DIY- Check Out My New Rimtape, Yo!

[kkim]

Nah... not really.

Call me old school, (well... because I am ) but I just like the way the bike looks with polished rims. I had read all I could find on how to accomplish this, but there was never a complete DIY thread on how to do this on a 08 250R, so... here it is.

First, I could not find the paint stripper recommended by the numerous threads on the subject (aircraft stripper), so I purchased some stuff from my local NAPA dealer. Guy said it was strong, so I took his word for it.





I tried it on a small spot on the rear rim just to make sure it would work as I had read where some of the strippers out there was just plain junk. After putting a drop of the stuff on the rim and waiting about 15-20 minutes, this is what I found. gadzooks! it works really well.





So, I gathered up the rest of my supplies... denatured alcohol to clean the rims...





Some blue masking tape...





Some stripping gloves (sold right next to the steel wool at Wal-Mart), a paper cup, and some 1" junky paint brushes from home depot (97cents each). I was looking for brushes that had no paint on them so the stripper would not end up eating the brush or handle. I have also heard not to use foam type applicators, as they will melt from the stripper.





Got the bike up on stands and took the front fender off as a precaution. 6 screws to remove the fender... two on each side and two more on the upper back portion.







Wipe the wheel with the denatured alcohol where you are going to be laying the tape down. I had washed the bike a few days prior just make sure everything was clean when doing this. I was going to strip everything off right up to the bumpy portion in the middle portion of the rim.






There has been some debate as to whether you need to tape up the center portion. Some will tell you it's powder coated and the stripper will not eat the center portion and others said the stripper ate right through it. I wasn't about to take chances and elected to tape up the center section... and it's a good thing I did. The stripper will eat the paint on the center section of the wheels on a 08 250R. Ask me how I know! more about that later.


Next, lay the tape on the line you are going to use as your cut line. I learned from working in a paint shop in my younger years that working with smaller tape to do fine work is a lot easier to do first, then apply the thicker tape over that so you don't need to be as precise... so, I laid some 3/4" blue painters masking tape down then finished up with some 2" masking tape to protect the spokes from paint stripper.

* As a footnote, I would not recommend using blue tape as I found it to not stick very well at the edges and allowed stripper to seep under the edges. I would try using regular brown/tan type masking tape instead. I never had leakage problems with that type in the past...should have learned from my own experience. also, buy a name brand tape. I bought 3M thinking I was safe, but found out otherwise. In their defense, it was more likely using the wrong product for the application.






Do both wheels and you're set.



Pour some stripper into the paper cup (stuff looks like thick gel)...



Check the temp... stripper works better in warm climates. It was a nice 75 degrees, so it was a go.



Okay... time to get down to business... starting in the next post.

[kkim]

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.

[Felix]

Nice write up! Thanks!

I think you might have caused me to spend another weekend working on the bike, my Mrs isnt going to be happy with you :P

What do you reckon would be a fair estimate of the time taken to do the whole process.

Also how do you think this would look on a black bike? I hate my rim stripes, they are peeling off and the orignal application was CRAPPY to say the least. I'm also looking at taking off my Ninja Kanji decals that I put on, clean the bike up a bit.

Felix

[ak_907_ak]

I would recommend aluminum tape instead of maskers tape. Paint stripper won't eat through metal. Be careful with that stuff, wash off anything that gets on your skin with water as soon as possible, because it will leave marks that will stay on your skin a long time. When I was an aircraft mechanic, we had to use this stuff quite often, to clean the inside of a whole plane.

[kkim]

Originally Posted by Felix

Nice write up! Thanks!

I think you might have caused me to spend another weekend working on the bike, my Mrs isnt going to be happy with you :P

What do you reckon would be a fair estimate of the time taken to do the whole process.

Also how do you think this would look on a black bike? I hate my rim stripes, they are peeling off and the orignal application was CRAPPY to say the least. I'm also looking at taking off my Ninja Kanji decals that I put on, clean the bike up a bit.

Felix

Hi Felix,

I would guesstimate about 6-8 hrs to do both wheels. Work slowly as this is something you don't want to make mistakes on. It took me months before I felt I was ready to do this properly and I still made some errors.

PM user Truefaith on a black bike with polished rims. His bike, that he bought from the original owner, has this mod done.

Just get the missus an extra special Xmas gift and all will be forgiven.

Pics, please, when you're done!!

[kkim]

Originally Posted by ak_907_ak

I would recommend aluminum tape instead of maskers tape. Paint stripper won't eat through metal. Be careful with that stuff, wash off anything that gets on your skin with water as soon as possible, because it will leave marks that will stay on your skin a long time. When I was an aircraft mechanic, we had to use this stuff quite often, to clean the inside of a whole plane.

