cleaning/restoring wire wheels

[veg]

Hi all, got a quick question about wheels.

Alrighty, I've got a 77 gs400 with wire wheels. Looking to clean them up and get them looking as new as possible. The crome rims are in pretty good condition but the spokes themselves have gone a dirty grey colour. I have tried the clean them with a "wire wheel cleaner" but didn't get the result I was hoping for. I have a few questions before I continue however-

What kind of metal are the spokes made out of? If I hit them with some scotch-bright/steel wool am I going to be taking away any sort of protective coating? If that was the case I would assume it best to clear coat them to protect them and make it easier to clean them in the future, which leeds me to the next question....

Has anyone painted wire wheels before? I did a search and found plenty on painting the alloy wheels on later model bikes, but couldn't turn up much on wire wheels. I'm guessing its much the same process and materials with a bit of extra making tape.

Thanks for your time,

[Guest]

You could probably buy new spokes and relace the wheel.

[veg]

Structurally they seem sound, I'd consider re-lacing if they where rusty/corroded to the point of being dangerous. Ta for the advice though, re-lacing may be the way to go regardless in the end if I want a proper resto job on them and the thought hadn't crossed my mind before. More food for thought.....

[cowboyup3371]

I don't know much about the wire spokes but for the rest of the wheel, I just wiped the wheels down with simple green, took a wire wheel on a corded drill around it, and then polishing compound. I should have done more with higher grits of sandpaper before the polishing compounds but I still like the looks of them.

[GateKeeper]

This....

You could probably buy new spokes and relace the wheel.

or look at possibly getting the existing spokes re chromed....or plated

it would depend on what the difference is in cost and your budget

[Big T]

The spokes are plated and deteriorate - that's why they appear "gray"

Your best bet is to replace them - I know the bigger bikes can be replaced by spokes from a XS650 Yamaha, I don't know if that pertains to yours

You can paint them, however, you would have to properly prep the spokes and that means lots and lots of scrubbing and sanding of each spoke

[NoH2Oh]

I used Mothers Mag & Aluminum polish on my spokes, one by one using old t-shirts cut into strips.... 3-4 (or 5) beers and a nice La Aurora later and she was looking really nice.

http://www.mothers.com/02_products/05100-05101.html

[chuck hahn]

Will cost you around 25.00, but the Mothers Power Cone installed in an air grinder ( or a drill ) does wonders in seconds. Just feather the handle to control the RPMs and apply the polish and scrub up and down the spokes. You can do an entire rim in about 1/2 to 3/4 HR.

http://www.cyclesolutions.net/product/sku-WD-PB-CONE

[chuck hahn]

As Flatline posted..you can get them relaced easily enough. While they are apart you can then polish and reclear the hubs and polish the rims much easier as well. Then the nice new bling from fresh spokes will throw them over the top.

[hampshirehog]

Your spokes are just galvanised steel and they have dulled (oxidised) if they are grey. If you want them shiney just get at them with a bit of Autoglym or similar. You don't want to use a polish that is abrasive as you'll remove the zinc and they'll rust easily.

[veg]

Ta for the help everyone.

Hampshirehog that's the answer I needed, I figured they might have been galv steel or something similar but needed to confirm. Looks like its time for a re-lace if I want them looking good. Oh well, its gonna have to wait till after summer here in oz, too many rides to be had for the sake of some grey spokes.

[Shin-Ken 1074]

For a good look that will last much longer than O.E.M. spokes you might consider using stainless steel spokes?

[veg]

Mmmmmm stainless. Big price difference?

[Big T]

Mmmmmm stainless. Big price difference?

Yes, about 4x material cost - wheel building cost is the same

[Shin-Ken 1074]

Mmmmmm stainless. Big price difference?

About double the cost of the O.E.M. spokes from Suzuki however, the finish on the stainless will outlast the bike compared to the couple of years the coating lasts on O.E.M. spokes. The other big plus is they look O.K., cheers.