Painting the wheels?

[evocarti]

Hey folks!

I've been wanting to get my wheels painted for a while now - and am a complete noob when it comes to paint.

I hear powder-coating is the way to go for wheels. My fantasy color is white (I have a red frame / red body 696) - they will be a PITA to keep clean, but whatever: Red and white screams "OMG I'M I-TALIAN!"

Looking for a bit of feedback and advice from ya'll with wheel-painting experience.

[zooom]

go powder coat...the P.O. of my trck bike whom still posts here on occasion spray can bombed the wheels and the wheels got some grime on em and I was cleaning some stuff off with brake clean and it started to take the paint right off and made me aware of what he had done....no biggiee...just took me a bunch of cleaning and it was all gone...but still...

[S2daRk]

+1 powder coat

[duccarlos]

+1 powder coat

+2 let me know if you need help finding a place.

[Speeddog]

Brake Cleaner is pretty harsh, some of the OEM Duc wheels won't stand up to it.

I vote for Painting, no need to remove bearings and cush drives.

[orangelion03]

And I have white wheels I want to re-color!   

I vote for Painting, no need to remove bearings and cush drives.

Gee, got any suggestions as to where?   
I'm looking at recoloring mine...will give you a call here shortly.

[He Man]

i vote for painting as well (even though I PC'ed mine and i have my own powdercoating setup).

[duccarlos]

Can someone list out the pros and cons for each?

[ducpainter]

Can someone list out the pros and cons for each?

I can.

[duccarlos]

Could you?

[ducpainter]

Could you?

Already have...several times...but because you asked so nicely I'll do it again.

Paint...

Pros...
Unlimited choice of color without a significant difference in cost.

No disassembly of bearings.

Superior gloss (If you want glossy wheels)

Superior corrosion resistance if coating is breached (scratched/chipped).

Cons...

Requires a significant cure time before full hardness and durability is achieved

Powder...

Pros...
Fully cured as soon as it cools.

Powder is usually cheaper for the actual coating process. There can be hidden costs.

Cons...
Limited color choice. You're stuck with whatever your coater stocks unless you are willing to pay for 10lbs of powder.

Wheels must be disassembled raising labor and possibly parts cost.

No corrosion resistance once the coating is breached.

There are other dangers of damage to parts if the coater you choose puts parts in the oven to remove paint then sandblasts. It is extremely common in the trade as much of what they do is steel, and that practice cuts blast time and cost.

Edit...the temps that the coater uses to remove paint are what damage aluminum. There should be no damage from normal cure temps.

[Speeddog]

I've got a set of wheels, they've been PC'd.
Bearings will slide out due to their own weight.
Perhaps the wheels got over-baked, I have no idea.
They're essentially useless other than to hold a bike up.

[greenohawk69]

Here is a guy who is a sponsor on www.HDForums.com and also rides a Dyna that is a part owner of this company:  http://www.thepowderpro.com  .

Based on other forum members comments, they do a great job.  The dude on the Dyna section (JRK5892 - pm for pricing) did his bike and some other ones and it turned out well.  He stresses that the prep is the key. 

[ducpainter]

<snip> He stresses that the prep is the key. 

Duh...

Prep is always the key in any process.

Don't mean to be confrontational, but every trade is 99% process.

[He Man]

Theres a lot of hidden costs behind Powder coating. Most of it is in the prep...

You have to strip it down to metal.
It will never be as glossy as liquid paint.
It will be fully 100% cured once it cools down.
The actual coating is very cheap. Hell if you can strip your wheels for me, id do em both for $100 bucks.
But youll probably pay $100+ for someone to even strip em for you depending on where you are, so pick a guy who knows how to handle different metals.