Wheel cleaning-Am I being a bit thick?

paganman

paganman

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Not sure if I'm missing something here, I've had bikes all my life and always cleaned the wheels with degreaser then polish.
I've now got a 2007gs adventure with wire wheels with black/grey rims. I've tried everything I know to try & get them looking clean & shiney. Wonder wheels, auto glym, wd40, soap water & elbow grease, but nothing works.
Is there some miracle solution or dark art to cleaning them?
Honestly, I'm not thick & hope I'm missing something obvious.
Thanks
 
Let me know if you find the miracle cleaner:thumb:D
 
I'm assuming you mean the cloudy effect you get on the anodised surface?

I am also having a few issues with my wheels. I have just bought the bike and when I collected it from BMW I thought it was polish that hadn't been cleaned off properly.

I tried autosolve and various polishes but nothing shifted it except.......

A dremel polishing wheel. I tried a small area with autosolve and it came up lovely. So I have bought a drill polishing kit of eBay that comes itu various shaped mini mops designed for intricate areas etc so the next time it's pissing down I'll take the wheel off and give it a go.

Once it's done it's easy to maintain but if previous owners don't bother it makes it tough to get the "new" look again.

I'll try and do before and after pictures.

Jon :beerjug:
 
Once u get them clean stick to using sDoc100 gel, don't use muck off, been there and I ended up getting Devon rims to refurbish them cos it shags the anodised finish!
 
Ben De Toy said:
Anodising is a very thin layer so dont over-polish it. Hopefully once is enough.
Click to expand...

Point taken. The kit came with a cutting and polishing compound. I'm just going to use the polishing one and do some more test patches to make sure it's ok.

Jon
 
pinkytiff said:
Once u get them clean stick to using sDoc100 gel, don't use muck off, been there and I ended up getting Devon rims to refurbish them cos it shags the anodised finish!
Click to expand...

Was that expensive? I'm assuming the wheels had to be stripped including discs, bearings and spokes :eek

And was you happy with the end result?

Jon
 
I just wash them then, when dry, spray small blobs of ACF50 at the point where the spokes enters the rim to help prevent corrosion at this point, then just wipe the remaining ACF 50 over the finish on the rim. I don't use too much so they look dry when finished and are a nice shiny black. It takes minutes to do.
 
I FECKIN HATE WIRE WHEELS !

Being a road going Adventure owner, the sooner I can find some cast rims fitted with road tyres, not the stupid semi knobbly things that move all over the place when you are cranked over on the edges..... the better...

Did I mention I don't like the wire wheels... a fecker to clean, a b1tch to get one of the service station tyre inflator things on....

Oh and I know full well when it comes to trade in time I will have ruined the "image" by putting cast wheels on it and devalue the trade in value by another 1000 pounds, to go with the other thousands because I ride more than the standard 4000 miles a year...

...



That feels better... not quite a rant, but has potential !
 
Sdoc & ACF50 for me, would not use Muck off, unless diluted with water and definately would not use wonder wheels on the rims, though it is great at cleaning heavily encrusted exhausts!

Love the look of the wire wheels, though I have taken mine off and replaced with cast as I hate cleaning them too!
 
paganman said:
Not sure if I'm missing something here, I've had bikes all my life and always cleaned the wheels with degreaser then polish.
I've now got a 2007gs adventure with wire wheels with black/grey rims. I've tried everything I know to try & get them looking clean & shiney. Wonder wheels, auto glym, wd40, soap water & elbow grease, but nothing works.
Is there some miracle solution or dark art to cleaning them?
Honestly, I'm not thick & hope I'm missing something obvious.
Thanks
Click to expand...

I will not be bothered!
Ones they get dirty they maintain the colour :thumb
 
C-J said:
I FECKIN HATE WIRE WHEELS !

..........................


That feels better... not quite a rant, but has potential !
Click to expand...

Should have got a vanilla GS then rather than a LWD Wannabe and if you hate the tyres fit some road rubber, they will fit your spoked wheels.......

Andres
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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