***PICTURES*** Who wants to see my customized rims & tires?

I never liked the "plain" black wheels on my VFR and so I started looking through some magazines to get some ideas on what I could with mine. The wheels on the '07 R1 and 1098S appealed to me and so I decided to duplicate the look.

For starters, I got the red pinstripes put on. I didn't know what size width to get and so I went to a dealership not far from me that sells both Yamahas and Ducatis, and you guessed it, I measured the width myself: the width of the stripes on both bikes is exactly 4mm. Needless to say, that's what I chose. I looked on eBay and a couple other web sites but didn't like what I saw. First of all, I could only find stripes in either 6mm or 10mm widths. Second, the stripes either came in four sections (for each side of the rim) or one long stripe I would have had to curve around the entire rim. After having seen too many shitty do-it-yourself jobs, I decided to have the pinstriping done professionally. The stripes you see on my rims are one solid piece all the way around. Since the guy that put them on does it for a living, they're about as perfect as can be. The total cost was $160.

Next, I decided to paint the "Pirelli" logos yellow. Once again, after having seen too many shitty jobs done done with whatever yellow paint somebody could find, I searched online until I found what I was looking for: yellow, oil-based paint pens specifically designed for tires. The pen was $5 and I put three coats on each logo for durability. I did the painting while the rims were off the bike (for the pinstriping job) to make the job easier. The rear wheel is a piece of cake to remove. And although I'm not very mechanically inclined, I decided to remove the front wheel myself. It was easy! The only thing I needed (that I didn't have) was a 22mm wrench. I got one at Sears for $13.

Last, while I was looking through the magazines, I noticed on almost every sport bike, the inner part of the disk brake was black. Needless to say, I decided to duplicate this look, too (but only one disk at a time because I wanted to see how the paint would hold up.) Anyway, I used some hi-temperature gloss black engine & case paint. I was hoping for the inner part of the disk to match the semi-gloss black rims, but as you can see, it's not as shiny. The good news is I've since put about 200 miles on the bike after having done this and the paint is holding up quite well. The right disk brake will be a winter project. The cost of the (paint) spray can was $10.

I welcome all comments, positive or negative!

 

Nicely done. Sounds like you took your time and did it right. Looks good.

 

Looks nice. Makes me want to do my 03 in silver.

 

I'm sorry, I didn't see your bike. I had trouble taking my eyes off your avitar.

 

I need a :ballchain: like that !!!!!!!!!! If you really are looking for a high gloss look try 2 component brake caliper paint - it looks great (Especially, if you take the time like you do!) and will give you the sheen I think you are looking for. The stuff can be found at most cage online tuner parts websites. The rim tape looks awesome - who was the craftsman?

 

your tires look really round now. It's purdy like that.

 

Nice look on the new wheels.... G/J.....

 

I'm with Vlad.... nice avatar. You did great work on the wheels, bike looks new!!!

 

Hey Ride Red; I like what you have done with the wheels and tires,looks clean and not overdone. I live in Valley Forge about 20 minutes from West Chester, let me know if you want to meet up and ride sometime. And if that little gal is your UPS person,all I can say is lucky you! eddie

 

This guy named Chris at Signs by Tomorrow (a local sign shop) put them on. I realized $160 is a little steep for decals, but remember, they're one solid piece. Consequently, each one was laser cut from a 17"x17" square piece of a decal roll. They come with a 5 year warranty against fading. One of the things I really like is how straight they were put on (almost as if they came from the factory that way.)

 

I was thinking of doing the same with my bike. What color trim would look good with a black bike and silver wheels?

 

Strictly speaking for myself, silver wheels look best without stripes. After having looked at a number of pictures of sport/race bikes, I noticed:

1) Nowadays, the majority of sport/race bikes have black rims.

2) Red appears to be the most popular color for rim stripes (regardless of what color the bike itself is.)

Have you considered getting black rims? Take a look at the pictures below of black sport bikes with black rims and red rim stripes. Not bad.

I did once see a white 6th gen. VFR whose silver rims had red stripes and I didn't think it looked all that great. What you may want to do is enlist the help of somebody that knows photoshop and ask them to put some rim stripes (in various colors) on a black VFR with silver rims. You can also buy some inexpensive pinstriping (in various colors) from an auto parts store and put them on yourself. If you decide you like the way one of them looks on your bike, then redo the job with higher quality stripes and make them permanent. Whatever you decide, best of luck to you.

P.S. and post some pictures!

 

^I'm with Him^

Funny thou when you spoke of R1 & 1098 I was thinking I was going to see some gold magnesium color, as thats what I'm thinking of doing during the next swap of both tires.

 

looks great

 

nice looks really awesome.:rockon:

 

Its funny how having nice clean, good looking, shiny rims/wheels do in fact make the bike itself look "new". Looks Real good!

 

Nice thought about that with my red VFR but i have the silver rims.
Mind you i think the bike look awsome as is.

 

Where is this avatar of which you speak?

 

^im with drewl...

Bike looks great though!

 

I like the stripes, did a Bandit a few years ago.