i've decided the first mod on my new-to-me GS this winter will be to repaint those blazing white rims. just not my style.

most discussions i've read up here concerning painting the rims consist of powdercoating. out of my budget and i have no desire to pull the tires off the rims or the wheel bearings out.

i'm thinking about handpainting the the central spokes with some sort of heavy duty automotive paint and doing the rim walls with a spraycan/clearcoat combo. do you guys see any potential problems with this?

here's my prelim-mockup:

That will amke it look a lot more modern. I thinkt hast a great plan!

Not powdercoating the wheels is a wise decision. Unless the coater uses a low temperature powder, the 400 degree curing temperature of standard powder will cause the cast wheels to become brittle. Hit a medium sized pothole and you'll be riding on the axle. Not a good feeling.

Yes sir. I love the black rims on my bike. Definately a plus.

 -Anti

I've painted a few wheels and you can get good results if you take the time to clean very well and scuff them up and primer them before spraying the final coat. I use plasticoat's "Import-color"  

If you want them to look OEM (and better IMO)  use a dark metallic grey. It doesn't show dirt and grime as fast as black.

yeah, ive got the dark met. grey on mine. btw bike coloring is black w/blue metal flakes in it. the wheels set it off  

Just to play Devil's Advocate here, I have to say that I like the white rims on a bike with a dark body color.    I think it's good contrast.  My bike has the dark wheels and I think it would look better with the white.

Feel free to ignore me though.  Everyone else does.

I have the black with blue flake and the dark grey wheels also - i wanted black wheels but the grey ones just keep looking better and better. DARK WHEELS ALL THE WAY!!!!

I painted mine with some stuff called 1-shot, available at an art supply store, it took a little while, but it looked damn good! I cleaned the rims thouroughly with a rag and some gasoline, then applied 2 coats with those throwaway sponge type brushes. It was alos a selling point for the guy who bought it, he really liked the flat finish. The paint is also available in a gloss BTW. Anyway...I say go for it.

Quote from: gobstopper...I have to say that I like the white rims on a bike with a dark body color.    I think it's good contrast.  My bike has the dark wheels and I think it would look better with the white...

I concur.
I like the look of white rims on my bike!
Wouldn't look as good without them.

Quote from: Cris

Quote from: gobstopper...I have to say that I like the white rims on a bike with a dark body color.    I think it's good contrast.  My bike has the dark wheels and I think it would look better with the white...

I concur.
I like the look of white rims on my bike!
Wouldn't look as good without them.

I concur too, my golden GS wouldn't look well with dark wheels, they'd look like those steel car rims with covers but without the covers. While the white wheels resemblance the light alloy car wheels.

I think I am going to go with green rims myself.  :mrgreen:

i might just paint my bike john deere green, and the wheels yellow, an put the jd decals on the tank :mrgreen:  

I was thinking of painting my stock black wheels red but I dig not seeing all that grime on the rear. I'm not lazy. If I don't see it isn't there  :nana: