Goal:
There is a beauty hiding within your stock rim. Extracting it will require a great deal of skill, patience and WORK! This is a BIG project for the average home mechanic, and do not feel bad if you get no further than reading this and saying "thanks but no thanks". (I've been called "nuts" before!) Basically, you can either create a show quality rim of relative uniqueness or, I'm sad to say, you can end up cursing yourself and me while shopping for a replacement rim. My opinion is that there is very little middle ground, so if attacking your rims with a drill and numerous rotary tools gives you the "creeps" then save your time and read no further!
I did my rims without any real intention of sharing my methods and observations, so no detailed notes or photos were taken while I did the deed. Now, after the fact, I am responding to a request and offer this procedure as I managed to condense it from my sometimes less than perfect memory. Add, subtract or modify it as you see fit, and GOOD LUCK! Please submit any improvements for posting so the next adventurer can benefit.
Important: Honda's engineers designed and engineered enough safety into your rims to make them basically bulletproof. Modifying them might affect their integrity. I make nor imply no guarantees about the strength of the end product nor of its effect on your riding safety. Proceed at your own risk -- not mine!
Prerequisites:
- Unquenchable desire to personally create a rim with relative uniqueness.
- Tenacity, willingness to carry a 40 to 60 hour hard project to completion.
- Some mechanical skill and a VERY steady hand.
- Risk acceptance; once started, there is no turning back and one wrong move could send you shopping for a new rim.
- Access to an Eastwood or Sears Auto Shop catalog (one and the same) which can be obtained free at 1-800-557-3277. This was my source for specialty metal working tools.
Tools, safety supplies, etc:
- 3/8" variable speed drill (a trigger lock would be a plus.)
- Work table with a vise.
- Safety glasses at the minimumgoggles or faceshield preferable during the metal shaving phase.
- Heavy ALL LEATHER gloves. Cotton or leather/cotton gloves will allow shaving slivers to penetrate and embed themselves in your hands. (I know ;)
- LEATHER boots during shaving phase. Filings WILL slowly penetrate socks and tennis shoes and are near impossible to get out. (I know ;)
- Old long sleeve shirt that you are willing to trash out. Attempting to launder the shirt used while shaving aluminum WILL result in your entire load of laundry being contaminated. (don't ask me how I know :o)
- A light rain top to wear while shaving the aluminum. This is relatively good at keeping the slivers out of your arms and upper torso.
- Short pants are highly discouraged.
- Ear plugs are suggested during the drill work.
- 1 coarse and 1 fine mill file, and 1 half round file for corners.
- Wire brush to clean aluminum fragments out of your files.
- 400 and 600 grit wet sanding paper and a small rubber sanding block.
Specialty tools
The below listed tools and part numbers are derived from the Sears Auto Shop catalog. I am listing the minimum tools needed as best as I can from memory. Many are offered in packages, so shop carefully and you can minimize your expenses.
- 1 Carbide cutting bur for aluminum. # 46060 @ $44.99
- 1 tight spot grinding kit with cylinder style sanding rolls. # 13096 @ $16.99 (contains sanding drums and arbors)
- 2 felt buffing cones. # 13050 @ $4.99 ea.
- 2 of the 3" buffing wheels. # 13029 @ $2.50 ea.
- 1 or 2 of the arbors for the 3" buff. # 13064 @ 3.99 ea. (buy the extra if you do not wish to waste time switching pads on one arbor)
- 1 buff rake. (optional but recommended) # 13120 @ $9.99. (used to clean debris from buffing wheels)
- 1 Tripoli buffing compound stick. # 13135 @ $4.99. (for initial buffing)
- 1 white rouge buffing compound stick. # 13001 @ $5.99. ( for final buffing)
Well, if the shopping list has not dampened your enthusiasm and you have all your supplies on hand, you are ready to start.
LAST WARNING -- once you make the first cut you are committed- at least to that wheel anyway!
My suggestion is to practice on a piece of scrap aluminum if you
can get some. I had some ¼ x 2" strap and was glad I did a
test run first! If you happen to be out, Lowe's, Home Depot
and most other large hardware stores have a rack that will have
some aluminum bar strips. Get one and practice using the bur on a
$4 piece of metal before attacking a $400 one!
Here's how to do the deed. "Die hards", continue on...
- Jack your bike up and support it because you will be removing
the wheels. Make sure it is secure enough to stay there for several
days since this is NOT a quick process.
