bandit rim colour change?

[Snubnose]

I have a B12-silver-2nd gen.

I am considering changing the colours of the wheels. I looked at polishing the rims, as i like the polished look, however, not fond of all the labourous work involved. I also am not fond of the centre of the rim remaining black( everyone has that now ). I would of liked to of had completely polished rims, but i hear that getting the paint off the centre section is extremely difficult because it is so textured/pitted? is this correct anybody?

I am leaning toward painting the rims either a gunmetal grey or silver or gold metal colour?... any thoughts?. I also would like the paint to stay on the wheels, so I want to do the job right. Would i need to get all stock black paint off first? or would i just need to sand down the paint (roughen it up) and prime then paint/.. any recommendations on brand of paint or even the type of paint would be appreciated.

I have included some rough comps I did in photoshop with varied colours on the rims. first is gold, then silver "ish" then gun metal grey "ish". let me now your thoughts everyone?.

I checked out the cost of powder coating, need to get the tires off (which means the wheels also, i love extra work) and the cost would be anywhere from $270-$370 CDN, for you US bandit folk, thats about $2-$300 for you guys with the current exchange. Not bad price, deciding if its worth it though, when i can get a new look for the wheels by just polishing the outer rims (with the bike still attached to boot) for maybe $20 in materials plus a full saturdays worth of sitting on the ground. Hmmm,... what to do what to do?



http://members.shaw.ca/simonjones/images/B12-3UP.jpg

[Red01]

Stripping the smooth part of the rims is easy. A good part of the time you spend will be waiting for the stripper to work.

Once the paint is off, the labor spent depends on how much shine you want. Not much for a brushed aluminum. Lots for a high lustre, scratch-free look.

Stripping paint off the rough cast takes more work, and you're unlikely to get any shine out of it due to the rough cast nature.

Your powder coat prices sound high... at least for us south of the border. I'm thinking $300 (US) would come pretty close to getting them chrome plated down here.


  Maybe you could work out a trade with someone who has a SV1000...
They have silver wheels in the same size as the B12...

Also, TL-R & TL-S 1000's came with same size wheels in silver, light gold or white, depending on year and body color.

[Snubnose]

Hey Paul,

Hadn't thought of that, didnt know about the TL's and stuff, might check into it at salvage yards.

Im thinking the possibility of anyone, especially local who has an 02 or 03 sv 1000 with aluminum coloured rims that also might want to switch rims is about as readily available as a pork roast at passover. However,you never know.

I think I might also look to other shops in town and not just one or two for pricing. hmmm,.... competition, maybe a good thing after all.

[PitterB4]

I painted my rims over the winter.  They look great but they've already gotten scuffed up from a tire change.  I'm not thrilled with it.  I used coarse steel wool to rough them up, used some degreaser and then sprayed them with some enamal 'frame paint' - supposed to be good stuff.  

I'm not sure where you are in Canada, and I realize it's a big country but, in a thread over in the 400 forum, Interfuse mentioned a place near Toronoto that would powdercoat rims for $45/rim:  www.abcpowdercoating.com.  I've checked a couple places around here and $100/rim seems to be the going rate.  Good luck!

[FreediverGa]

I'm looking at putting pinstiping on my wheels myself kinda like you see race bikes.   I know the 05 limited addition R1 and R6 has red pinstriping.  I like that look but for some strange reason I like they way it looks when it's only on the rear!  The only color I could find is bright red but I'm looking for dark red to match my 01 B6!

[dsartwell1]

I work for a powdercoating shop here in PA. The key to a good powdercoat finish is in the prep work. Make sure if you get anything powdercoated and especially aluminum that all the old paint is off and that the surface has been properly pre-treated through a specialized washer. Powder will stick to just about anything short-term but I have seen mishandled aluminum parts come to our shop with large areas of powder-coat lifting and flaking off the surface. If it is a quality shop you should have no trouble but if not you could have a real problem down the road. Powder-coat is the best thing going right now but it is definately a different process from wet paint and needs to be applied properly.

[PitterB4]

Dsartwell1 - what is your shop charging for powdercoating rims?

[dsartwell1]

Probably not the answer you were looking for but it really does. If the rim is stripped and sandblasted and all the critical surfaces masked, in a standard color like black or something else we paint alot of then the price is usually pretty low. I don't get into the money side of things much but I'm guessing 50 a rim is probably close. On the other end, if we have to strip sandblast and mask, and a specialty color, then the price could be outrageous. My boss handles each customer on a case by case basis himself because parts for someones pride and joy can be a touchy subject and need that kind of personal attention. As I said before the prep work is the key. We have some guys that have rims for a quad that could care less about finish quality cause they're going to thrash it anyway, and then other people who are doing a restoration on precious machine who look at the finish with a magnifying glass. I guess I'm rambling a bit but I think 50 a rim in our standard semi-gloss black would be close.

[FlyingTurtle1]

Thought I'd throw in my 2 cents...Painted the wheels on my '01 a couple years ago, used Dupli-Color Mirage color shifting paint...GOOD STUFF! What they've been telling you above is true PREP is the key. My wheels were black so I just scuffed them leaving the outer rim alone.Sanded the wheels with 600 grit wet or dry paper, WET is messy but best, then just followed the directions on the cans. Worked out really well.With the Mirage there are 3 steps base, color and clear...Again follow the directions for best finish and wet sand between coats with 600 or higher (800/1000) paper. The reason I painted my wheels is because I painted all the black pieces on my bike with the Mirage. Nose cone, mirrors,side panels, turnsignals and rear fender! With so many silver Bandits out there just needed mine to be a bit different Don't have any good pictures of the wheels but the bike can be seen on bikepics.com under '01 Bandits pg 21 look for Flying Turtle!

[Snubnose]

As far as a trade with someone who has a SV1000 and them
having silver wheels in the same size as the B12??...  well, I signed on to the SV site forum and almost had a deal/swap set up, then after some other enthusiasts got interested in the idea, research was done and according to the microfiche at ron ayers.com the wheel is NOT a direct replacement,(as in... wont fit), but it also doesnt have the same bolt/axle size-pattern. The tire size is about the only thing the same unfortunately.

Shame really, we had a bunch of sv people interested in the idea, i guess the "IN" thing now is to go black rims for the sv? go figure. and then theres some of us discontented Bandit owners who want something different to black!... typical.

[smooth operator]

My 1 set of wheels, I just took sand paper up to 600,then mothers around the rim to cover all the dings I made while changing my tires in haste.It was the cheap way,just alot of elbow grease. The set with my street tires on, I did a tile floor in a buddys bathroom (supplied the tile too)and did'nt charge him. He does all the powder coating for the shop.(my buddy's bike shop) So he's waiting for me to give him my wheels so he can powder coat them. I like the silver.