Put on the gloves, turn on a fan (this stuff stinks... use in a well ventilated area) if you have one, and apply the stripper to the rim carefully with the 1" brush. Another footnote... apply liberally. The thicker you can get it on there without dripping the better. I didn't put enough on there the first time and I had to go back and touch things up a a few times to get all of the paint off that I wanted. also be sure to get some in between the tire and rim. The stripper won't hurt the tire and you can get it stripped nice and clean all down in there.
Do both wheels and apply liberally.
Wait for 20-30 minutes and rinse the eaten off paint with water. Not all of the paint will come off so use steel wool to scrub whatever is left.
Look closely and you can see some paint still left right at the cut line.
Here is what it looks like after you go over it with the steel wool and some running water.
Before...
After...
Is it perfect?? No. The stripper worked its way under the tapeline and some of the paint came off from the bumpy center section. I plan to go back with some gloss black paint and touch it up with a small paintbrush. Also, the aluminum rim is rough right now and I have plans to polish it up to a mirror finish at a later date. (hmmm another DIY thread???) Then, down the line when it's time to change tires, I will strip the paint off where the tire meets the rim...though that may not be needed and I am planning to clear coat the bare aluminum when the tires are off.
Is this for everybody??? ... most likely not. I did it cause I like the polished aluminum wheel, old school look, especially on the kawi green. I don't care for the black wheels and I think the polished rims makes the bike clook cleaner. I'm happy, that's all that really matters.
Some better pictures to come once everything is cleaned up.
edit- this is what the wheel looks like all cleaned up and in some better light.
