| Author | Message | ||
     Captnemo |
It's all Gentleman_Jon's fault !!! I finally started the tire change on the 'Bolt last weekend. Got the tire changer set up, got the tires off and decided that I really didn't like the amber wheels on the bike. I had a pint of paint mixed to match the frame so I started prepping for paint. The outer rims were scuffed up from tire changes so down to O'Reily's I go to get some aircraft paint stripper. I masked off the area I didn't want stripper on and started stripping. A couple of hours later, the outer edges are stripped.  | ||
| Captnemo |
I washed them up, finished scuff sanding them and masked everything off.  | ||
| Captnemo |
Today, I got a chance to shoot paint. Paint is PPG Delstar acrylic enamel with catalyst. I'm waiting for the 3rd coat to flash off.   Yes, I look like a yeti with my shirt off. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Fat Bastard, meet Hairy Bastard.  Looks cool. I have the amber now. We'll see how long the paint holds up. If it get's to looking bad, I'll go your route. Are you going to bake it on? Will it be as hard as powder coated? | ||
| Interex2050 |
well done! cant wait to see them on the bike Eventually I may strip mine and just clearcoat or black them out... Mine look worse and worse with every tire change (Message edited by interex2050 on March 17, 2007) | ||
| Percyco |
Acrylic enamel with catalyst is a very hard and durable paint. Thats what I would use for wheels also. Kewl idea  | ||
| Molly_hatchet |
looks nice.... | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
I plead guilty as charged!  Excellent idea. And they look great!! Where did you get the paint? While I had everything apart, I replaced the bearings, honed the rotors, fitted some Lyndall Gold front brake pads, and replaced the front rotor mounting hardware which according to a German magazine has been upgraded. When I have something apart, I just can't help myself from fitting all new maintenance items. Much as I love working on Lil' Blackie, I don't seem to cover the same ground twice. Let's see the finished bike. | ||
| Captnemo |
A couple more photos with the masking tape & paper removed   At least the hair on my arms & legs is kinda blonde so I don't look like a total werewolf ! | ||
| Captnemo |
I'll mount the tires & balance them tomorrow. I wanted to let the paint set up properly before I put the tires on. It didn't turn out bad for a backyard job. The paint came from the local auto paint supply. I have the formula if anyone needs it, it's a very close match in terms of color. This has a gloss finish vs. the factory matte finish on the frame. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Looks great! How were you able to mask off the rim? The line looks good in the picture. | ||
| Xbob |
they look good. nice job. | ||
| Aj06bolt12r |
Ok so this thread is kinda scareing me. I still have the stock dunlops and my amber rims are still perfect. However im selling the dunlops to a friend with and r6 cuz yall say they are junk and I am getting sum diablo corsa lll's. Do my rims stand a good chance of getting all jacked up during the tire change? Can I get any recorse against the tire shop if they do damage my rims? Thanks in advance! | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Changing tires without messing up the rims is a bit of a problem because the amber powder coating is so brittle. Most shops do tires at your risk, no recourse is offered if the paint chips. Some shops are better than others, and there is a touch up paint offered by Buell to repair the chips. The best solution that I have found so far, is to have the work done on a No Mar Tire Changer, which has no metal parts touching the rims. Everything that touches the wheel is plastic. You can purchase a home model of this machine for about $600, and change tires yourself in an hour or less including balancing. If two or three people chip in on the machine, it will pay for itself pretty quickly. Keep a spare set of tires in the garage and you will never be off the road waiting for an appointment at the dealers. http://www.nomartirechanger.com/06ClassicModel.htm l | ||
| Bueaddicted |
What are you guys saying? When I purchase new tires my rims are going to be damaged?  Hopefully this won't happen at the dealer, will it? I'm planning on getting the same rear stock tire through the dealer. Paul | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I would just mention to them to be extra careful. Put them on notice. If you get some hamfisted new kid with lots of sharp-edged metal bits prying on your wheel, you are going to have damage. It isn't the wheel's fault, it's the tech's fault. There is no reason tires couldn't be installed without damaging them. They are more susceptible to damage than other wheels, but with proper care should be able to have the tires changed without incident. | ||
