Can anyone put up some Before , How to and after photo,s on the best ways to do up my wheels as i have got the Mod bug after reading this forum and i havent seen a forum like this in the big ole NZ.

 

Well I am sure others will chime in, but here are my comments.

The center of the wheel is rough from casting and if you plan on polishing that others will need to let you know how they did it.

The wheel lip and where it wraps in for about an inch or two is easy to do. Underneath the factory coating is a polished aluminum wheel where they machined the it. All you have to do is remove the paint while protecting the center section from paint being removed.

Steps I took:

-Dismount the tires
-Wash the wheel and let it dry so the tape will stick for masking off the painted area
-Go to Wal-Mart and in the Paint section they have an aerosol Air Craft paint remover. I think it is in chrome and blue can with a Jet Aircraft on the can
-Also at Wal-mart pick a pack of the pre-tape painting mask. Its on a roll and is plastic with masking tape already on it. Also buy the Blue 3M paint masking tape.
-Get some chemical safe gloves at Wal-mart
-Get a small plastic putty knife

Take the blue tape and tape up the wheel where you want the paint removal to stop. I suggest the little lip about an inch or so in. The rough coating will look like crap with the paint removed. Then take the plastic / masking tape stuff and put several layers over the center section all the way to the blue tape. It is important that you seal the center off extra well and protect all painted arears you do not want stripped.

-place the wheel in some jack stands in an area that you can strip the wheel and be able to wash it down
-once the wheel is virtical and ready to spin, has masking tape on it correctly, and painted area you want to keep protected.
-Get the water hose pipe ready
-put on the gloves
-spin the wheel slowly and spray the air craft remover on both sides of the wheel all the way around the bead area to the blue masking tape
-The remover will start foaming and the paint will nearly fall off the wheel before you can get both side sprayed.
-Mine only took 1 or 2 minutes max. and I used the plastic scraper to get the stuff off asap. Maybe another 1 or 2 minutes.
-Then take the hose pipe and slowly spin the wheel washing it at its lowest point and getting the remover and paint off the wheel.

If it worked well you will have nearly all shinny metal and the painted surfice will still be intact. Get the masking tape and plastic off asap to keep the remover that may be under the edge of the tape from removing excess paint you want to keep.

I cannot stress how quick this stuff removes the paint. It will fall off the wheel, so you must do this fast and protect the other painted area by washing it quickly.

Once you have all the crap off the wheel and washed and dried, use a small brush to spot strip anything that didn’t come off.

Then it is about 15 minutes on each side with some Mothers polish to get a mirror finish. The non-rough surface on the wheel edge is pretty much a polished shinny metal that has been coated.

Here is a distant pic of the rear wheel stripped to near the center. You do not strip all the way to the center, just to the machined lip where the surfice feel rough

 

https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...heel+stripping

 

I bought superbling with a polished frame/swingarm and chrome wheels so you know how I came up with the name and the upkeep between the two on a day to day basis was huge.

If you can handle the costs and weight penalty, chrome is better IMO. Although cheaper, polishing is very labor intensive and high maintenance (unless you live in a dry desert). The bare aluminum will oxidize and dull. Here's a pic shot right after shining it all up. Notice the diff?

 

Cheers Thumper thats excellent ,and Superbling your bike looks primo mate .

 

TUMPER is right on the mark. i did the same thing to my wheels but removed the paint on the spokes to. i like the grey and polished look, its different than all the black and polished lip. i would suggest you get a resporater because the fumes form aircraft stipper are really bad. i had that smell in my nose for two days. if you want the spokes polished your going to have one hell of a time cleaning them because the rotors and sproket get in the way. as for the high maintenance i think its not true if you use good polish and dry the bike after washing.

thats my $.02 good luck and post pics when your done.