Nico,

The problem wasn't that the stripper ate through the tape, it was the adhesive on the blue tape is not designed to stick very well to begin with. After doing some research on the web after I did the rims, I feel using the proper masking tape for the job would have saved me the headache.

What type of metal tape did you guys use?

[TrueFaith]

Hey Felix. Here's a shot of my polished rims.

[ak_907_ak]

Just any aluminum tape will work, and since it takes more force to bend aluminum tape that blue tape, it will stay in place quite longer.
Just press it down really good, with a roller or so.

[Sailariel]

Kelly, Since I read your excellent DIY on the rims, we have had a situation here with our harbor boat. The boat has an aluminum hull with the gunwale topped off with a massive rubber affair resembling a tyre. To make a long story short, the aluminum under the rubber gunwale corroded quite badly. The boat was retured to the factory to be rebuilt. Seems that the lack of a barrier coat between the rubber and aluminum in a salt water environment caused the problem. There was no ventilation between the rubber and the raw aluminum. You might want to consider keeping the black powder coat as a buffer between the tyre and the aluminum. A Metallurgist would know the answer.
.

[kkim]

Originally Posted by Alex Allmayer Beck

You might want to consider keeping the black powder coat as a buffer between the tyre and the aluminum.

Thanks for the tip, Alex. After I did this DIY, I did another in which I changed tires. While the tires were off the rims, I decided not to strip the rest of the paint off as it's perfectly stripped as is down to that line between the tire and rim. The black doesn't show when the tire is mounted, so I decided to leave it as is. Guess I guessed right, for once.

[Felix]

Thanks TrueFaith, looks great. The other thought I had was painting the rim stripe on instead...

Felix

[TrueFaith]

Originally Posted by Felix

Thanks TrueFaith, looks great. The other thought I had was painting the rim stripe on instead...

Felix

I really wonder if that would be advisable, since pebbles and rocks being thrown up from the road would probably chip any paint you'd add to the rim eventually. I'm thinking of removing the rims and having them powdercoated red entirely. Much more durable and not as expensive as you'd think if you can find a small local shop that does small batches.

[Sailariel]

I think that I will either go the Chrome Plated route or the Anodized Aluminum route. I am leaning toward the anodization--since I am familiar with how durable it is on my sailboat spars. With anodization, I can go Gold or Metallic Green, or Silver. I am leaning toward Gold. Will keep you posted.

[djindia23]

i have a blue bike and i was thinkin of going the powder coated way... KKim this actually looks good on your bike.... you did a good job... thanks to you now i have to decide whether to do this or powder coat... thanks... lol =P

[kkim]

I would powder coat if you have someone good in your area that does it. No one here does that type of work, so I did this instead. I've always liked this look, but lately I've noticed the aluminum starting to spot in places. I need to take better care of the rims. Just a matter of sanding/steel wooling them, but it's not maintenance free as the stock wheels are.

[djindia23]

yeah there's this guy who does a pretty good job and its a good price compared to other places ive seen... soo im going to have him do it towards the end of march or beginning of april when i can ride the bike to him...

[M-Oorb]

Kkim do you think you could take some pictures of what you mean by spoting on your rims. This summer when I get home from school I was thinking about doing this but if I have to do a lot of work after I do this initially I don't know if its worth doing.
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[kkim]

Sure. If I remember, I'll take some later today. If I don't, remind me.

[M-Oorb]

Guess you forgot to take pics? :/
Posted via Mobile Device

[kkim]

see, it's a good thing I told you to remind me.

here's a couple of pics. The one that is more noticeable is with the flash. It doesn't look this bad in real life, but it clearly shows you what I'm talking about. The other is with no flash and is pretty representative of what it actually looks like.

It just needs to be cleaned up some with some fine steel wool and polished with metal wheel cleaner. Then a coat of wax every now and then... well, more often than I thought, anyway.

btw, the pictures are of the worst part of it on the rear wheel. the front wheel hardly has any at all.

[M-Oorb]

Oh that's not that bad. Looks like a little elbow grease will fix that right up like you said. Thanks for the pictures...I was a little nervous that itd be real bad and take a lot of work to get it looking good again. I'm deffinitly doing this in the spring
Posted via Mobile Device

[kkim]

Yes, if you like the look, then go for it. It does require a bit more maintenance than just leaving it black, but to me, it really brightens up the bike.

[jpnfrk]

Originally Posted by kkim

Yes, if you like the look, then go for it. It does require a bit more maintenance than just leaving it black, but to me, it really brightens up the bike.

What kind of maintenance does it require? Do you have to use a special kind of cleaner?

