Question For Those That Have Painted Their Rims

[xs650man]

if it were me i'd media blast the rims down to the bare aluminum and leave it that way...My '81 Streetfighter was this way and it looked great...thing i hate abt black rims is they show dirt and look dingy...

You would still have to clear coat the rims, at least in damp winters like here other wise they would oxidize quickly

[madmax-im]

You would still have to clear coat the rims, at least in damp winters like here other wise they would oxidize quickly

Bought the bike in Michigan brought it back to NJ and last i knew it was in MD but the rims were never clear coated and never oxidized...and even it they were clear coated thats still a nice looking set of rims No?

[Rasputin]

Know that if you clear coat after the paint and cover the edge of the rim, you will have chipping of that clear when you change tires. Do not care how careful you are it will happen. DAMHIK

[crazy steve]

When I painted the steel-rim laced wheels on my chopper, I built a 'tool' to give me a even paint edge by over-masking the rim and then using the tool to cut the tape in exactly the same place on both sides of both rims. Unfortunately, that won't work on the XS rims, as being sand-cast, there's enough mold shift that the edge (even after being machined) isn't even all the way around the wheel.

Hand masking or removing 'excess' paint is the only solution....

[natemoen]

It is going to be fun sanding this....