powder coating wheels? Has anyone?

[nickmaslow]

I recently upgraded to an 09 xb12r black and red... hate the red. Any way just wondering if it has been done. I want to go black with them but Iam not sure if it works out.

 

[BuellRider3158]

I'm pretty sure you could just have the rims re-powdercoated black. I'm not sure about the 09's but I know the older xbs rims were powdercoated.

 

[Red93stang]

Yes it can be done. Check out 03firebolt9r, he powder coated his rear wheel red on his 1125cr. Turned out really good.

 

[MAGIC]

Here it goes. It's 03 XB9S, originally wheels were silver.

 

[yorkshirelad]

I went from Translucent Amber to candy red on my XB12s. A good move I think as the new powdercoat seems a lot better quality than original

 

[03Firebolt9R]

Lots of people have done it. You could always trade with someone with wants red wheels.

 

[upthemaiden]

My bike has the silver wheels, I think someday I'll probably change them to black. I'll most likely just try to paint them though. I also think I should wait until I get some practice changing tires as well. I murdered the crappy paint job on the wheels of my last bike when I changed the tires so I'm not in any rush with these ones.

On the topic of painting, I'm also curious about painting the center piece to my lower cowl. I know that area takes a lot of abuse from the front wheel. What do you guys think would be best to paint it with? Something durable like truck bed liner, or some plastic paint that will actually try to bond with the plastic?? I feel like it might all be pointless and might just wait til I see one of the black ones for sale somewhere.

 

[12rdan]

hey upthemaiden, I've painted my chin fairing,actually with some new clear ppg has come out with. It's called softtouch, has a matte finish, and they (PPG) claim its super durable and mar resistant.I've put about 500miles on my bike since I painted it(even some gravel) and can't see any damage at all at this point. Oh, and this stuff feels like that rubbery coating you've seen on some cell phones(kewl).

Like any paintjob, it's only as good as the prep. Make sure you clean and scuff it really well and use a good quality adhesion promoter and/or epoxy primer.

 

[upthemaiden]

Thanks for the info. I bought some paint guns over winter, but I still need to learn how to use them. Guess I should get to it.

When you put it back together did you have any trouble with the rivets? I assume you just used some aluminum ones? I was worried that I'd crack everything when I tried to put them back together and figured I might just bolt them back together, but I see yours were rivetted back together.

 

[12rdan]

Yeah just plain ol aluminum rivets,and no trouble. I was afraid of the cracking too, and figured the plain alum. would be better. You can see in that last pic through the hole on the right i used a little longer rivet with a washer on the backside to keep it from pulling through the plastic.

Damn, I really need some new bolts in the bottom of that thing.Those look terrible.

 

[pur pony]

im powdercoating my wheels next week. Just waiting for my powdercoating stripper to show up on thursday so i can strip the old coating off. My powder came in last week so i should be good to go.