Hi all. For those of you who are maybe kicking around the idea of polishing your rims, I thought I'd let you know that its pretty darn easy as I just finished mine a couple of days ago. I used a product called Airplane Cleaner that i picked up from a local Auto Zone store. After removing the rims from the bike, I simply masked off the areas on my rims that I did not want to remove the paint from and then using a small paint brush, brushed on the cleaner. It was important to note that you were only supposed to brush it on in one direction and not back and forth as that interfers with the chemical reaction. Within 15 minutes the majority of the paint had peeled off revealing the shiny metal underneath. Using fine grit sandpaper I proceeded to wetsand the rims to the high polish I was seeking. I think it sets off the bike nicely and gives it a look that stands out from the crowd. JMHO of course!

[IMG]local://upfiles/4293/3DD3CC5F5D7D41CF90B7FD98CFB567AA.jpg[/IMG]

 

Looks really good. I can't decide if I should polish mine or do rim stripes. I have the stripes, but not installed, and will see if I like them and go from there.

Where did you get your seat cover from? I want to find a red one instead of getting a targa cowl.

-Jesse-

 

Thank you! I too had thought about the rim stripes, but decided that I liked the polished look better. The nice thing for you is that you can always install the stripes, then if you don't like them simply remove and you won't be out much $$. The one scary thing that I had to deal with was, what if I didn't like the polished look once it was done? Good thing that I did or else it would have been a costly lesson to have them powdercoated again.

As far as my seat, I bought the bike that way. I did not purchase it new, but am fairly certain that it came that way stock. I have seen some seat covers on eBay though, so you may wish to check there and see what you can find. I know that there is someone who does custom work and would be able to make you one in red, but I can't remember thier seller ID. If I think of it, I will let you know.

 

Thanks. I'm not sure if I'm ever going to polish mine. My bike is all red and black, so I'm not sure how polished lips would look with nothing else polished. If it ever warms up I'm going to put the stripes on and see how it looks. I was planning on getting a second look cover, but their website is down and I haven't seen one on a red bike yet.

-Jesse-

 

Rim strips make any bike look good.

 

Very nice. I will have to do that in the future. Did you have to put anything on the rims to protect them from the elements?

 

if ya can put them on straight, [:'(]


RCKT GRL Good job done there, i personally wouldn`t but looks nice on yours.

 

Thank you, Anubis!

 

lol, im sure people will not notice as long as they are far away.

 

Wow, I'm impressed. We've got some real Do-it-yourselfers in this forum. Nice polish job.

In refernce to the other comments regarding rim stripes, they aren't hard to put on straight. Just take your time.