Mag wheel polishing hookups anyone?

[88bros]

I want to get my alloys polished, does anyone know of anyone or do it them selves that would want to do a cashy? just the 3 spoke, ducati type wheels

Cheers!!

[trailblazer]

if you want to courier them ther eis a guy in whakatane that does a good job i think he charges about $60 a wheel. Thats what he charged for a car wheel anyway.

[CookMySock]

If you have a larger electric drill, you can buy a buffing wheel for 50bux and do it yourself.

Steve

[Spyked]

Arrow wheels in Rosebank Rd are specialists.

[R6_kid:Me]

Get the tyre taken off, remove the bearings. Buy a pot of paint stripper - remove the paint from the wheel. Neutralise any remaining paint stripper (it burns your skin pretty nicely) then get to work with a buffing wheel.

If you're going to polish your rims you might as well get used to keeping them shiny as the finish won't last long in out moist climate without some sort of coating which invariably detracts from the look you are going for.

[88bros]

if you want to courier them ther eis a guy in whakatane that does a good job i think he charges about $60 a wheel. Thats what he charged for a car wheel anyway.

whats the guys name? sounds pretty good

[88bros]

Get the tyre taken off, remove the bearings. Buy a pot of paint stripper - remove the paint from the wheel. Neutralise any remaining paint stripper (it burns your skin pretty nicely) then get to work with a buffing wheel.

If you're going to polish your rims you might as well get used to keeping them shiny as the finish won't last long in out moist climate without some sort of coating which invariably detracts from the look you are going for.

yea might do that. got a power drill, just use that autosol stuff eh?

[TOTO]

I've used North Harbour metal polishers and can vouch for their great work.

their website - www.themetalpolishers.com

[R6_kid:Me]

yea might do that. got a power drill, just use that autosol stuff eh?

That will do the job. Maybe ring up one of metal polishing places and ask them what they suggest.

[boman]

Yep, use Autosol, it brings alloy up to a beauty shine. Lasts a couple weeks then you do it again. And again. And again. PErsonally I wouldnt do it to bike wheels. Sure it looks very good, but to keep doing it properly and reglarly you will need to take the wheels off the bike, along with the disc and sproket.

[Forest]

The best alloy polish I've ever used is POR 15 Artisan Metal Polish.

It did an amazing job on my Ducati.

http://www.por15.com/ARTISAN-METAL-P...oductinfo/AMP/

[vifferman]

If you're going to polish your rims you might as well get used to keeping them shiny as the finish won't last long in out moist climate without some sort of coating which invariably detracts from the look you are going for.

Yep, use Autosol, it brings alloy up to a beauty shine. Lasts a couple weeks then you do it again. And again. And again.

Huh.
I strpped'n'polished the wheels on my VFR750 (they were white painted/powdercoated). It took my a day to do, and the resulting finish was much better'n the scratched and ugly paint.
As for maintenance, I found the bare alloy was LESS work than the paint had been, as it seemed the road spooge was electrostatically attracted to the paint, which of course showed the dirt worse than the alloy.
Before polishing them, it took some careful attention to get the wheels clean, whereas afterwards only a very quick wash was needed. I only repolished them only a couple of times, every few months.

[boman]

Huh.
I strpped'n'polished the wheels on my VFR750 (they were white painted/powdercoated). It took my a day to do, and the resulting finish was much better'n the scratched and ugly paint.
As for maintenance, I found the bare alloy was LESS work than the paint had been, as it seemed the road spooge was electrostatically attracted to the paint, which of course showed the dirt worse than the alloy.
Before polishing them, it took some careful attention to get the wheels clean, whereas afterwards only a very quick wash was needed. I only repolished them only a couple of times, every few months.

Just sharing what we used to do with the bosses wifes car. Admittedley a bike could be significantly easier to look after, but I havn't experimented with polished wheels on a bike yet. I have polished the front shocks on my old 250 Bandit, and they didn't need much work, just a quick polish once a month.

[AllanB]

Autosol is a finishing compound. To get a mint job with less effort you'll want a coarser cutting compound then work a medium then fine. Autosol can then be used to give it a protective coating. It's filthy but rewarding work.
Also a lot of wheel spokes are not actually smooth from the factory and you'll want to rub these down with wet & dry to get a really nice job.

All the kits I've seen in NZ have been silly prices - do a Google for "polishing kit" or check e-bay - there are plenty of English companies with kits for sale.

Also look here: http://www.caswellplating.com/index.html one of the better USA sites with lots of info and out $ is good.

I'm all for doing shit yourself but I'd personally ring around the pros for a quote first - if they are doing a pair of bike wheels under $150 it will save you a few weekends better spent riding.

[vifferman]

Autosol is a finishing compound. To get a mint job with less effort you'll want a coarser cutting compound then work a medium then fine. Autosol can then be used to give it a protective coating. It's filthy but rewarding work.
Also a lot of wheel spokes are not actually smooth from the factory and you'll want to rub these down with wet & dry to get a really nice job.

True dat (all of it).
Wheels are often (usually?) sand-cast, then the various surfaces machined, apart from the spokes. I don't know about all bikes, but the ones I do know about, you'd be better off using machinery (linishers are the go) to polish them up, unless you've a big barrel of elbow grease at hand.