Ducati Monster Forum

Hello forum members.  Need your opinions as I'm having a hard time deciding if I should re-finish these Marchesini wheels I just recently acquired.

The overall condition of the current paint is pretty good.  I'm just not sure if I should keep them the color they are for my bike or do them in black or even red like a Senna edition.  

thanks.

BEFORE:
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-XkA393P6QUk/UFFrz97q3rI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/lkWqPaF-o_Q/s911/P1120901.JPG)


AFTER WITHOUT TIRES:
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-H6w5YGObPfg/UFqi36MQwSI/AAAAAAAAAdg/xwFybDBLkYw/s988/march1.jpg)

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5fAMHBoxYMI/UFqi4qcE8DI/AAAAAAAAAdk/gvRbI0PNEKM/s1063/march2.jpg)

AFTER WITH SOME PIRELLI DRAGON SUPERCORSAS

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-qsswPBX3YJc/UGhZDTQ2BLI/AAAAAAAACuQ/Lzl_Ckoqw9E/s635/20120929_141125.jpg)

I think you should keep em silver and ship them to me :D

seriously though. silver and then redo your frame the same ;)

I'd leave as is, reckon they look sweet  [thumbsup] Black would look good, but I wouldn't do red....

Stick with that awesome titanium gray color, or just paint the "cut ins" on each spoke. Alternating colors / finishes always look good.  [thumbsup]

I would leave them as is.  They look great!

re-do the frame huh?  If I get to that point, I may as well swap out the motor for a 2V 1000.   Keep your suggestions coming in.  I think the titanium silver-ish color they are will look good too.  I'm thinking it will contrast with the seat cowl number plates and make my front carbon fender stand out more.

As is  [thumbsup]

Paint 'em black in 4,768kms when they're.... "worn in"  ;)

Leave them as they are; they will look sweet!

I dont think you can go wrong with those wheels, but if it were me and I had to paint them, i'd probably go black...a nice compliment to that graphite tank, which looks super sweet by the way...nice ride  [Dolph]

I'm just thinking that doing them black would really hide all the nice details of the wheels.

They look nice with that color.   Blah on black.  No contrast between tire and wheel, especially since you have a lot of black on the bike now.   I have black wheels too and will repaint them down the road.   If you want to change the color, the only other color I would consider is a dull bronze/magnesium color.    Not as bright as the gold parts you have now but a little duller and darker.

Are those off an ST3?  A friend of mine put ST3 wheels similar to that on his GT1000 Sport Classic.  They look pretty good on his bike and he dropped almost 20lbs over the wire wheels his bike came with.

I like the color.  I'd leave them that way.

I believe they are off of a 1000ss.  Thats what i was told to say the least.   I'm not sure if they are forged or cast, but they are drastically lighter than the brembo 3 spoke wheels I've currently got on now.

By the way, when someone tells you that the wheels are 100% straight, have someone check them.  I bought a set of wheels second hand for my wife's car and two of them were bent.  I was having those 2 wheels refinished anyway because of curb damage but I'm glad that I found out before I put them on her car.  Deal was too good to pass up and even with the refinishing and straightening it was still less than half what a complete set of new wheels would have cost.

The difference should be obvious just from the price!    Otherwise, the surface of the forged wheel almost looks machined and the surface of the cast wheels will look, for lack of a better word, not as flat looking.  Also, the spokes of a forged wheel will be much slimmer due to it's higher strength.  The cast spokes may be U shaped or hollow and fat.   My rear forged HM wheel is lighter than the front stock cast wheel.

Yes they are "U" shaped spokes.  I guess they are cast then.  Regardless, I find them way lighter (especially the front) vs. my stock 3 spoke brembos.

update pics with wheels on, but no tires.  Leave them as is, or paint 'em?

I really don't think you can go wrong either way - i'd say it won't look better or worse one way or the other, so my vote leave 'em - put some tires on and rip it..  [Dolph]

 I really like the dark/light gray/black situation you've got going on, I didn't realized the cowl was different than the tank in the first pics...beautiful machine you've got

Seat cowl is actually the same color as the tank, but I had some custom number plates made up from a local sign shop here done in a dark silver to kind of contrast things and had the new Monster decals applied to the tank before clearcoat.

Leave them as they are and stick tyres on them.... make up your mind if you want to change the colour for the next tyre change... they look pretty good already..

Yep, leave them that colour   [thumbsup]

Finally got tires mounted (Pirelli Dragon Supercorsas) and went for a ride.  These wheels feel much lighter than the stock 3spoke brembos I had.  Turn in feels quicker, unless its just mind over matter.

Crappy pic posted at the top on one of our local rides.

I buckled and had them refinished.  Got them done in a nice gloss black.  Pics up shortly

Voila!

Before media blasting:
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xB_vIgQ2l6k/UUm5fR7-l6I/AAAAAAAAAoE/Tr3L6FbbWnA/s811/wheels+006.jpg)

After:
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CMpZHY7mf7c/UUm15E1rexI/AAAAAAAAAno/x0yq6XCQaWY/s811/wheels+010.jpg)
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Dylp01Fiwqg/UUm13ri6hAI/AAAAAAAAAng/2kIjRLt62NQ/s811/wheels+011.jpg)
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-NwRAWUB-Sts/UUm1_ILIVjI/AAAAAAAAAnw/m6M4X3ey-vQ/s811/wheels+012.jpg)

 The original color looked great with your bike, but the black is pretty nice too!

They needed to be done.  The previous finish/color really didnt jive, and were slight shades different for some reason.  Obviously painted once before.

Not necessarily.

They could have been painted with different lots of paint, or whoever did the mixing one day over poured a tint.

You wouldn't believe the variance in Duc colors...

sometimes on the same bike. ;)

They look good! Nice IKEA display boxes. :P

Good eye!  ;D

The following is worth nothing, so please feel free to skip:






I liked the old color.  It was a color.  Now they're a shade.  Too many black wheels these days.

yep

uh you do realize grey is a shade of black  [evil]

I kinda realize that, yes.  But I see more too the original color than grey.  I see some hues of gold and green in there but perhaps that's just my monitor.

just your monitor  ;D

I agree with Stu. The grey has a cast.

When it comes to paint even black isn't....just black.

In the automotive world Ford black and GM black are very different.

Back on topic...I like less than full gloss wheels for maintenance reasons.