Plasti-dipping rims

bdevries

bdevries

Junior Member
Hey guys,

Long time since I was last on here! The first season of riding is going EXCELLENT! Did a solo 1000km ride from Ottawa down around the Adirondack mountains in New York on Saturday!

Anyways,

I'm looking to plasti-dip the rims of my red fz6 gold. Does anyone have any experience/tips to do this? How many cans did it require? Did you use glossifier? Pics?!

Thanks!
 
lawlberg

lawlberg

Booth Babe
bdevries said:
Hey guys,

Long time since I was last on here! The first season of riding is going EXCELLENT! Did a solo 1000km ride from Ottawa down around the Adirondack mountains in New York on Saturday!

Anyways,

I'm looking to plasti-dip the rims of my red fz6 gold. Does anyone have any experience/tips to do this? How many cans did it require? Did you use glossifier? Pics?!

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Never did wheels - thought about it - was going to go white -

I'd say 3 cans should be fine, 4 to play it safe and have some left over for touch up - it's cheap so if you have an extra can laying around, that's only 9 bucks. DYC.com recommends 4 cans for a car, but you're only painting one side, so 4 should be plenty for the bike (smaller spokes than most car wheels).

Are you going with the rim colors or just gold?

Tips - clean it all really well - wheels are filthy - use something that degreases - might not hurt to take off the brake discs too - otherwise you'll want to wrap them and it'll be hard to get good coverage behind them.

I used pearlizer on my white, the finish didn't really stick around though - I prefer the more anthracite coloring/metallic finish than a glossy finish, so I'd say metalizer instead.

For finishing - turtle wax ice works wonders, makes for easier cleanup and makes the dip a lot tougher.
 
bdevries

bdevries

Junior Member
lawlberg said:
Never did wheels - thought about it - was going to go white -

I'd say 3 cans should be fine, 4 to play it safe and have some left over for touch up - it's cheap so if you have an extra can laying around, that's only 9 bucks. DYC.com recommends 4 cans for a car, but you're only painting one side, so 4 should be plenty for the bike (smaller spokes than most car wheels).

Are you going with the rim colors or just gold?

Tips - clean it all really well - wheels are filthy - use something that degreases - might not hurt to take off the brake discs too - otherwise you'll want to wrap them and it'll be hard to get good coverage behind them.

I used pearlizer on my white, the finish didn't really stick around though - I prefer the more anthracite coloring/metallic finish than a glossy finish, so I'd say metalizer instead.

For finishing - turtle wax ice works wonders, makes for easier cleanup and makes the dip a lot tougher.
Click to expand...

Awesome. Good to know, thanks!

Ya I find I end up with quitea bit of oil/grease on the rear rim(chain side). Ill definitely be taking off the discs as well, I'd like to do this as good as possible.
 
lawlberg

lawlberg

Booth Babe
bdevries said:
Awesome. Good to know, thanks!

Ya I find I end up with quitea bit of oil/grease on the rear rim(chain side). Ill definitely be taking off the discs as well, I'd like to do this as good as possible.
Click to expand...

If you use a regular spray clearcoat over the top, you'll get an even tougher finish, but it'll be harder to touch up or peel off if you change your mind - I might recommend that with chain grease - the plastidip will still come off if you work at it, but instead of one big sheet that peels off, it'll be a lot of work to get small pieces that stick around.
 
JayyVee

JayyVee

IT Overlord
bdevries said:
Hey guys,

Long time since I was last on here! The first season of riding is going EXCELLENT! Did a solo 1000km ride from Ottawa down around the Adirondack mountains in New York on Saturday!

Anyways,

I'm looking to plasti-dip the rims of my red fz6 gold. Does anyone have any experience/tips to do this? How many cans did it require? Did you use glossifier? Pics?!

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Having done 4 18" wheels on my old 'Stang with 2 cans with some to spare, I can say that 2 cans should cover 2 motorcycle wheels with spare. I coated mine 4 times, which is about as far as you want to go or you may start to see running, especially if doing it from a can vs a gallon w/ sprayer. I did not gloss my wheels but did my pit stripes (wanted the matte look on the wheels, and gloss look on the stripes over the paint), however glossing will make it easier to clean as it 'smooths' the pdip (not as rough to the touch). It's actually quite easy to clean, high pressure hose or squirt-tip on your hose, little mild soap, clean as a whistle. Had it on my wheels a year or so before I peeled it off when I sold it. If you give it 4 even layers, it will peel off at a later date. Most of the problems people have with peeling it off, is due to uneven spray.. (Or see below)

If you want to gloss, be sure to use actual pdip gloss as it bonds properly with the pdip itself and leaves it 'flexible' and easily removable. Using 'paint' gloss over pdip will harden it and make the pdip almost impossible to peel off, if that day ever comes.

dipyourcar.com - Fonzie knows his dip!
(I have to say their little $2 nozzle for the cans does help give a more even spray as well)
 
bdevries

bdevries

Junior Member
lawlberg said:
If you use a regular spray clearcoat over the top, you'll get an even tougher finish, but it'll be harder to touch up or peel off if you change your mind - I might recommend that with chain grease - the plastidip will still come off if you work at it, but instead of one big sheet that peels off, it'll be a lot of work to get small pieces that stick around.
Click to expand...