- Remove the rim of your choice, I started at the front since it
had the most shaving to do (longer spokes and larger
circumference). The tire may stay on the rim as long as you do not
nick the valve stem with the shaving bur (and you easily could!). I
protected mine with several wraps of a heavy tape and had no
problems, even after touching it a time or two with the tools.
- Slip the axle back in the rim and either wrap the axle with
tape or a rag and clamp the assembly in your vise. If done
correctly, your wheel should roll easily and is best worked on if
perpendicular to the floor (as in normal operation).
- At this point I checked my rim for the heavy side by spinning
it a number of times and marking the tire with some chalk at the
bottom each time. Any close grouping of marks will more than likely
indicate the heavy point. This reference will be handy later on
since equal amounts of metal must be removed in all 5 spoke
quadrants to maintain a balanced wheel. Access to a bubble balancer
would be helpful here.
- Tape around the axle where it meets the rim in a way that
prevents metal shards from entering your bearings but still is
loose enough to allow it to rotate as needed.
- Secure the wheel from turning while working it with the rotary
tools. I used a tie down strap around a spoke and secured at the
rear of the vise.
- Chuck up your rotary cutting bur in the drill.
- Put on your safety gear!
CAUTION: The shaving phase slings finely shaved shards of aluminum
everywhere. They are needle sharp but they do little damage due to
exit velocity as they're too light. Instead, they burrowa lot!
Protect yourself and anything nearby that can be damaged by these
little devils. Please do not do this bare handed, because the
shards WILL burrow into your hands and you'll be forever
digging them out. You'll be uncomfortable enough digging them
out of your clothes and shoes if you ignored my advice to cover up.
Please protect yourself !!!
Hint: After having slivers all over me not long after I
started, I set up a small fan blowing across my work area and aimed
the air stream in a way that would allow it to blow my grinding
slivers away from me to a safe area. It worked good.
- This is the step that will set the pace. Take a deep breath
and using both hands on the drill, cautiously start shaving the
metal from the cast ribs between your spokes and rim perimeter
center ridge with a light cutting action. SHAVING is the key word
here! The cutting bur WILL bite and sling the drill immediately
into parts unscheduled for shaving, including your body, if you
either intentionally or accidentally dig in! This is especially
true in corners!!!
Go slowly and get a feel for it. Stay away from the shiny parts!
Gouge the wrong area and you'll be sick! Keep you eyes on
your work at all times and for God's sake don't look
away while the drill is running. Given even half a chance, your
drill WILL become devil possessed as soon as it touches something
and WILL try to kill you! <g>
- Carefully shave the rim perimeter ridge and spoke edge ridges
in all five spoke quadrants with the rotary bur, stopping about
1/16" short of reaching the level of the adjacent metal. The drill
and bur will be too unstable to give a level rough cut. Just get it
close. This phase is just to remove the bulk of the excess
material.
- Once the rough cutting is complete, work the rough cut areas
smooth and level with your files, first the coarse one and then the
fine one. Again, try to avoid the shiny areas, as you will just
create more work for yourself.
When filing aluminum, particles will get stuck in the file and
if they are not removed immediately they WILL create deep scratches
as you continue to work that will have to be removed by taking off
even more metal! Keep your file debris free. If it clogs, clean it
with your wire brush etc. The trick is to remove the same amount of
metal from each quadrant to maintain rim balance and that goes out
the window filing away mistakes. Vigilance! Vigilance! Vigilance!
As you work your rims you will notice the shiny areas on either
side of the perimeter ridge slope slightly up from the shoulder to
the center. I projected this slope to the center of my rims,
basically creating a slightly rounded crown. My logic was to leave
the most metal I could around the centerline for strength. You,
though, are free to do as you choose. Conversely, I filed the spoke
sides flat for better light reflection. Plenty of metal here and
edges made great guides. Don't get sloppy with the file
though, a sloped stroke can round off an edge and every flaw WILL
show. Complete all 5 spoke zones, striving for a consistent and
smooth finish.
At this point after all 5 zones are filed to a satisfying
shape, check for balance. Carefully remove the tape covering the
bearings but do NOT get the shavings in them or you'll be
getting new bearings soon. Once the wheel turns freely, check
balance against your starting reference point. (I was fortunate and
maintained my original balance). Ideally, the heavy side (if any)
indicated before you started your work should be the same as the
one depicted now.
