Chroming wheels and swing arm.

**phoenixcustom** · 12th July 2009, 21:56

Hi does anyone know of a really good chroming outfit in christchurch or surrounding, area's i am looking at getting my wheels and swing arm chromed, both of which have factory paint/powder coat on at present.
Cheers.

**AllanB** · 12th July 2009, 22:45

The B-King has alloy wheels and swingarm - that's a special process to chrome alloy - different from steel. I am unaware of anyone in CHCH who does this but make a call to a couple of the chromers as they will know. There was a crowd in Hamilton years ago chroming alloy.

The other option is to have them polished then clear coat baked. Elite wheels do polishing.

**p.dath** · 12th July 2009, 22:49

For the wheels it may be worth finding out what it would cost to get steel wheels and then chrome them, so you can use a normal simple process.

You can always sell the old alloys to re-coupe some of the expense.

**CookMySock** · 13th July 2009, 08:00

Don't chrome, powdercoat them. Go talk to the powdercoaters, as theres some nice chrome-like finishes available.

Steve

**vifferman** · 13th July 2009, 10:00

Don't powder coat them - polish them and have them Nikasil treated. Clearcoat can discolour or crack, whereas the Nikasil is very clear and can be reapplied in a few years if necessary.
Chrome doesn't adhere well to alloy, so is even worse for cracking.

**pritch** · 13th July 2009, 12:32

Originally Posted by phoenixcustom

i am looking at getting my wheels and swing arm chromed, Cheers.

I'm not sure that's a good idea. Ask an engineer (BE type) about stress risers. Or look it up in google? Bike frames aren't chromed for that reason.

**DMNTD:Me** · 13th July 2009, 12:38

Originally Posted by vifferman

Don't powder coat them...

Any reason why not? Heat cause a problem?

**vifferman** · 13th July 2009, 12:50

Originally Posted by DMNTD

Any reason why not? Heat cause a problem?

I have heard that the heat used in powdercoating can wreck alloy. However (but!) I've also heard that there are two different forms of powdercoating - one is a higher temp, the other is suitable for alloys. Factory wheel coatings are usually spraypainted on.
But that's not the reason I said that. If he wanted shiny wheels and swingarm, polished ones look great, but do need some protection from tarnishing. Paint or powdercoat seems to attract road spooge, perhaps because the plastic electrostatically attracts it and helps it to adhere. Dunno. But when I stripped'n'polished my VFR750's wheels, they were HEAPS easier to keep clean, even without any coating. Instead of washing them once a month or so, they only needed to be done every couple of months.

**OutForADuck** · 13th July 2009, 13:18

Dont' chrome.. polish.. do it yourself.. not hard... doesn't take as much effort as you might have heard, will last well (especially if you use nikasil) and just needs a little polish to keep it looking stunning.

Also chrome will add significant unsprung weight to your bike and could affect teh handling more than you would like.

**scumdog** · 13th July 2009, 13:20

Hydrogen embrittlement?

I believe it applies with ferrous metals but unsure about alloy.

**CookMySock** · 13th July 2009, 17:55

Is nikasil economical on wheels? What about polish and nyalic them ?

Steve

**DEATH_INC.** · 13th July 2009, 17:59

There's a crowd in gisborne that do a farkin nice job of chroming alloys. Don't use anyone else. I can get their name if you need it (pm me), but they aren't cheap. Quality work never is.
BTW, none of the other finishes mentioned come close to chrome for depth and color...

**boman** · 13th July 2009, 19:39

The amount of Chrome alloy mag wheels I have seen losing there chrome finish, is unbeleivable. All it takes is a little pinhole in the chrome, and water gets in and the alloy reacts, chrome comes off. I would rather polish,and get them coated, at least you can redo resonably easy and inexpensivly.

**devo** · 14th July 2009, 11:22

Originally Posted by boman

The amount of Chrome alloy mag wheels I have seen losing there chrome finish, is unbeleivable. All it takes is a little pinhole in the chrome, and water gets in and the alloy reacts, chrome comes off. I would rather polish,and get them coated, at least you can redo resonably easy and inexpensivly.

tell me more about nikasil.have used nyalic on my boat and found it to be crap.