[kkim]

Once you remove the paint, you are left with bare aluminum. If left untreated, they will eventually start to corrode from exposure to the air. (think corrosion as "rust" to aluminum). To shine them up, I use a mag wheel polish from Eagle one.


After you remove the oxidation with the polish and get the wheel shiny the way you want, you need to put a coat of wax on it to prevent further oxidation. I use a product called Rejex as it's a synthetic coating developed for the aero industry to wash and polish planes, though you can use any good wax.




If you neglect to clean the wheels and keep it waxed, it will start to corrode again and start to look like my wheels in the pictures. If you leave it long enough, it can get so bad that it will require buffing to bring back the shine and luster.

[Shift250R]

Would it help if you put a clear coat over the bare aluminum? Or would this dull the shine?

[kkim]

clear would help, but now that I know I just need to take care of it a bit more often, it's not a problem for me. If you are one that doesn't like to attend to cleaning your wheels, clear them or leave them painted to begin with.

[Shift250R]

How often is often? By the way I forgot to say it looks great.

[kkim]

I had not done anything to it for 4 months, so I'd guess every month or two, to keep it under control.

thanks... if you like the look, I'd say go for it. It doesn't appeal to everyone, but I like it and that all that matters to me.

[Shift250R]

Thats not bad at all I was thinking like every other day lol. Ya I like the look because im used to all of my car rims being like that. colored center with a polished lip.

[G's Bike]

KKim, Great DIY it makes the bike look much nicer. Thanks again for the help. I finish touching up the rims yesterday and took her to the dealer today for the annual inspection and the guys at in the service department were telling how “sick” the rims looked.

For those of you considering this mod, a few pointers based on my screw ups:

1. Spend the extra cash and buy the brand name tape (3M or some other good and expensive tape)
2. Take your time putting the tape on the rim prior to the paint striper application.
3. Take your time putting the tape on the rim prior to the paint striper application (2x).
4. Buy aircraft grade paint stripper (available at most auto part stores)
5. If you are using spray paint stripper (like I did) do not over due it, use light coats to avoid drips.
6. Buy a tube of universal black touch up paint (about $7) at any auto parts store to fix any “oh sh*t” in the center of the rim.
7. Enjoy complete strangers telling you how sick your rims look.

Some gratuitous pictures of the rims

[noche_caliente]

welcome G Nice looking bike you have there!

[Postiez]

Good DIY, TY

[kkim]

Good job, G! Looks great on black, too!

Yes, it's a bit more work to upkeep, but if you're doing this mod anyway, you're looking for some bling to begin with. Keep it polished and waxed and you should have no problems.

[G's Bike]

I saw some pics of your bike as well it goes to show that the "Morenas" are nicer looking.

Originally Posted by noche_caliente

welcome G Nice looking bike you have there!

[postie1686]

might have to do this to my little blue ninja. winter project that way i can powder the rims with some clear.

but the rims look awsome guys

[Ninjaboi57]

Has anyone with blue done this? I wants to do it but would like to see it first on blue beforehand.

[M-Oorb]

As I cant help you with the color choice I would like to give some words of caution. I did this a couple months ago with mine and while it wasn't very difficult to actually strip the paint the prep had to be perfect. You wanna make sure the tape is lined up well and well adhered to the wheel as to not strip any paint underneath...easier said then done trust me. The up-keep is also a little bit of a pain. I've gone back with the denatured alcohol and steel wooled imperfections out about 3 times. And keeping the rear wheel clean and shiny is somewhat of a pain.

But if you don't mind the up-keep( I dont since I love washing my bike and seeing it sparkle) this mod is totalllyyyy worth it. Plus I think it would look killer on a blue bike. Actually, it would look good on any color bike...minus if your a lucky one with white.

[DarkNinja52]

awesome jobs guys, those really do look pretty awesome.
what exactly is powdercoating btw? yes i live under a rock ok

[M-Oorb]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_coating

If done right...its an amazing thing

[250rinblack]

My before and afters. I've always hated painted wheels on anything (unless they're painted silver, and even that's a bit ho-hum), so this was one cosmetic change I really wanted to make.

A couple of thoughts:
1. Try to find the right-spec paint stripper. I visited my local hardware and used what they recommended but it required several coats before I got the desired results. I think a visit to an automotive paint-store specialist might have been a better option.

2. Masking tape; the better job you do masking, the less remedial work you will have to do to make things look presentable. As kkim has observed some of the stripper will get under the edge of the tape, but if you can minimise that it makes for less work overall.

The job looks ok, it's what my brother would call a "10 footer" i.e. it looks pretty good from 10 feet away but it has some blemishes. In time I think most of those will polish out so I'm not stressing over it.

On the whole I'm very happy with the look, it brightens the bike up a lot and makes it more of what I want it to be.