Polished Rims

I have an extra set of mag wheels for my '81 KZ750. I was thinking about blacking them out or removing the paint and polishing them. Thoughts on this? Are there any pictures of what this would look like?

Hey cafe - I had the mags on my 650 bead blasted and it looks pretty trick in my opinion. The bead blasting gave a nice cast aluminum finish.

Polishing the rims would be a heckuva big job given the rough casting of the rims.

Here is how my bead blasting job turned out.

Cheers-Colin Firth-Ontario Canada

Post edited by: reborn650, at: 2007/05/18 15:59

Damn,Collin...is that Your GARAGE or Your KITCHEN?!!:ohmy:
I've got a set of those rims as well,and I was going to get them powder-coated,but changed My mind and stayed with the spokers.I too,bead-blasted(glass-beaded) them and they DO look pretty good as is...not a brilliant shine,but they do look good.

Hey Sandy - That's half of the shop/garage. It is about 750 sq. ft. and is my sanity sanctuary:) but we do park our vehicles inside there overnight.

I did pretty much everything from the work bench to the trim with either stainless steel or polished galvanised and fastened everything with sheet metal screws to give it a riveted look. The stainless covered beer fridge is well-used.

The tool peg board on the wall is pretty cool. My son and I spent a weekend drilling something like 2000 plus holes on the galvanised sheet metal, mounted it to a wooden frame and hung it up. Some companies started making these last year and offering them for sale.

The floor is stamped and colored concrete from Increte Systems.

Wow Collin...sounds(and looks) pretty nice for sure.
As a Flooring Installer,I had to look close at the flooring,to see what the heck it was...stamped concrete...great idea!I have a Friend Who does that,and it looks great...can't tell the difference.

Sorry for the hijack,cafekz750,but I couldn't help Myself! :laugh:
I've seen a lot of nice shops,and THAT is one of them!

(No t.v.??:huh: :ohmy: :whistle: )

Thanks for the picture. It is just what I wanted to see. Your bike looks fantastic; as does your shop. I am leaning towards blasting the rims instead of painting or polishing. What kind of beads and what should I expect to pay to have this done?

If you can find a local machine shop around town (or city) I usually pay about 10-15 bucks for an hour or two. And they let me do it myself - not sure if how it is around your end of the country. Keep in mind this is just regular Sand. not beads

Also nice bike and wrench pad above!!!

Hey Reborn, they are trick rims! What kind of maintanance do you do to keep them from oxidizing? Are they clear coated after blasting?

hello! I just wanted to tell you guys something about getting that kind of rim blasted. The guy who powder coated my frame told me that a lot of shops have quit blasting them because they tend to weaken the metal thus not making them dot approved. And I can imagine that would not be very good hittin the highway and having a spoke give out on you.

But I don't know. Doesn't seem like it would be a big deal to me because they are pretty thick. So he could just be over exaggerating, but I figured I would let you guys know.

Ya,that's about what I paid to do Mine(They let me do My own,also)
One shop even let me do some blasting for free,but I brought Them a bag of sand for it anyway.
If You know of a shop in Your area...see what They would want,if You did it Yourself,if They'd let You.
I personally wouldn't pay more than $40 per wheel to have Someone do it though,and I'm sure if You ask around,You'll find somewhere to do it...good luck with them,and don't hurry it,just because You're in Someone else's shop...take Your time,and be happy with the results.

kzluke750 wrote:

Hey Reborn, they are trick rims! What kind of maintanance do you do to keep them from oxidizing? Are they clear coated after blasting?

The bike shop that did the work for me uses a glass bead media. I think I paid maybe $50 as the owner of the shop is a friend of mine and had one of his apprentices do the work.

As far as maintenance I just give the wheels a wipe with WD-40 every few weeks to get the road grime and brake dust off. I don't ride in the rain or on gravel roads so I don't get a lot of crap on the rims.

Cheers-Colin Firth-Ontario Canada

I've polished a few rims myself. I just polished the machined surfaces. I start with 150 sand paper and go all the way to 2000 then Mothers.
Mark

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Post edited by: Mark Wing, at: 2007/05/22 03:13