| Captnemo |
The rear wheel is a pain to mount tires on !! The center depression isn't very deep so you have to work the tire over the rim lip a little at a time. It won't pop over if you slide it just right. The front isn't as bad but my Kawi rims are about 1/2 the work to do a tire change. Photos are coming up ! | ||
| Captnemo |
First photo's of the color and the masking of the rim. The wheel manufacturer machined the outer portion of the wheel lip like most of the other bike wheels. The front only has one lip machined due to the brake rotor mounting bosses. I scuff sanded first with scotchbrite, masked off the portion of the rim inboard of the machining marks, applied stripper to the machined section, washed the stripper off when the paint was removed, dried them, masked the machined portion of the rim ( Just being careful of where the tape goes - Use 3M tape for this ), masked with paper where needed, wiped everything down with laquer thinner, mixed ( color, reducer & catalyst ) and shot the paint, 3 coats later, let it surface dry and removed the masking paper then removed the tape. Yes, it's one hell of a run on sentence, but at least I used some punctuation. Today I mounted the tires, installed the brake rotors and the rear sprocket, balanced the wheels and put the bike back together. Other photos are close-ups of the wheels on the bike. Front has a polished and a painted side, then the rear.     | ||
| Captnemo |
Now for the "Money Shots"    | ||
| Xbob |
those look really good. | ||
| Captnemo |
ft, on the masking part, I just followed the end of the tool marks on the inboard part of the rim. you can see where they made a lathe cut to shape the outer portion of the rim. I goofed around with some metal polish that I had, and they'll polish right up. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Looks very nice, Scott. I am just wondering if the gold Buell decals on the air box cover might look a bit out of place now that the amber wheels are gone? | ||
| Saintly |
the gold Buell decals on the air box cover might look a bit out of place now I second that! Lose the gold decals. Perhaps black ones would compliment it better. | ||
| Kaveman |
NICE!!! Can you do a set for me now!!!  Just joking! They look great! Kaveman | ||
| Moondust |
infact - lose the blue - go all black - | ||
| Bigblock |
don't let em mess with ya, looks great just like it is! | ||
| Old_man |
Looks great, very nice job. | ||
| Captnemo |
I have about a quart of Dodge Viper red left over from the racecar... I could definately cover all the panels with that... I'll consider black or silver airbox decals, unless there are other options. | ||
| Captnemo |
I hit the rim portion of the wheels with some metal polish last night. Boy what a difference ! They GLOW now! | ||
| Skully |
Scott, What did you use to polish the raw aluminum? Thanks, Keith | ||
| Terribletim |
Try the Rye Bread!  I wonder if Pumperknickel will work?  And just what is Pumperknickel? | ||
| Captnemo |
Here's the polish I used. Sorry, no rye bread was used during this evolution.  Website is www.greenmagicplus.com The stuff is chromuim oxide based so does one heck of a job in short order. When I was making knives my favorite polishing compound was knife maker's green, chromium oxide based ! I started prepping the bike for the track day at Barber on Saturday. Changed the gearcase fluid, adjusted the clutch, drilled & safety wired the drain plugs & oil fill cap, removed the pillion foot pegs and made some adjustments to the suspension.    | ||
| Ridrx |
Captnemo, That looks fantastic! Clean and subtle, very nice. | ||
| Dentfixer |
Captnemo, Sent you a PM. | ||
| Captnemo |
Thanks, it's still a work in progress. PM back at you. I'll have the paint mix formula tomorrow afternoon for the guys that PM'ed me about it. | ||
| Ridrx |
What are you using to illuminate your tag? | ||
| Captnemo |
I brought the paint can in tonight, this for PPG Delstar acrylic enamel. The label has a paint code of DAR36010 Graphite Metallic on it with a mixing formula for a pint of: DMR490 183.4 DMR414 52.8 DMR435 57.9 DMR400 11.6 DMR499 198.6 DRX495 10.1 For a pint of paint, catalyst and a gallon of reducer, you're looking at about $100 for those materials. I had reducer from a prior paint job, so I was in for about $75 for the wheels. What are you using to illuminate your tag? Ummmm... The headlights on the car behind me ? LOL Seriously, nothing. There are several companies that make license plate bolt lights, I just didn't use any this time. | ||
| Alanshouse |
So shiny. I like it. | ||
| Tommy_2stroke |
Yo Scott... thanks for posting the paint codes. You did a fine job... and your bike looks much better that way. Very sharp. I've got a 2006 12R in red, also with the gold wheels. Red and gold? Eek. Reminds me of Chinese New Year. |
