DIY Polished Motorcycle Rims

John McClumpha<john@incitegraphics.com.au>

Polished rims on a motorcycle, in my opinion, look trick! and in my case are a definate improvement over plain "all-black" rims with scratches in the paintwork. The following is the method I used to strip & polish my rims (I got the information on this method from a post by "JustinSane" in the aus.motorcycles newsgroup - thanks dude).

Note: most of the pics in this article can be enlarge by clicking on them.

Disclaimer:

The methods described below are simply what I have done. I take no responsibility for anything that may result from using this information (unless of course you just end up with really slick rims like me... then you can praise me all you like :).

Introduction:

Basically what needed to be done was for the paint to be removed from the areas I wanted to polish, and then for the remaining surface to be cleaned up and polished. Remember this method works on wheels that are painted and not those that are powdercoated. Sounds easy, but it takes some time.

The materials required are:

• Paint Stripper - I used Selleys brand "kwik strip". Make sure that whichever brand you use it is "non caustic"
• Masking Tape - I used 24mm tape, try to get one that sticks well!
• General Purpose Thinners - used for cleaning the rims
• Paint Brush - a small brush is all you need, make sure it will fit in the opening of the paint stripper tin.
• Scrubbing Brush - make sure the bristles are nice and stiff
• Newspaper - the last thing you need is to strip the coating of surrounding surfaces
• Latex Gloves - paint stripper hurts if you get it on your skin so buy some gloves
• Metal Polish - I used Autosol but a lot of people are recommending Mother's brand.
• Rags - for cleaning up and polishing.

OK - let's get going!:

Firstly, put newspaper down under the wheel to protect the surface you're working on. The next step is to clean the rims. Don't use detergent or similar as this will stop the masking tape from sticking well. If yur rims are filthy then scrub them with some water and a brush first to remove most of the dirt/grime. Now rub your rims & tyre walls down with thinners - this removes any left over gunk to give the tape a good surface to stick to. Be sure to give them another rub down with a clean cloth to remove all residue of the thinners, as I found out the tape wont stick too well if this is left behind.

Now it's time to mask the areas on the wheel you dont want to strip. In my case this was just the centre, raised section (a bit hard to put into words, but the photos make more sense of it. Now the theory is that the paint stripper wont hurt your tyres, but as mine are pretty much brand new I didnt want to take the risk. You can use fairly long pieces in the centre of the rim (this gets easier the more you practice), but on the tyre wall use shorter pieces (approx 10cm long) and squeeze them in between the tyre and the edge of the rim.

Strip for me babe, strip for you:

Now for the fun(?) part... applying the paint stripper.

I can't stress enough the importance of wearing gloves while doing this - be sure to read the safety info. on the can so that if you do get some paint stripper on your skin you can take appropriate action (the one I used just needed to be washed off with water). Also be careful when opening the paint stripper - open slowly and keep away from your face, the fumes from this stuff are terrible (trust me!).

When applying the stripper, lay it on nice and thick. That is "gloop" it on rather than painting it. Remember you're not after a good finish of paint, but to remove it! Just be sure you dont drip it onto any surrounding fairings etc. if in doubt - mask them off with some tape & newspaper. Once you have applied it (I did one side of the wheel at a time - but that's up to you), wait the recommended amount of time. (For kwik strip this is between 5 and 15 minutes, I found the longer the better and went close to the 15 minute mark for best results). Now this is really cool to watch - the paint on your rims simply bubbles and distorts like it's alive - fun to watch!.

Brush with shame:

No get your brush out and go over the whole area where the stripper was (make sure you still have your gloves on). Be careful around the tape, particularly that on the centre piece, that you dont lift it up and spread stripper where you dont want it. While doing this, think about the poor sod who had to paint the rims and get a good finish on them... what a shame! As you can see from this pic, there are still some bits where there is quite a bit of paint left (this was the first side of the first rim I did) basically this is where I didn't put enough stripper on (and also the brush I used on this first side wasn't stiff enough). Simply apply more stripper over these areas, wait a bit, brush down again, and voila!

Clean up and polish:

Now all that's left is to thoroughly hose down the rims and then remove the tape (if you're a bit paranoid keep your gloves on). Once this is done, if there are a few small pieces of paint left you can try rubbing them off with thinners on a rag, if they are still not budging use some fine-grade steel wool.

Now get your polish out and follow the directions on the pack to get a nice shine.

I've still got to polish mine up thoroughly as I ran out of time on the weekend, but the pic shows it with a rough polish (and road grime from an hours worth of riding on it :) If you use this method, send me your pics so I can whack up some more samples here.