Tarting me wheels up!

[r1100gser]

Good Point

Thanks for all of that! Worked on the rear wheel yesturday. worse than i thought. Gave them o polish with Auto-sol, but still dull. took me ages too! Gave them a Metal treatment to stop them from worsening! Hope it works.
Thanks again.

 

[its all poo]

I used a water glass bead blaster and it cleaned everything up very quickly left the very bad 1995 wheels with a smooth satin effect on the alloy and the spokes gleaming, I have seen a part for jet washers thats for sand blasting im sure you could feed the glass bead through it and do them on your drive on the bike glass bead 20KG for £35 from machine mart

 

[Crisp Sandwich]

Changing the spokes?

Hello

My 97gs wheels are also looking rather grim. The rims clean up well with load of elbow grease and swearing, but the spokes are now looking well best their best. I'm considering changing the whole lot! Is it an easy home job? (Motorworks sells stainless stell sets) or would I be better off geeting them done by a wheel builder (not cheap I think). The paint on the hubs is starting to bubble also and if the wheels are gonna be stripped is it worth getting them painted or powder coated (can you recommend anyone in the south yorkshire area)?

All help / ideas would be gratefully recieved.
[email protected]

 

[Tarka]

Hello

My 97gs wheels are also looking rather grim. The rims clean up well with load of elbow grease and swearing, but the spokes are now looking well best their best. I'm considering changing the whole lot! Is it an easy home job? (Motorworks sells stainless stell sets) or would I be better off geeting them done by a wheel builder (not cheap I think). The paint on the hubs is starting to bubble also and if the wheels are gonna be stripped is it worth getting them painted or powder coated (can you recommend anyone in the south yorkshire area)?

All help / ideas would be gratefully recieved.
[email protected]

If you`ve never laced a wheel before.....don`t even think about it mate.

It`s usually about £50 - £75 to get aone done profesionally (plus the cost of the spokes )

I got my 'LegoBike' done with Akront rims and stainless steel spokes by Hagons in London .... fabulous job.

Also another recommended place is Central Wheel Components in the Midlands.


They`ll do your hub at the same time if you want.

 

[Sir James]

Or you could print out pictures of Tarkars wheels then stick them either side of your wheels , just like hub caps

 

[Tarka]

Or you could print out pictures of Tarkars wheels then stick them either side of your wheels , just like hub caps

 

[~Stef~]

just buy a big tin of Smootherite and a 6" brush

 

[JAY]

If you`ve never laced a wheel before.....don`t even think about it mate.

It`s usually about £50 - £75 to get aone done profesionally (plus the cost of the spokes )

I got my 'LegoBike' done with Akront rims and stainless steel spokes by Hagons in London .... fabulous job.

Also another recommended place is Central Wheel Components in the Midlands.


They`ll do your hub at the same time if you want.

If its the oilhead tubeless rimmed wheels you've got you may have problems finding a specialist to rebuild them - they need a special jig,

 

[Dick Dastardly]

Tarka, how can ya tell the difference between the lacquered or anodised wheels......?

'99 1100

 

[Tarka]

Tarka, how can ya tell the difference between the lacquered or anodised wheels......?

'99 1100

The anodised ones have a constant 'satin' effect silver.

The laquered are polished metal finish ... but with a lacquer coating ..

 

[StooL]

If its the oilhead tubeless rimmed wheels you've got you may have problems finding a specialist to rebuild them - they need a special jig,

This company do it http://www.devonrimcompany.com/bmw.htm

Only about £40 for a rebuild, which can't be bad. They make spokes as well. The old spokes are a nightmare to remove, they'll bend and break. Even if you had decent spokes and just needed a rebuild for some reason you really have to cost in for new spokes as well.

As already mentioned, do not use any acidic wheel cleaners. All the stuff that claims to be a miracle cleaner for alloy is b#ll#cks. I used an alloy cleaner on my back wheel, thinking it would save me some polishing effort. It was on the rim for just a few seconds before I washed it off but the damage was done. Much of the rim went a cloudy grey/white and totally mat. Many, many hours of polishing over a couple of weeks brought the rim back to an acceptable appearance but not as good as it was before I started! My rim was the anodised variety on a 2000 1150GS.

 

[Andy Hird]

It depends if they`re bare alloy,the lacquered alloy or the anodised ones.

For the last two try a wheel cleaner spray with a dish sponge that has a fine green scourer sponge on it....but if you go through the coating you`ll have to get it all off then polish the rim all around.
An overnight soak in a mixture of PlusGas and 3-in-1 first may help.

If they`re the bare alloy like mine...
Start with WD40 and a Scotchbrite ( the green scourer pads ) then WD40 and a pan sponge/green scourer which is finer than a Scotchbrite.
Then bits of an old Tee shirt,Autosol and lots of elbow grease...

Tarka,

Cracking job mate......do I notice tyre dressing on your tyres to ? If I do, then there's someone else who's as anal as me