polished aluminum

polished my rear wheel and just wanted to let people know that fourth gen wheels have a rough finsh on the spokes and require a gallon of elbow grease.

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[image: View Post]kurupt, on 22 March 2010 - 07:25 PM, said:

require a gallon of elbow grease.


Judging by the size of that bucket, you bought more than a gallon. Can you tell me where to get some? Bike looks good, it must work great! :laughing6-hehe:

thanks. i was hoping to get some good feedback. especially cuz i cant figure out how to pose my bike pic on my profile
:wheel:

looks brilliant how did you do this ? also did you need to coat it with anything to keep it from oxidising

Looks pretty good, nice job.

So did you hand polish it all or machine polish it? Was it a clear coated rim before? I want to do that to the pitted wheels on my VTX this winter and have been looking for the best way. You seem to have really nailed it!

Machine polished in 1999:

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VFRsub by Sapphire Coast, on Flickr

Looks good Kurupt! Lots of shine there. I found Kalifornia Kustom Purple Polish to be the best way to keep the shine up, very easy to use. Don't know if it's still on the market though... I've switched to powdercoated wheels so my polished ones are now garage ornaments.

I don't think I'd want to hand-polish a VFR rear wheel...

Needs more pics and what you used! :fing02:

These were done professionally in 2000. They look just about as good 10 years later with maintenance. I tried the DIY route first - the rough cast portion of the metal on the sides of the spokes needed some 100 to 200 grit emory paper to get the roughness out. It was a very long process. For someone intent on DIY, check out Eastwood Company's (on-line) wheel polishing kit which you can use with a drill or a flex shaft. It comes with the coarser buffing grits you'll need for the initial smoothing of the non-machined portions of the wheel. I realized that the professionals had all that and could do it much faster than I, so I bit the bullet and had it done. It was $400 for both. Really great results tho - lots of thumbs up. Water will make the aluminum tarnish rapidly, so some people clear coat the finish when complete. Saves lots of maintenance.

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I'll keep my wheels powder coated black but think the frame and swing arm would look awesome posished. I think the wheels look great too but I wouldn't want to have to keep them clean.

What's the best source and price for this so called "Elbow Grease". I've tried AutoZone, Pep Boys, and Advance Auto. None of them carry it or it's back ordered.

Any suggestions? :mellow:

im all out of elbow grease. i sanded the spokes with a dremel and a 2"disc sander on a highspeed drill........... polished them with a high speed drill. theres a kit at harbor frieght tools that comes with three different bars of polish and applicators......youll also need to hand sand (wet sand). dont be worried about ruining your rims,or thinkin you cant do it yourself its real easy ,just time consuming. oh and i used paint stripper from autozone to take theb powder coat off

[image: View Post]Topgun, on 21 September 2010 - 11:21 PM, said:

So did you hand polish it all or machine polish it? Was it a clear coated rim before? I want to do that to the pitted wheels on my VTX this winter and have been looking for the best way. You seem to have really nailed it!

hey topgun paint stripper doesnt work as well in winter .niether does polish ing aluminum. the metal needs to stay warm. maybe you can do it in a heated garage....let me know ifn you want some pointers.