Polishing Motorcycle Wheels

[mpierich]

If there's no rust, the discs are stainless. You do them pretty much the same as aluminum, but they are much harder metal so longer time is required. Good news is, being flat you can use a palm sander or similar and keep them nice and flat. After 320, I go to a sisal/black wheel, then spiral/black, then either white or green on a spiral.

I usually sand off any coatings with my first passes.

I've seen a lot of guys who polish the whole disc, but to me it's silly to do the braking surface itself...the pads will give that area their own finish no matter what you do. And if you go into that area while polishing, it's no big deal since the pads rubbing will even things out.

[baz]

Originally Posted by mpierich

If there's no rust, the discs are stainless. You do them pretty much the same as aluminum, but they are much harder metal so longer time is required. Good news is, being flat you can use a palm sander or similar and keep them nice and flat. After 320, I go to a sisal/black wheel, then spiral/black, then either white or green on a spiral.

I usually sand off any coatings with my first passes.

I've seen a lot of guys who polish the whole disc, but to me it's silly to do the braking surface itself...the pads will give that area their own finish no matter what you do. And if you go into that area while polishing, it's no big deal since the pads rubbing will even things out.

i think the discs that he is refering to is a floating disc those usually have the outer ring in stainless and the center part is usually aluminium some are painted but most of them are anodized.
i always do the whole disc for different reasons
1 :looks better when i deliver the part
2 even after the brake pad makes its path you still have the section above and below the pad area that shows
3 :some dics i do end up on show bikes and need to be fully polished

[baz]

here s a disc i did . that is a one piece stainless type

[vstargar]

Holy smokes that disk looks great! How long does it take to get the disk that smooth (I assume there would be some brake pad wear that you'd have to smooth out)? Fantastic work.....

Have you brought a polish to wheels that were finished similar to mine? I think it is going to take some work to get my wheels polished to a high degree.

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by baz

i think the discs that he is refering to is a floating disc those usually have the outer ring in stainless and the center part is usually aluminium some are painted but most of them are anodized.
i always do the whole disc for different reasons
1 :looks better when i deliver the part
2 even after the brake pad makes its path you still have the section above and below the pad area that shows
3 :some dics i do end up on show bikes and need to be fully polished

I've never had to do a strictly show bike, and the shop I do discs for understands what the pads are going to do to the disc, so that doesn't apply to my work. I also would be a little nervous about riding a bike the first time after a disc is fully polished...seems like you'd lose a little grip there.

[baz]

Originally Posted by mpierich

I've never had to do a strictly show bike, and the shop I do discs for understands what the pads are going to do to the disc, so that doesn't apply to my work. I also would be a little nervous about riding a bike the first time after a disc is fully polished...seems like you'd lose a little grip there.

i was just giving different options , i sure understand we have to adapt our work to what the customer needs or wants that s the only way to survive out there.
for braking it looks worse than it really is , few hundred feet with the pads lightly touching the rotor is all it takes to wear them in.

[baz]

Originally Posted by vstargar

Holy smokes that disk looks great! How long does it take to get the disk that smooth (I assume there would be some brake pad wear that you'd have to smooth out)? Fantastic work.....

Have you brought a polish to wheels that were finished similar to mine? I think it is going to take some work to get my wheels polished to a high degree.

i don t remember doing the same exact type of wheels and i don t know how good you are at it , but yes i think those wheels will be a big job to get done
i would suggest you try smaller part with same kind of rough casting . that would give you a good idea of what you are going into