If not, the options I can think of are two. Either dismount your
tire and check rim balance without the tire on (most tires have a
natural heavy side). If the rim is OK, it's probably the tire
and often repositioning it's heavy side on the rim will get
you closer to where you want to be. Or, if it's the rim,
shave more to balance it but try to maintain your design. Remember,
you can always take the completed rim and have it shop balanced
when you are finished if you are reasonably close on your
balance.
- Re-tape your rim to protect the bearings.
- Set up your drill with the 80 grit sanding spools. The object
is to carefully sand all 5 spoke zones on the filed areas just
enough to clean up the file marks and any slight imperfections.
Keep the tool moving because a gouge now would be VERY
disheartening. Again, stay off the shiny parts and shoot for a
consistently smooth finish with no ripples, gouges, or
abnormalities, because all of them WILL show during the polishing
phases.
- Repeat actions in step 13 using the 120 grit spools.
- Repeat again using the 240 grit spools.
- Repeat again using the 320 grit spools. Your finish should now
be flat, smooth and nick free. If not rework poor areas before
proceeding further.
- This step requires some elbow grease. Using your 400 grit paper
on a sanding block, wet sand the areas you just finished rotary
sanding. The water reduces the cutting action and floats away
sanding debris. It also is messy. The object is to remove any
previous sanding scars and prepare the area for power buffing.
Smoothness counts.
- Repeat step 17 using the 600 grit paper. This is
the last sanding. Any flaws should be gone. If not, now is the time
to fix them because they more than likely will not buff out. The
buffs do not cut very much and irregularities WILL show up like a
sore thumb when the buffing starts. Speaking of sore thumbs,
somewhere along here your spouse might compliment you on your soft
touch since you've SANDED MOST OF YOUR FINGER PRINTS OFF by
now. Just nod and accept the compliment and DON'T say what
you're really thinking! (don't ask how I know )
Ah, the buffing stage. Here's where your pain and misery
will start to be rewarded. It is advised to avoid mixing compounds
on the same buffs since it will affect finish quality. At this time
set up and mark your tools so they will not get confused later when
everything is black from buffing.
Buffing is messy. Wear your glasses and resist scratching your
nose or rubbing your eyes while buffing because the black stuff
will mark everything you touch and your spouse WILL bust a gut
laughing at you when you finally come inside for some company!
One more thing, before starting be advised that the buffing
wheels get debris laden while buffing. If you bought one, the buff
card is for this. Carefully spin the buff against the teeth of
the card to remove debris. The buff WILL bite into the card if you
are careless and the drill WILL become devil possessed and try to
break off your arm and run over whatever is closest to it, whether
it be man or machine! (once again, I know... )
BE CAREFUL!
- Set up your 3" buff and a felt cone buff. Open one end of the
red Tripoli stick and slowly spin the buff against the stick to
load it. Work the buff in your sanded areas, buffing them to a
gloss. The finish will be dull but that's OK, the next step
will fix that. Work the whole wheel looking for consistency of
finish. Alternate tools as needed to reach the tight spots.
- The final buffing step. Again, set up your tools and load the
buff with the white rouge as you did with the Tripoli. Work your
rims until you get the chrome like finish that's hiding in
there. Buff until you are satisfied.
- Optional: If you have any energy left, the dull cast spot on
the right center side of the front wheel polishes out beautifully
using the same tools and most of the above procedure. The choice is
yours!
- Next, the hard part. Repeat whole procedure for the other
rim.
For some addition cosmetic appeal, I drilled some "lightening"
holes in my spokes. If you finished the above ordeal and still have
your sanity, you can about do this in your sleep. Of course it
could be done independent of the above torture also. Anyway, before
drilling them, cover the spoke sides with masking tape. This will
give you a marking surface and also protect the spokes from
skipping drill bits and drilling debris. Layout your hole
locations, being careful to be consistent with the spacing and the
centering of them. Center punch the marks and drill a pilot hole
with a small bit. Gradually work up to the finish size
diameter.
I chamfered my finished holes by LIGHTLY drilling the top edge
of them with a drill bit a little larger than my largest hole
(chamfering bit size is relative and will probably be at least
¼" or more larger than your largest hole). The angle at the
bit's point is what gives the nice finished bevel to your
completed holes. A little goes a long way here, do not penetrate
lower than the edge of the angle!
If you still have any energy left, you can apply your now
considerable talents to polishing the lower portions of your fork
legs to a chrome like finish. By now you are as expert as anyone
and should need no procedure to do something so simple!
Goodluck and good riding,
Doug Farris (MRA #170)
"HOTMAG"
Thanks to MRA Member Doug Farris for this project!
