How do the polishers for Douglas and ITP polish their aluminum rims to a mirror like finish? What tools and materials are they using? I have 6-month old rear rims that came "half polished" on the inside and have begun to dull on both sides. I just bought new front rims and they are polished to twice the shine or more. I have tried using various aluminum polish creams, which helped, but the rims still do not look anything like the new ones - somewhat dull and not as mirror like. Can I polish the rims the same way the pros do or are they using tools and materials I cannot get?

 

Scooby,

Take a look at these wheels that I polished http://www.vci.net/~bash/. Is that what you're looking for?
Believe it or not, they were at one time the ugly gold anodize wheels. It takes no special tools to do it. If you want to try it, search for a post in the yamaha forum about shiny wheels or remove anodize, one of those should turn up a post that I made telling how to do it.

 

Well I don't have anodized rims, they are just a little foggy/dull/cloudy. I was just in the garage using a portable drill with polishing pad and aluminum polish. Simply rubbing the polish with my hands was not enough to clean up the rims. The drill was needed. They are looking much better now, although it does take some time to polish them, even using a drill.

I don't want to have to keep fighting the oxidation every couple months. What should I put on the rims once they are free of oxidation, to prevent the oxidation from returning as quicky?

How about Luster Seal? www.classic-accessories.com/lussealmetse.html

 

Scooby, Your definition of shiny and mine may differ but I use super fine steel wool and get a very nice shine. If I want them to look even better then I use some Mother's aluminum polish. I don't us the polish to start because it will take all day; use the steel wool and finish with polish. I ride a lot in the sand and that kills the finish on the rims, I do this a lot. Oddly, my stock Yamaha rims look as shiny as the day I bought them; some kind of coating I guess.

 

I have done many polishings of motorcycles and wheels before and the easiest way to do it is like this. Go to a hardware store or Lowe's something like that, and buy a polishing wheel. It looks like a white wheel, made of cotton of varying stiffnesses, sewn together. The softer it is the brighter the polish will be, but take longer. Just read the recommendations on the package, and you'll be set. Now mount that on your drill or even better a high speed tool with an arbor. I use a product called Wenol (ordered it out of Summit Racing) or Mother's Aluminum polish, (there are many others that work just as well). I also have used a white brick type substance called Aluminum rouge, it comes in a brick shape kinda like what they have at Fort Knox, or you can buy a tube of it, either way it works. When I polish this way, it "burns" the polish onto the surface in places, then I use either Mother's on a rag, or even better Cape Cod aluminum polish and wipe it clean and shiny as a mirror. You won't be sorry with the results, and if you use Cape Cod, the shine lasts a while. Later

 

I seen the pictures of your banshee and the wheels look good. I also went to the yamaha forum and could not find your post, could you please explain how you polished those wheels? Thanks!

 

Snell,

If you go here http://forums.atvconnection.com/thre...rigpost=103642 most of your questions regarding this procedure will be answered by reading all the post on it.

Keep us updated and let us know how it goes.

 

Wyorider,

Yep, the coating that is keeping your stock wheels is the anodized coating. They can be clear so that you have that natural look, or can be colored gold or about any other color that is wanted. It's almost like an aluminum oxide type surface (similar to what they use in high pressure blasting, on high-end grinding wheels and etc.) and will withstand quite a bit of abuse before wearing off. Once you polish the wheels out to a mirror-like shine, they will no longer have that protection and won't take as long to dull again, but will also be easier to shine the next time.