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Changing appearance of '17 RT-S front wheels
Brought our 'new' Spyder home last weekend and have been looking it over, looking for things to personalize. One of the first things that <should> be easy and cheap is to improve the look of the front wheels. I have never been a fan of an all-black look, and the black wheels and black tires are a perfect example. Painting the wheels silver or even a dark gray would lighten them up a bit, then I got to thinking of polishing the raised edges of the spokes. Kinda what I am used to seeing on my old Suzukis:
Now, the question is: what is the finish on the wheels? Is it merely a strong (epoxy?) paint or is it powder coated? Would polishing the edges be a matter of simply sticking a Scotch-Brite pad or a fine sanding disk in my drill and removing the black? Just trying to avoid a problem where I leave an edge where the coating will flake off, making it look a lot worse. Of course, by then, I could paint it myself and re-polish the edges, but trying to minimize the occurance, if possible.
Just to make sure I like it well enough to start grinding away, I think I'm going to get some pinstripe tape and apply it to the edges to get a preview.
I'll post some pictures here over the weekend.
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Very Active Member
I don't know what the black coating is comprised of, but if you re-move it ( and I agree it would look nice ) you will be left with bare metal ,either alloy or aluminum etc. .... wheels that are " natural " looking do have a protective coating on them ..... good luck ..... keep us posted on what you do ..... Mike
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Thanks, Mike. Like I said, I'm going to start with some tape to make sure I like the look.
When done, I don't expect the edges to have a mirror finish, some fine sanding marks would be enough to brighten up the wheel.
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Very Active Member
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Very Active Member
As you have probably seen by now your Potobucket is putting a watermark across the pictures that makes it hard to see the effect you are looking for. Maybe time to store your pictures elsewhere.
Happy TRAils/NSD
Paul
2012 RT L
AMA 25 years Life Member
TRA
PGR
Rhino Riders Plate #83
Venturers #78
TOI
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I don't see the watermark on my views, but I am working on another site. Thanks for the notice.
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Active Member
The 'preview' tape looks really sharp in your picture! Good luck with the project...
: )
Gina J
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Thanks, Gina.
I'm still looking for clues about the black finish. Paint? Powder coat? ???
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Very Active Member
That is what the RTS special series wheels look like.
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SpyderLovers Sponsor
Pretty tough finish. I’d say paint, as you can see drips in the hub occasionally.
Joe Meyer
Dealer for the Outlaw/ROLO laser Alignment system
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Thanks, JP. Had to go back and look at the brochures that were sent to me to see them. The '16 Special came with "Black Chrome" wheels that don't appear to have the highlighted edges, but the '15 brochure shows them very nicely.
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Very Active Member
I have always polished bare aluminum / magnesium with NeverDull. It brightens and leaves a protective coating. Only once in a great while do I need to go over it.
Ours is a red, black and chrome 2017 F3 Limited. Bought new in 2/2019. The avatar is my first bike back in 1952, a Simplex Servi-Cycle. Photo taken at the Barber Museum.
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When I polish aluminum to a mirror-shine, I then seal it with Wizard's Power Seal.
Not sure that I'll polish this, will likely leave it with the appearance of fine machining marks.
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SpyderLovers Sponsor
hi steve
i agree...the oem black wheels look awful
your fix looks so much better
if youre looking to seal the alum then maybe try wood varnish
russ
pres ride
2014 RT-S
bike is WIP
bike has endured elect spike (was jump started incorrectly)
still a WIP but bike is now running and registered....swapped out 5 modules mostly sourced from Canadian wrecker
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Thanks for the suggestion. Would (wood?) not have thought of using varnish.
I do have some polyurethane clear, if I don't like what Wizard's might do.
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Beautiful job, but it seems like it would have been a heckuva lot easier to just repaint the wheels, apply rim tape, Colorlugs, etc.
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Trust me, that's NOT permanent.
That was just a quickie experiment to see if the silver edges would look decent.
Apparently Can-Am thought it was decent enough for the '15 RT-S Special Edition, but I did not know that until after I read post #10.
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Very Active Member
Originally Posted by Steve W.
OK, it's a little too cool and damp for a comfortable ride this evening, so I spent some time in the shop.
The tape is gone and some paint is gone.
I like it. She hasn't seen them yet. (It's HER bike.)
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What did you use to remove paint and how?
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I used a 4 1/2" flap disk on a cheap Harbor Freight angle grinder.
I took the wheel off, placed it on a swivel stool and sat on another stool near it. Pretty much kept my body in the same position and rotated the wheel under me. Used a VERY light touch and tried to keep the grinder straight and parallel to the wheel to avoid rounding off the edges.
After all the paint was gone, there were some scratches (they looked like deep machining marks) across the edges, so I used some fiber surface conditioning discs, also from Harbor Freight.
I did not pay any attention to the clock while I was doing it, but it probably took about 45 minutes to jack up one side, remove the wheel, clean the paint off the edges, put the wheel back on and put the bike back down.
I did not get any pictures of the process, but it can be re-created, if necessary.
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Very Active Member
Steve, what type of tape did you use to protect areas you weren't sanding?
Ours is a red, black and chrome 2017 F3 Limited. Bought new in 2/2019. The avatar is my first bike back in 1952, a Simplex Servi-Cycle. Photo taken at the Barber Museum.
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Originally Posted by RICZ
Steve, what type of tape did you use to protect areas you weren't sanding?
The INVISIBLE kind.
No tape used, just a steady hand or two.
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Very Active Member
Originally Posted by Steve W.
The INVISIBLE kind.
No tape used, just a steady hand or two.
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We are alike in that regard. Good work Steve.
Ours is a red, black and chrome 2017 F3 Limited. Bought new in 2/2019. The avatar is my first bike back in 1952, a Simplex Servi-Cycle. Photo taken at the Barber Museum.
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IMO, it looks much better than the original. Great job. enjoy your ride
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