Depends.

Aluminum = no rust (but it will oxidize)
Steel = rust the next day

If you are just doing the lips of your wheels, you can use aircraft stripper, then hand polish them. They are machined from the factory and have a nice finish. If you want to polish the whole wheel you will need to sand and buff since it is a rough casting.

You are going to want to dress the metal with something after you are done or you will be building a maintenance nightmare. Everything you polish will have to be constantly re-polished to keep it front turning dull.

 

Bench polishing wheels only good for small parts you remove from bike. front and rear peg assy. master cylinders, swing arm, ect. and i use mothers polish every weekend to keep them looking good, only takes me a short time to maintain.

 

if you want the best mirror finish its really nessassary to use 2000 grit, believe me, try 1000 grit and polish a part then do 1500 and 2000 and polish it and see the differnece theres no micro scratch marks nothing. paper towels and toilet paper actually will scratch the 2000 finish. i just finished my 600rr swingarm and its a mirror and if you wipe the frame with toilet paper it puts a bunch of very fine scratches. a used towel or teary clothe (spelling?) works the best and are softer. also everyone that complains about polishing needs to go out and get por15 topcoat clear for polished metals. its only $50 for a quart with hardener. it can be sprayed out of a syphon feed gun or hvlp or brush. this stuff levels out perfect and doesnt allow discoloration or oxidation. no more repolishing ever. screw polishing aluminum every week thats insane and about the dumbest thing people can do. try it youll be impressed.

 

I agree cantbeat, but not isane and dumb when "I" only have two pcs. on my bike polished. I cant see spending $50 for top coat for myself thats insane.

 

scrub all metal parts really good with brillow pads and MEK...its methyl ethyl ketone. make sure you wear a respirator and chemical insulated gloves. this stuff is very bad for your respiratory system but works wonders on metal. make sure not to get it on any painted surfaces because it does a great accidental job of removing nice paint jobs. you can get this MEK from any aircraft related facility. i'm in the coast guard working on helicopters, but you might be able to pick it up for a cheap price thru any aircraft related facility. scrub the crap out of all ur metal parts with MEK and make sure it's good and dry afterwards and you can start buffing everything with whatever metal polish you want to use.....the point is here that the MEK will clean the living **** out of whatever you are about to polish and make the polish last and look better in the long run as you won't be polishing over dirt and grime and whatever other nasty chemicals that like to corrode. i make coast guard helicopters fly for a living. i am on a corrosion team and all we do is remove and reduce the amount of corrosion that is applied to a helicopters airframe by our methods of chemical induction and constant cleaning. methyl ethyl ketone is the BEST way to clean any kind of anything off of any metal part known to man. try it and if you don't like it you can flame my *** all you want...i'll be laughing reading all the bull****.

 

You can get MEK at Lowes. I used it when i was an aircraft mech. good for cuts on hand, if your bleading, stick in MEK and it will stop. But also cause cancer! I used before Chem. data sheets came out warning you on that ****. and it is the best for cleaning. Be carefull!!

 

thats cool if you only have a couple of small pieces but even if you spend 50 bucks that quart will cover almost every part you can polish on your bike. in the long run it will save you 20-30 min a week polishing small parts never mind frames, wheels, and swingarms.

check out my polished swingarm!!!! https://cbrforum.com/m_158215/tm.htm

 

polishing aluminium is work, but in my opinion looks way better than chrome. it does not have that blue or yellow tint. i have polished the forks, swingarm, left and right engine covers, and various other small parts.

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