[Richard1]

What is the pro vs con of Chrome or Polished wheels? Chrome looks great but can require more maintenance to repair possible chips etc. Polished seems to be easier to care for and looks as good. I have heard there is a product you should treat Polished products with before installing. Any suggestions

 

[ogwutang]

polished takes a LOT more work to keep them looking pretty, chrome just takes some soap and water and maybe a little chrome polish every now and then, and thats not really necessary

 

[Clueless]

You mean other than the 40 + hours it would take to polish them ? You might check this out, and the other Hondas wheels come raw, no finish on them.
YouTube - How to Polish a Valkyrie Wheel

 

[Richard1]

You mean other than the 40 + hours it would take to polish them ? You might check this out, and the other Hondas wheels come raw, no finish on them.
YouTube - How to Polish a Valkyrie Wheel

I watched the video, thanks.

Maybe I should have mentioned I’m not polishing nothing. Too much work and I don’t have the time. I’m looking a buying. I keep my bike pretty clean and don’t ride in the rain. At this point I am leaning toward polished then have them chromed later if I have to.

 

[ogwutang]

i ride mine in the rain, i ain't skeered!

 

[hemibates]

Well I've had both. Had my 1300c wheels chromed and my last bike 1800f spec 2 had polished. So I can speek from experience with this one. The chrome is MUCH easier to keep up. I didn't ride in the rain either but brake dust on the rear wheel tarnishes it quick. I am OCD and wanted the polished wheels to look......well polished so I had to polish the wheels about once a month. And trust me it takes about an hour just to polish! Chrome just soap and water and sometimes some wax (to help with waterspots).

 

[Clueless]

You could always get them clear powdercoated after they get all shined up,

 

[no_fury]

Well I've had both. Had my 1300c wheels chromed and my last bike 1800f spec 2 had polished. So I can speek from experience with this one. The chrome is MUCH easier to keep up. I didn't ride in the rain either but brake dust on the rear wheel tarnishes it quick. I am OCD and wanted the polished wheels to look......well polished so I had to polish the wheels about once a month. And trust me it takes about an hour just to polish! Chrome just soap and water and sometimes some wax (to help with waterspots).

Yes I totally agree chrome is easier to keep shiny an clean. But once chrome chips or scratches from either rocks on the road or a bad tire change boy you are SOL. With polished aluminum you can quickly just sand the scratch with 2000 grit water and re-polish with some aluminum polish back to original glory.

 

[diagotx]

my local polisher/ chromer recommended to have them polished. he told me that the chrome could chip or wrinkle if u even hit a bad pothole. He told me that he seals the rims after he polishes them. He showed me some pics of a vtx that he polished, they looked real good. He said that it looked like the rims had about the same coating as the vtx had. He gave me a price of 500 for both rims, 120 for lower forks, and i think about 200-250 for the finial drive. He said he would chrome the rims for 750, but he recommended that i just polish them. i would love to have this done but ill have to save up because who knows how much it will cost to have it all disassembled and reassembled?