Removing powdercoat finish

[alke46]

Sorry this is not for my GS but instead it is for my ST1100 Honda. I am looking for the "right" way to remove a powdercoat finish from my wheels. I got into a project that is a whole lot more complicated than I had thought.
From what I am seeing, I think the manufacturer powdercoated the aluminum wheels with a white coating and then applied a thin top coat of gray for the color.
I want to strip it down to the aluminum and then re-do it. Anybody on the forum know how to best attack this problem? Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Larry

 

[first timer]

if it's powder coat you will have to bead blast it. Any powder coat shop should be able to redo them for you.

 

[1978GS1000custom]

i used aircraft stripper from walmart. i left it on heavy overnight and it softened up the powder coat just enough so that it could be scraped off with a wooden tongue depressor (as not to scratch it up) then some scotch bright to remove the film and the polish my @ss off. it helps to make a wheel jig to hold it while in the process. cliff

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c156/zebrazzz/GS1000custom/GS0000073.jpg

 

[hampshirehog]

Powder coating stands up tough against blasting and the guys at my local powder coaters don't like removing it. Best thing to use is paintstripper (= aircraft stripper?) - might need several coats but it does come off reasonably well.

 

[almarconi]

aircraft stripper works well on powdercoat.