The Honda Owners Club

hi the CLR 125 ive just picked up has really really badly rusted wheels, ive sanded down all the rust from the wheels, its left just black stains , whats the best way to make these look a bit better, i know re-chroming is out of the question , but is there any alternatives? what about that chrome spray? will it take to chrome wheels?

thanks in a advance

From my experience, those "black spots" are rust. The metal pits and the rust fills the pits. It'll sometimes harden up when you sand and turn black. After those are gone you'll get clean metal. Then you can take steps to prevent the rust from reappearing tout de suite. Wire brush is about as effective as there is.

That chrome spray stuff is bunkum. Looks like the stuff you flush. You may want to consider a colour. Black maybe?

I had the wheels on my 550 rebuilt with new rims and spokes on the original hubs.

Good as new now.

If the wheels are "badly rusted", there may well be safety issues. I think I would look for some replacement rims.

Regards

Chimpy

I agree with Chimpy, if the rust is so bad then there is a lot of metal that has been eaten away making the rims weaker.

Wire brushing is not the best way to remove all the rust as even the tiniest black spot left, is rust and it will start again the only way to be sure is shotblasting. Painting is a temporary solution only even after shotblasting one slight chip or scratch and the rust will have somewhere to start again.

If and I say if !! there is no chance of new rims and I am reasonaby sure there is a good chance of getting new rims then get them shot blasted and assesed to see if they are still ok and have them enameled/powder coated.
Have a look here http://www.northwestenamellers.co.uk/

However if your rims are that bad ...what state are your spokes in??

Regards Witch

A new rim is actually not that expensive and will probably be cheaper than having the old one painted correctly.

Wheel building is not particullary difficult and I used build all my own wheels years ago; can't really be bothered nowadays, although I did strip one down recently and may rebuild it myself.

Regards

Chimpy