Wheel Material
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Superstock
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 317
From: St.Louis Mo
Wheel Material
What material is the stock wheels made of? I'm considering getting a couple extra wheels and glass bead blasting them as long as they will not get damaged by the glass and then doing some powder coating.
evil man of nothing
MotoGP
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 4,517
From: Boynton Beach, FL
They're aluminum. I have quite a bit of experience polishing it. I have none with blasting. I'm sure some others will chime in on the pros and cons of blasting. I do know they have tons of different media to blast with for different applications/materials. You can also just use a good paint stripper. What did you have it mind with regards to color? You can also change it up with six spokers like a vfr or f3 front and a 900rr rear, which looks nice and is a pretty popular swap.
Senior Member
MotoGP
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 3,452
From: San Clemente, CA
As part of the repair after I got rear ended last March, my rear wheel was straightened and powder coated. I'm pretty sure they bead blasted it before the powder coating. I would think the powder coat would "flow" to fill in any little dings in the aluminum. All I know is that my wheel came out looking great, better than stock.
And I'd think you could ask the powder coater you're planning on using for advice as well.
But of course there are areas you wouldn't want bead blasted, like the inside of the rim (tire bead seating area), and the rotor and sprocket mounting surfaces.
And I'd think you could ask the powder coater you're planning on using for advice as well.
But of course there are areas you wouldn't want bead blasted, like the inside of the rim (tire bead seating area), and the rotor and sprocket mounting surfaces.
Last edited by VTRsurfer; Jan 5, 2011 at 08:11 PM.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Superstock
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 317
From: St.Louis Mo
Thanks, maybe I'll just play safe and use elbow grease to prep it. I plan on doing it in an aluminum shade with some slight use of yellow accents maybe. I will be powder coating it myself at my job.
Actually we blast aluminum a lot with the glass bead and it comes out nice, no pitting or anything, and has a nice dull aluminum finish.
Actually we blast aluminum a lot with the glass bead and it comes out nice, no pitting or anything, and has a nice dull aluminum finish.
Last edited by archaicguy; Jan 6, 2011 at 03:18 AM.
Senior Member
SuperSport
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 530
From: Central Fl.
Couldn't afford the pretty Italian wheels for my red'un so I beaded the stock units and powder coated 'em gold. No issues, no regrets. Bullet proof. And with the chin fairing gold, it sets off the red very nicely.
Glass beading is the ticket. Just pull the wheel bearings before you start.
Glass beading is the ticket. Just pull the wheel bearings before you start.
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