Gyrobob
Serious Thumper
Offline
Posers ain't motorcyclists
Posts: 2571
Newnan, GA
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We were shocked, nonplussed, taken aback, and agog at the condition of the wheels after we took off the tires/tubes. All four wheels had lots of rust. Supposedly both bikes had been stored inside or in a carport, so they shouldn't have been wet a lot.
Nonetheless, there were some pretty healthy rusty areas. For about 14 seconds, we considered getting new (lighter, straighter, cooler) wheels, but,..naaah,.. we'll just make these work.
First of all, you might consider not cutting the spokes on the rear wheel like we did. You might want to use them or sell them later. Or,.. at least don't cut the spokes until you get the tires off the wheels. You'll bleed less that way.
We were in a hurry to get the stuff shipped off to RYCA, thinking we didn't want to delay the process of getting the wheels back so we could assemble our spiffy new cafe racers. Had we known, now TWO months later, the kits would still not be here, we might have taken more time. Silly us.
This first pic shows the spoke-cut wheels. Doing it this way does save an hour or two, but with a two-month wait tacked on, what's the rush?
One of Jud's wheels. 
One of Bob's wheels. 
Here's a technique we used to get the large thick areas of rust removed. Since the areas were pitted significantly, using rust remover and/or a wire brush would have taken forever, and would have violated my sense of laziness. If you use your trusty metal engraver and just slowly and gently let the point hammer away at the pitted areas, you can get about 95% of the rust off, and even get most of it out of the deepest of the pits on the first pass. Be sure to wear eye protection -- The tiny shards of rust really come flying out of there occasionally. After a few minutes of this, I put on some breathing protection as well, because there was a visible thin cloud of what looked like rusty smoke hovering around the engraver. I wish I had a pic of what I looked like with goggles, a respiratory protection device, and ear muffs,... all surrounded by a reddish-brown cloud. Goofy-looking, I'm sure. 
Here's further progress on that same wheel. 
Here's that same wheel all tidied up,..... derusted, scotch-brited, naval-jellied, acetoned, and with a couple of coats of Krylon clear satin. (the wheel has been flipped 180degrees in this pic -- the previously rusty area being on the right side instead of the left) 
One of Jud's wheels after our engraver-based process, showing what used to be an obscenely rusty area. GAWD, I hate rust!!. 
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