Wheels... powder or paint?

[Elevhun]

So as soon as the snow starts to fly I'll be tearing down my baby and making her all nice and black. aside from a few small bits ( bars, exhaust hangers/ pipes ) she's already all completely balck except for the shiny silver wheels. They must go! Just curious if anyone has powder coated their wheels or if this is even a possible or recommended  (2009 m1100) with reheating the aluminum that is required for powder coating. I respect the benefits of powder coating however I realize that painting would be cheeper and more readily available. Any input would be much appreciated.

[Speeddog]

Paint.

I've been told by a now-retired moto and frame straightener that he straightened many more powdercoated wheels than painted ones.
I've had a few wheels in the shop where if you turn them on their side, that wheel bearing falls out.
But it's only been powdercoated wheels where that happens.
Whether that's been due to overheating by an inexperienced powdercoater, I have no idea.

But I do know that with painting, there's no way it will harm the structural properties of the wheel, and you don't have to R&R the wheel bearings.
And you can have *any* color you want.
And it can be touched up, and match, if you damage it.

[ducpainter]

I'm a paint fan...shocking eh?

The reason most people have problems with wheels and powdercoating is not usually the powder coating process. but rather the method used by the coater to remove the old paint.

Many take the wheels, or any part, and put it in the oven at a temp that will burn the paint off. Then blasts and coats.

A local guy uses 800F. That temp will damage aluminum because it brings it very close to the temps used for heat treating.

[Elevhun]

I'm a paint fan...shocking eh?

The reason most people have problems with wheels and powdercoating is not usually the powder coating process. but rather the method used by the coater to remove the old paint.

Many take the wheels, or any part, and put it in the oven at a temp that will burn the paint off. Then blasts and coats.

A local guy uses 800F. That temp will damage aluminum because it brings it very close to the temps used for heat treating.

That seems to be the consensus, I'm not too savvy on the casting process on their wheels or their tolerances. there's a plethora of info/people doing it on cast auto rims with no issues but they are sitting in a car and not a moto where the consequences of a wheel failure would be the worst possible outcome.

[ducpainter]

IMO, the only possible advantage to powder on wheels is it might be cheaper than liquid and once cooled it is cured where liquid needs time to cure.

When you factor in the R/R on bearings and the possible damage to the bearings requiring replacement I see no cost advantage.

[djomlas]

another alternative is plastidip.
i plastidipped a set on my 695, white, along with the headlight ring. exhaust cans also done in dip in black.
when compared to white marches inis on my s2r they actually looked brighter.
its simple to do actually, obviously take them off and mask off the hubs, then put some index cards between wheel and tires and spray away
the trick is to remove the tape off before the last coat dries where you make off, the index cards are ok to let dry since they are stuck in between
heres some pics if anyone is interested.
cool thing is, of course, it can be peeled off if you don't like it, or to redo when you change the tires if dip gets ripped or peeled by accident

[Speeddog]

RustOLeum Sunrise Red from a rattle can.
Over 9 years and 30k milers later, they still look great:

[Elevhun]

I have actually been playing around recently with plastidip and I'm pretty impressed with the ease of use and how versatile the stuff is. Did my forks and lower headlight frame, came out the nuts IMHO.


I figured if I was going to go through the effort of taking the wheels off I might as well media blast, paint and clear. I love the satin look of the plasti dip but I think anything other than a deep gloss black finish with maybe a hint of metal flake in it and multiple coats of clear might be doing my bike a grave injustice.

[oldndumb]

From FHE two cautions re PlastiDip. Obviously the first being the relative lack of durability. Secondly you have to be very careful about which cleaning product(s) you allow it to come into contact with. Some will soften it.

Ditto the recommendation re the Rustoleum. Very nice results can be had using it, or Krylon, depending on the attention to detail, and the surface preparations. Meticulous prep can produce excellent results. Once done, just be judicious with choice of cleaners to avoid any with aggressive solvent content. It is not as resistant as a two part system.

[djomlas]

From FHE two cautions re PlastiDip. Obviously the first being the relative lack of durability. Secondly you have to be very careful about which cleaning product(s) you allow it to come into contact with. Some will soften it.

i had a set of wheels gone trough 3 winter, salt, power washes, and all sorts of other weather and not a thing happened to them.
and its only $5. can't beat it. when done with black, i sold them in prisiting hyper silver bbs color, not a scratch on them

[MotoPsycho]

When I had my wheels powder coated, the guys that did it didn't tape off the wheel bearing holes. So the bearings come out with very little effort on the back wheel. Front was fine. It didn't appear to hurt them any after 4 or 5 good hard track days though. The PC'ers I've dealt with would rather sand blast than bake paint off, saves them time. I can't say anything bad about having it done as long as it is done correctly. Plus it only bakes at like 350F for about a half hour. I've been thinking about selling them since I got my Carrozzeria's a couple summers ago.