Thinking of having my wheels powder coated a matte black with a clear over them to make them easier to clean. Are the wheels originally powder coated or are they painted? They seem to scratch fairly easy so that is the reason I ask. Since the wheels will be off I figure I may as well replace the tires. Anything else that needs replacing? Should the wheel bearings be replaced at this time? Bike only has 15k miles. Anything else I should be aware of? Want to get this done while the bike is down for the winter. Got a guy in the next town over who works as a metal refinisher and only wants $40 per wheel for the powder with a clear coat.

Quite a bit to know actually...bearings have to be removed first.Rim then needs to be stripped..There is a special high temp tape to cover all areas you don't want powdered. Plug all tapped holes. Powder coat is fairly thick so be careful what gets covered...(not the mating surfaces between the rotor and rim for example) With wheels, its somewhat hard to get the powder on evenly where the spokes meet the rim. Heat the rim first to purge chemicals out of it...powder it, then reheat it..Thats a great price BTW...

He said if the wheels need to be stripped it would be an extra $10 per wheel. Do the bearings need to be pressed in or do they go in and come out pretty easily?

That is an excellent price. My only concern would be you getting what you paid for.

Make sure your guy knows what he's doing. Baking at too high a temp or for too long can make aluminum brittle. It ain't rocket science, but every guy with an oven is a powder coater lately and it is possible to screw up the wheels.

Is he going to strip them as well for that price? If he's using media blasting make sure he doesn't screw up the bearing mounting surfaces. They're machined to a pretty tight tolerance and removing material there would be bad.

I'd say definitely replace the bearings. As Hank said, they have to come out, anyway. There's little point in putting the old ones back in, especially when the removal process can be a little rough on them.

I've never seen wheels coated without being stripped.
Bearings get tapped out with a hammer and punch.
To install new ones, put them in a freezer for 3 hours or so and install them quickly before they warm up. Get the bearings at a bearing house...use best grade available which will probably be Japanese. Get double shielded, I like rubber shielded better...also replace the seals, also from a bearing house.

Sounds waaaayyy too cheap. I had mine done on my XX when I still had it. It was a combination black and silver then cleared. Believe I paid around $300. They were real pretty. Definitely need to be bead blasted, bearings out and that area protected.

Because of the possibility of outgassing from cast aluminum wheels,
I would paint instead of power coat.

That's the reason to heat them and then let them cool a bit, prior to coating.

I had my done a few months ago. Had them done in satin black for 75 a wheel.

Prices are all over for powder coating. Guy in the town over is saying $40 per but I'm a bit leery of his experience. Emailed a couple other places and one quoted $75 per and another quoted $250 for both. Think I need to stop in the local Harley dealer and get a recommendation of someone local who does quality work.




powder or paint?

We've got a place here in Wichita, KS that does them for about $75 per wheel. Quality is great. I figure if Big Dog Motorcycles trusts them to do their frames......

Sorry, powder. He might of cut me deal though. I also had lower fork tubes, frame, swing arm, and sub-frame done. .

Any pics? I'd like to see how the satin black looks on the wheels.

Here's some pics.

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Edit: As you where posting I was uploading.

Thanks RU. Everything turned out beautiful. I would like to match the wheels to the original matte of the frame.

Can you still read the VIN number on the frame after coating?

I have had three sets of xx wheels coated for about $100 each set, that included blasting.

Yes. They sand blasted it and covered it with tape.

Sounds like you have one hell of a powder coater. Does he do house calls?