necesitate re-clearcoating & it would probably screw up the edge of the remaining paint.

3) Use a chemical paint stripper. This is VERY messy & if you let one drop land where it shouldn't & you just ruined the rest of the paint.

4) Use reflective wheel stickers. This will obviously not be the shiny look you're going for.

Me personally, I would just spend the $$$ & let a professional do it.

KC-10 FE out...

[FrankoQ]

Originally Posted by millsj2004

I was recently in the Isle of Man for the T.T. I saw a number of VFRs with the same standard wheels as mine but the outer portion of the rims had been stripped of paint and polished to a bright finish while the spokes were left painted black. I thought it was a great look. Does anyone know where I could get this done?

Sounds interesting.
Any pics?

[crgvfr800]

one of the Members here...Tourmeister has a site that tells you exactly how to do it....heres the link....
Piston Powered Passion - Present Bikes - VFR800 Wheel Stripping
it tells how to do whole wheel but itll be the same concept for the outer lip just tape off the rest

[millsj2004]

Thanks guys. I might tackle this myself but my preference is to have it done by the pros if the cost isn't too crazy. Unfortunately I don't have any pics as all the bikes I saw with this wheel finish were moving kinda fast. I saw a couple with the same finish but gold spokes rather than black and that looked really awesome.

Cheers

[KC-10 FE]

I just remembered that Rustoleum make "chrome" spray paint. Obviously, this may not be the best option, but it would absolutely be the cheapest. $6 for a can of spray paint & 2 for a roll of painter's masking tape.

KC-10 FE out...

[crgvfr800]

the only thing about painting them is that tire tools will scratch and chip the paint....i was told by paint shop that id have to strip and polish the outer edge or have it powdercoated....u will find yourself having to repaint/touchup every time u change tires

[millsj2004]

I think this is a case of do it right or go home. I'll pass on the paint idea, economical as it sounds, and find a machine shop to take it on.

[crgvfr800]

If you want a real quality job done a Machine shop would be the best way to go....I am a CNC Programmer and i do alot of manual turning and milling and i do stuff like that all the time.....wouldnt be that complicated but im sure they will charge u a cpl hundred to do both lips on both wheels but itll look really good with a nice even line and u wont have to worry about gettin stripper on the rest of the wheel....if u got the money a Machine Shop will be ur best bet....ull just have to dismount tires and all and more than likely if u get a machine shop to do it u will prolly have a wait time depending on their work load

[fatso1277]

i have no affilation to this compan what so ever, its just a great write up

MOTORCYCLE POLISHING 101 CLASS IS IN SESSION! - Plating Powder Coating Buffing Anodizing - Caswell Inc. Metal Finishing Forum

...as far as only polishing edge only, use blue painters tape to mask off what you dont want stripped.

the write up is about motorcycle frames, but the same rules

* tape off
* strip paint
* easy off oven cleaner
* sand (80 - 600grit) trying to get smooth
* wet sand (800 - 1000 (mixture of dawn dishwashing liquid, water, and metal polish) - purpose here to get rim SMMMOOOOTTTHHHEERRR!!!!

* use angle grinder, polishing wheels, and polishing compounds(black, brown, red, white)
to polish rims...you may wanna do each compound twice...the more you do it the better it will look.(1 wheel per compound) you can find compound at menards or lowes usually by dremel tool and wheels at home depot and lowes...rub off with microfiber cloth

THEN once those are done...slap some mothers polish on there....and rub off. rub off with clean microfiber cloth.

remount wheel...drive off....

it sounds tedious but its not.