Ya, I think Ill keep away from a clearcoat for when I want to peel it off. If i wanted something 100% durable I'd just PC:)

JayyVee said:
Having done 4 18" wheels on my old 'Stang with 2 cans with some to spare, I can say that 2 cans should cover 2 motorcycle wheels with spare. I coated mine 4 times, which is about as far as you want to go or you may start to see running, especially if doing it from a can vs a gallon w/ sprayer. I did not gloss my wheels but did my pit stripes (wanted the matte look on the wheels, and gloss look on the stripes over the paint), however glossing will make it easier to clean as it 'smooths' the pdip (not as rough to the touch). It's actually quite easy to clean, high pressure hose or squirt-tip on your hose, little mild soap, clean as a whistle. Had it on my wheels a year or so before I peeled it off when I sold it. If you give it 4 even layers, it will peel off at a later date. Most of the problems people have with peeling it off, is due to uneven spray.. (Or see below)

If you want to gloss, be sure to use actual pdip gloss as it bonds properly with the pdip itself and leaves it 'flexible' and easily removable. Using 'paint' gloss over pdip will harden it and make the pdip almost impossible to peel off, if that day ever comes.

dipyourcar.com - Fonzie knows his dip!
(I have to say their little $2 nozzle for the cans does help give a more even spray as well)
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip about the gloss. Do you thik the gold is shiny enough without it/would it make a big difference?
 
JayyVee

JayyVee

IT Overlord
bdevries said:
Thanks for the tip about the gloss. Do you think the gold is shiny enough without it/would it make a big difference?
Click to expand...

I haven't seen the metallics with or without gloss in person so I can't honestly say. I would 'think' being a metallic it's going to have it's own shine, may just have to apply and see, or check on dipyourcar.com for some of their videos of metallic applications to see if you like it with or without the gloss. To me as I recall, it looks shiny already tho (I recall seeing some of Fonzie's earlier videos, doing a gold and silver coat mix on some wheels - looked pretty tight.)

Pics after! :D
 
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FinalImpact

FinalImpact

2 Da Street, Knobs R Gone
Site Supporter
The flip side about quantity is all the angles. A typical cage wheel would be far easier to coat and waste allot less product. I'd be prepared with 4 cans as a good bit of your spray will be wasted missing the spokes.
Be warned that spray back from bouncing (reflecting) off a surface behind the wheels can induce runs if not monitored closely. So get them in the air at eye level and do it when its warmer (>80°F) to reduce runs.
As far as holding the wheels; consider holding them where the tire mounts.

Have fun!
 
Y

yourebarred

Thi biggest thing you have to remember when painting wheels is to get them refaced afterwards. Otherwise, the discs can sit at an angle and warp.
 
bdevries

bdevries

Junior Member
yourebarred said:
Thi biggest thing you have to remember when painting wheels is to get them refaced afterwards. Otherwise, the discs can sit at an angle and warp.
Click to expand...

refaced? I assume you're talking about cleaning off between where the disc attaches to the rim? I'll be taping that off anyways:)
 
gilbermd

gilbermd

Junior Member
I did it earlier this year, used wayyy less than I expected. I'd have to check to be sure but I think it was less than 2 cans of gold metalizer and less than 1 can of the clear. Pretty easy and I like the look, worse part was getting all the cheap wheel tape off that was on it before.
 
arronjackson

arronjackson

Member
yourebarred said:
Thi biggest thing you have to remember when painting wheels is to get them refaced afterwards. Otherwise, the discs can sit at an angle and warp.
Click to expand...
What do you mean by that? Just about to dip my wheels and I want to do it right.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
TownsendsFJR1300

TownsendsFJR1300

2007 FZ6
Site Supporter
Besides needing to see pic's.

I'm curious how well it holds up when mounting a tire back on the rim.

IE, softer/harder than paint, any chipping?
 
arronjackson

arronjackson

Member
TownsendsFJR1300 said:
Besides needing to see pic's.

I'm curious how well it holds up when mounting a tire back on the rim.

IE, softer/harder than paint, any chipping?
Click to expand...
I've been told it needs to be redone or touched up when switching tires. I just got a new rear so I thought the time was most opportune!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
Marcin

Marcin

Junior Member
Nice looking. The big question - will it hold up against all the dirt from the road and chain lube stuff - cleaning it might be problematic as you'd better not use any solvents :)
 
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