cleaning polished rims

[oreo_n2]

so the z1k came with rims with a lot of polished real estate on them. i am finding that mixed with the orange paint, dirty rims are very obvious and its a real pain in the butt to keep them clean.

how do you keep your rims clean?

[bigred875]

careful meow...they are clear coated...

Clean them the same way as painted......

I use pro-honda polish for mine..... if they get chain lube on them I sometimes use wd-40 or a "safe" bug and tar remover...

[hohum]

P21S (safe for paint, clearcoat, alloys)

Spray, brush, rinse.

Nuff said

[SSearchVT]

Simple green will take off the dirt, WD-40 will take off the chain lube and stuff. If you have to rub, use either the blue shop rags, or a clean cloth diaper and turn it over frequently. If you use WD-40, be careful of the brakes, and tires. Use Wheel wax and they will stay cleaner longer...

[hohum]

Simple Green == EVIL for alloy wheels.

It is known to do some serious damage to various different alloys. It was investigated by the US Air Force as a possible cleaning agent, but they banned its use due to this.

In short, DO NOT, use simple green on your wheels. I used to race cars up at Louden, and alot of the BMW club racers used simple green on their ultralight forged wheels, and several did notice stress fractures as a result. Now, if you ask anyone up there, its an absolute no no to use SG on wheels. YMMV, since I am not sure they make bike wheels out of the same materials as they make ultralight auto racing wheels...

Its a great cleaner, and I use it for all kinds of other cleaning on my bike, but I don't use it on wheels.

[SSearchVT]

My bad, I have used it on the clearcoated wheels on my BMW for a few years with no problems, hence the recommendation....

[Bad Dog]

I have an orange ZR1000 with chrome and orange rims. Here is what I do to keep them clean. For the chain lube I use Torco power slide chain lube which is a no fling off lube. You can spray it on, then wipe the chain off once it pentatrates. It leave a film on the outer surface of the chain and lubes the inner works. Then I clean the rims with just car wash soap and water. Once clean, I wax the rims with Black Magic wet shine liquid wax. It works great, and if any lube gets on the rims later it comes of easier with this wax on. The wax also looks great on the rest of the bike. I think the guys I rode with last Sunday will vouch for how my rims and bike looked.