spiffing up the rear wheel

The rear hub and spokes on my 74 850 are showing their age. It's impossible to get to the hub to clean it through the spokes, and the spokes themselves are tarnished.

Has anybody found a cleaner that works on these parts? With all the magic formulas of spray-on-wash-off cleaners available today there must be one that works on old spoked wheels.

cleaning rims

Hello start with scotch brite pads and some elbow grease. Mothers aluminum mag polish. If you take the wheel off you can get the tight spots not all 90% .Soft wire wheel on the spokes. M.c.

Re: cleaning rims

mc1011 said:

Hello start with scotch brite pads and some elbow grease. Mothers aluminum mag polish. If you take the wheel off you can get the tight spots not all 90% .Soft wire wheel on the spokes. M.c.

Click to expand...

I found ScotchBrite pads too hard even if they are made from some form of plastic, they will score chrome and put millions of tiny scratches in aluminum. Use steel wool instead, the lower the number (down to a bunch of zeros) the softer they are, you an also use SOS pads, but make sure they are the steel ones, to clean and polish aluminum parts. Don't ever tell your SO about this or you will be put on pots and pans duty!

Jean

Although it's necessary, I absolutely hate polishing and cleaning the spokes and rims. My solution is simple....on a reasonably sunny day, roll your Commando into the driveway, pull up a folding chair and open a cold Pepsi..The first youngster or two will walk by and gaze at your pride and joy (and they always will since boys of all ages can't resist gazing at such a beauty). Segue into how much fun it is and that you where planning to take a ride later that day. What you'll need to do next is to form some sort of story to get the boys to do the cleaning and polishing for you....of course offering a fiver per wheel and a cold Pepsi will go a long way to achieve this, it usually works.....
I always worry that the boys will scratch something so i make them use the softest cleaning paste and polish without any abrasive pads. This usually does the trick. You don't have to hover over the boys, go in the house, make a sandwich, you can always have a glance out the window to check up on them.

You'll have to make a motivational adjustment to them depending on your wheel and spokes combination...Chrome and stainless are easier to rub out than Alloy and normal steel


In the end, your wheels are spiffed up and the kids have 5 or more each bucks each.


the other alternative, although exponentially more expensive, almost near impossible, but infinitely more gratifying is to visit you're local Hooters or even topless Carwash (you know the one I am talking about) and employ the same ruse to the hired help there.

either method can but doesn't always work 100% of the time....but you know what they say...it's not the destination, but rather the journey.

good luck,

Eric

Eric - The Tom Sawyer ruse won't work around here. Kids don't wanna work.

My solution to the front wheel was to acquire a good rim and hub off eBay and send them to Buchannans for stainless spokes after I polished the hub on my buffer. I've considered having the rear hub powder coated and getting stainless spokes for that too, but I don't want the down time now.

I just can't get my old fingers in between the spokes on the rear wheel, too close together. Oh well, I guess it stays crusty another season.

rear wheel cleaning

I think unfortunately the only way to really get your wheels clean is to take them apart, including the spokes, polish the hub, get some new S/S spokes, (either shouldered, read expensive, or not). Take a steel brush to the insides of the hub to get the ribs clean and reinstall everything. Might last a few years.

I just did that to mine, although I was rebuilding the wheels and replacing the spokes and rims, so it worked for me. I can't imagine getting into the inside of the wheel between the spokes. Might try a power washer or if you can find someone that does soda blasting, it might work.

Dave
69S

OK...I was just having a bit of fun back there, but for when I have to clean my rims and spokes I use all or a combination of the following..

there is a scotchbrite pad in white, which is the softest, whatever the softest is I use it on the spokes.. you can get this in long rolls and what I do is cut it into long strips an inch or two wide and wrap it once around a spoke...then I kind of pull back and forth like I am milking a cow. the cleaner I use is dependent upon the level of rust or corrosion....when it's just grease and schmutz on the spokes, I substitute the scotchbrite for a clean heavy bath towel type fabric.....even some old canvas strips will work....cleaner or polish is your choice. the chrome rims are easy.....like rust or pitting can be removed with the finest of the fine steel wool or a heavy scotchbrite pad, once again adjust the abrasive to the level of corrosion....

the alloy rims that look great when clean are a b*t*h to clean once corroded or oxidized....keep them clean from new after every few ride and they stay sweet for a long time.....leave them for a winter after a late autumn run and you'll pay the price in the spring...(that's what happened to me)....
Nevr-Dull http://www.nevrdull.com/
or
BELGOM
http://www.abcpolishing.co.uk/shop.html ... et=d9.html

or great polishers but they required lots of extra rags to get all the excess polish off.

to get into the nooks and cranies around the spokes....a dremel tool with the appropriate tips will work...

here's a trick that I thought about......in Holland they ride alot of bicycles.....I noticed once on a trip there that they have this kind of bristly wire thing that is long enough to make into a ring......I have seen people make a ring of this bristle brush stuff, put it on the inside of the spokes around the hub and if you can avoid being seen my your friends or the neighorbors pointing at you as you ride around for a day, the hub will clean up real nice if you are patient. I thought I have a picture of this set up some where, I will have a look around.

good luck and have fun, I am off to Hooters.

Eric

An old trick?

Most folks have a 1/4, 1/2 or maybe a 3/4 horsepower electric motor sitting around, they are certainly cheap enough used.

Years ago (seems like a century) when I had Boriani rims (lots of detail/ridges) on my '72 Commando I would brace the center stand so that it couldn't retract and then push the electric motor into contact with the tire (with my foot), using a 2-3 inch drive pulley on the motor. I could speed limit the tires rate or rotation with additional "elbow grease" or less foot pressure. I'd use a rag full of Semi-Chrome polish and let it spin and spin and spin until I had the level of polish I wanted; I'd alternate with clean rags until I'd achieve the desired results; back then the term "420" hadn't been invented, but if you know 420 then you can appreciate the show quality we generated on these rims (works great on chrome as well).

For the front just wedge up under the engine and repeat, could be simpler.

Prior to doing the rims we would degrease everything and use a brass brush on the spokes and nipples followed up with a touch of 0000 steel wool soaked in dish detergent, after a flush and dry it was 420 rim time.

RS