Highlighting edge of tensioner wheel?

[Baal]

Can anybody fill me in on what the belt tensioner wheel is made of? It feels like hard anodized alloy. The reason I'm asking is I wondered if you could highlight the edge by taking it off and working it on progressively finer abrasive (sandpaper) on a flat surface like glass or the garage floor. Thanks for any information and especially for any pics!!!

 

[JOEL9]

you could be the first Baal. just do it (then post pics.!)

 

[Baal]

Mebbe I should find a spare first, in case I eff it up.

 

[oh9bolt]

Like this?

 

[netty2424]

Bolt is that yours? I LIKE IT! Nice touch with the 'Buell' logo inside the wheel.

 

[oh9bolt]

Nope that is keppi's bike.

Keppi's Bike

 

[BuddhaBuell]

keppi's bike.

Keppi is king!
the stuff he does to Buells is some of the most amazing work I've seen!
[up][up]

 

[oh9bolt]

Agreed i dont like the paint job but all the rest of the small stuff is beautiful.

 

[BuddhaBuell]

oh9, he's done several bikes and the attention to detail is mindboggling!
mad skills indeed

 

[oh9bolt]

That thread that i linked is a good thread when i was searching to buy my buell i remember looking at that thread he does amazingly clean work to bikes, i wish i could keep the small details that clean it looks like the bikes are never ridden.

 

[oh9bolt]

Oops i guess i put the wrong link before

Keppis Bike

 

[nitto12ss]

Did the same on mine, got the idea from Keppi though.

 

[BuddhaBuell]

Crazy-Skull Custom & Design

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php...ges/Crazy-Skull-Custom-Design/129395313785604

 

[Baal]

So, Nitto, howd'ja do it? Anything like I proposed?

 

[nitto12ss]

So, Nitto, howd'ja do it? Anything like I proposed

Yep, took it off and used a sanding block. 10 minute job tops.

 

[Baal]

Ah, a cheap and easy project. Just what I need this time of year.

Problem is, it'll probably lead to the purchase of a Free Spirits tensioner. Which, of course, I'll blame on you.

 

[nitto12ss]

Buahaahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!

 

[vtech007]

Here is a procedure our fellow BuellXB'er, 5-0dro, http://www.5-0dro.com/ sent me for polishing the rear drive pully edge...I am about to do it, but I am thinking you could use the same (or similar) procedure on the tensioning pully too - note that this is with the pully still on the bike...maybe even the front drive pully?...any comments?

The pulley edge polishing was fairly straight forward. I put my bike on a lift so the rear wheel spun free and with a steady hand used a 3" air grinder to remove the powder-coating or paint from the edge. You could probably use 200 or so grit to do this. Just take care to make sure you don't grind away any belt material and keep things smooth and steady. If you don't have an air grinder, you can use a sanding block and sand paper to do the same thing. The rest depends on how shiny you want the final result to be. You can wet sand starting at 600 grit to remove any scratches then go to 1000, 1500 then 2000 (all wet). You can then you a metal polish such as Wicked Metal Polish to finish it off. A buffing wheel on a drill or similar will get you the quickest results. If you follow those steps it will look darn near to chrome!

 

[Baal]

Dadgum. I think notebook paper is rougher than 2000 grit.

 

[Baal]

O-Tay. I must need a heavier-duty sanding surface or something.

That's seriously hard anodizing or ceramic coating. I started at 220 grit, went down to 100, and got nowhere. Mounted up a sanding disc on a drill and it didn't even leave a mark. The only thing that even scratched (literally) the surface was 100 grit, sanding by hand. I was too lazy to go down and get a sanding block (the one I have is rubber, for finish sanding on walls), or to wrap it around wood. I decided to say fuggit for now. I may find a used wheel and see what I can do with it. I might pull the retaining ring and the bearing so that I dan be more aggressive, but I'm more likely to stay with "fuggit." [smirk] I suspect that the going would be much faster once the coating is off, but I didn't get that far.

Point of interest if you want to do the inner ring like nitto. The ends of the bearing sleeve are raised relative to the lip of the inner ring, so unless you've got a pretty precise power grinder/sander and a very steady hand (which I don't), that's seems to be tough to access.

But, I got my Free Spirits Tensioner installed. Pix and discussion later.