Wheel Finish Choices - Decisions, Decisions - Fifth Generation VFR's

So, I'll be pulling the wheels soon to replace the rubber, front and rear, and I'm trying to decide what I should do about the finish on the wheels.  They're currently unpainted and slightly grundgy looking aluminum.  I'm thinking I should take advantage of them being off the bike and unmounted and either have them cleaned up, powder coated or painted.  I'm not a real bling-bling kind of guy, but I really like chrome and was wondering what a high shine finished rim would look like...

Anybody got any pics of their wheels on a red vfr to give me some ideas?

Try this................

$5.78 at Wally World   ..............

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You want red? You got red!
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Maybe some black lug nuts to go with them?
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Yep, red or charcoal, it's a toss for me. My front is RC charcoal and rear is gloss black. One of these days I'll get them powder coated to match, leaning towards FJ12's red for the bling!

I went Powdercoat
I think I'd go with high quality epoxy or polyurethane paint next time

[image: View Post]goose, on 09 May 2012 - 03:19 PM, said:

So, I'll be pulling the wheels soon to replace the rubber, front and rear, and I'm trying to decide what I should do about the finish on the wheels.  They're currently unpainted and slightly grundgy looking aluminum.  I'm thinking I should take advantage of them being off the bike and unmounted and either have them cleaned up, powder coated or painted.  I'm not a real bling-bling kind of guy, but I really like chrome and was wondering what a high shine finished rim would look like...

Anybody got any pics of their wheels on a red vfr to give me some ideas?

I have polished wheels on my 5th gen.  There are a few more photos in my gallery.  I wouldn't recommend it if you ride in the rain - they will oxidize faster when they get wet.  If not, a powerball on a drill and a bit of compound cleans 'em right up - I haven't found it to be much trouble.

I was gonna do gold, but after seeing one with gold wheels on the road a while back, Im doing RC charcoal if I ever get the down time. Thats the trouble with california, we have riding weather all year so no time for projects

I just did mine with a rattle can....with the tires in place.  I have done the same with other wheels in the past and the results were good.  One way is to go to the coin op car wash and use the heated wand with soapy water to clean them up before painting.   This time I wash them in a tub with water and TSP in the yard, then sun dried them....

   You simply tape off the tires and it all comes good....with rattle can wheels, I don't have to worry about gravel roads, or be extra careful when changing tires....or be picky about polishing wheels when I could be out riding...If my bike were mainly for show or if I enjoyed looking at it and working on it more than using it to ride...I think I would have polished alloy wheels...they really look sharp...
  Don Hanson
you can see my results in a recent thread called Paint...comments on the color welcome.

[image: View Post]Cogswell, on 09 May 2012 - 11:14 PM, said:

[image: View Post]goose, on 09 May 2012 - 03:19 PM, said:

So, I'll be pulling the wheels soon to replace the rubber, front and rear, and I'm trying to decide what I should do about the finish on the wheels.  They're currently unpainted and slightly grundgy looking aluminum.  I'm thinking I should take advantage of them being off the bike and unmounted and either have them cleaned up, powder coated or painted.  I'm not a real bling-bling kind of guy, but I really like chrome and was wondering what a high shine finished rim would look like...

Anybody got any pics of their wheels on a red vfr to give me some ideas?

I have polished wheels on my 5th gen.  There are a few more photos in my gallery.  I wouldn't recommend it if you ride in the rain - they will oxidize faster when they get wet.  If not, a powerball on a drill and a bit of compound cleans 'em right up - I haven't found it to be much trouble.

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WOW! I am not a fan of chrome/polished stuff in most cases, but those wheels look fantastic on your bike!

Mine were black originally. I had them powdercoated silver and had the rotor centers done in black. Turned out pretty good in my opinion. I like chrome too, but wasn't willing to spend that kind of money.

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If you are keeping the bike for awhile I would 100% agree to have them powdercoated.  You will not regret it I promise.  Quite a few color choices too.
Good luck!

[image: View Post]wera803, on 10 May 2012 - 07:04 AM, said:

Mine were black originally. I had them powdercoated silver and had the rotor centers done in black. Turned out pretty good in my opinion. I like chrome too, but wasn't willing to spend that kind of money.

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Nice!  Do you have a pic of the rear from the right side?

I must say, the polished rims look awesome!  But I'm sure you're right in that they'll take quite a bit more time to keep looking nice.  But damn they do look nice...

[image: View Post]goose, on 10 May 2012 - 03:36 PM, said:

Nice!  Do you have a pic of the rear from the right side?

This looks like the only real good one I have uploaded in my gallery. I have Corbin Beetle bags on the bike, so they block a lot of the rear wheel.

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Found this older (and not the greatest) picture too.

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[image: View Post]wera803, on 10 May 2012 - 03:50 PM, said:

Found this older (and not the greatest) picture too.

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Man, that looks sweet!  I really like the beetle bags, too.

[image: View Post]FJ12Ryder, on 09 May 2012 - 08:02 PM, said:

You want red? You got red!
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Maybe some black lug nuts to go with them?
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Wow....that looks really. good. Makes me want to go red wheels too.

I decided to go with GOLD!!! :tour:

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My 2000 blue canadian bike has black...ok i guess..but didnt thr aussies get gold from the factory.   Would love to see a pic of that combo

Black with polished lip:
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Even with aircraft stripper, this is a shitload of work.  If I were doing it again, I would have a shop do the whole job.  The black was re-sprayed with Rustoleum black epoxy paint, it has held up very well after 2 seasons now, even with frequent S100 cleaning.  The polished lip requires fairly frequent maintenance with flitz.

[image: View Post]Squamishvfr, on 09 May 2012 - 10:56 PM, said:

I went Powdercoat
I think I'd go with high quality epoxy or polyurethane paint next time

Curious to know why you wouldn't powder coat again?