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sunny Senior Member 2004 No Login Offline rock this town Posts: 293 d/fw texas Gender:	spokes 01/21/05 at 09:14:48 i have a couple of questions. what are they made of? and how do you prep them for painting?
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Savage_Greg Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Don't go around your ass to reach your elbow... Posts: 7844 SW Washington State Gender:	Re: spokes Reply #1 - 01/21/05 at 11:39:36 You are going to paint your spokes?
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sunny Senior Member 2004 No Login Offline rock this town Posts: 293 d/fw texas Gender:	Re: spokes Reply #2 - 01/21/05 at 13:01:04 yes. they look nasty and it will be much cheaper than buying new wheels.
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Savage_Greg

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Re: spokes
Reply #3 - 01/21/05 at 13:21:08

Going to paint the wheels too, I guess? An aweful lot of little details to paint, and I can't help but wonder how much spokes actaully vibrate while rotating. Are just the spokes a mess?

They might be chrome covered, but I tend to think they are galvanized and either one will be hard to paint.

Of course, if you are determined to do this then you need to start by removing the wheel and cleaning it real good, and I imagine that you'll need to sand the surfaces rough too. And use a primer.

I wonder if you can have the wheels coated by someone?

Of course, don't forget that spokes occasionally need to be adjusted too.

Sure that you can't just sit down and polish them real good?

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sunny Senior Member 2004 No Login Offline rock this town Posts: 293 d/fw texas Gender:	Re: spokes Reply #4 - 01/21/05 at 14:47:47 i don't want to paint the rims as they are in excellent shape. all shiney and stuff. did use polish on the spokes but no shine whatsoever was to be had.
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Gitarzan Serious Thumper 2004 No Login Offline ! Posts: 827 Columbus, Oh, Earth, Solar Sys Gender:	Re: spokes Reply #5 - 01/21/05 at 15:22:14 If they are galvanized, use zinc chromate primer. They'd look nice in shiny black or a nice swirly aluminum paint. Mine are cruddy too, but I never gave it a second thought. (kinda like teeth, I guess)
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jbird Ex Member	Re: spokes Reply #6 - 01/21/05 at 19:20:15 hey sunny try using a fine steel wool its great for removing rust and such
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Michael

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Re: spokes
Reply #7 - 01/21/05 at 22:10:22

Savage_Greg wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:01:

They might be chrome covered, but I tend to think they are galvanized and either one will be hard to paint.

Greg....I think you are correct on the galvanized. Mine have turned the color of an old galvanized nail that has been kicking around 30 years......and Sunny is right....it is nasty.

I once had a guy pull up beside me at a mall parking lot and say."what a cool bike" .then his second question was "what's wrong with the spokes.....they make the bike look bad"......
From that day on, I have decided I would paint them when I got time. I assume the task will be slow and tedious, so will be interested in all the ideas you people have, and of course, Sunny's solution..............

cheers
Michael

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klx650sm2002 Serious Thumper Offline The more I learn the less I know. Posts: 2041 Cumbria,England Gender:	Re: spokes Reply #8 - 01/22/05 at 00:29:28 When I got KLX's 17" wheels I paid the extra and got stainless spokes, shiney all the time. Still have to polish the aluminium rims though. Clive W
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bentwheel Serious Thumper 2005 No Login Offline Ride free, citizen Posts: 658 Sarnia, Ontario, Canada Gender:	Re: spokes Reply #9 - 01/24/05 at 05:10:00 Use steel wool on each spoke paying extra attention where the spokes cross each other. Take your time and do a good job. It is tedious but you can bring up a shine. If you want to paint them, use anti rust paint like Trem Clad in gloss aluminum. The paint is thin so it covers very easily using an artist brush. No primer required.
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bentwheel

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Re: spokes
Reply #10 - 01/24/05 at 10:32:34

Hey Sunny, here is a pic of a wheel I was refurbishing which has galvanized spokes. The spokes were rusty and corroded. I cleaned them up with steel wool and as a test, I painted two of the spokes to see if I liked it or not. The hub support is lined up at 12 o'clock. The painted ones are in the second spoke hole to the left and the third hole on the right side.

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Bentwheel FSO
2006 Suzuki 650 V-Strom
1977 Yamaha XS360
1972 Honda CL175

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sunny Senior Member 2004 No Login Offline rock this town Posts: 293 d/fw texas Gender:	Re: spokes Reply #11 - 01/24/05 at 11:38:47 thanks for all the suggestions, folks. don't know when i'm going to do this but it'll be before riding season starts.
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sluggo

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Re: spokes
Reply #12 - 01/24/05 at 12:33:20

the spokes on my gn400 were the bane of my existance.
that machine was hard on those rear spokes. ( well maybe i had something to do with it also.)i went through three rears sets. so i've waited to chime in on this one.
during the time the oil drains check the tightness of all the fastners on machine. includin the spokes,with the wheel of ground spin i gently and use a 10 mm wrentch to let the spokes drag by. you should hear a constant tone around the wheel. loose ones will appear off note.
tighten those you found loose repeat spin.

sunny
there are several options availble dependend on time, money, skill. some have been mentioned and could work to your satisfaction.

the best and by far the most time consuming is to delace the wheel, prepare and paint spokes, relace wheel. like i said it is time consuming and takes a degree of skill. i tried it once and ended up sending it out, it cost me about 80 bucks then. but doing it that why would bring you the best results.
maybe you could go with a powder coat at that point.
of course it's sooooo easy to spend other peoples money. Grin

but with the help of all the people here it should be a job you could undertake succesfully.

keep us posted.

sluggo

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SINGLES RULE, HARLEYS DROOL

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Savage_Rob Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Mechanically Inclined Amateur Posts: 6972 Texas (Dallas area) Gender:	Re: spokes Reply #13 - 01/25/05 at 13:56:29 Before riding season? Dry roads, 79 degrees and partly cloudy in Dallas today. Of course it's supposed to be in the 60's tomorrow and the 50's later in the week with some rain possible... but Carpe that Diem while it's there!
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sunny Senior Member 2004 No Login Offline rock this town Posts: 293 d/fw texas Gender:	Re: spokes Reply #14 - 01/25/05 at 14:17:05 well, i'd carpe that diem except i'm having some health issues that keep me from riding. hopefully cleared up by march.
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