i want some of the wheels off of the 09 street bobs. its crazy how they put the good black wheels on there but left the black off the motor. or would it be better to get mine from my 07 powder coated? unless i could find someone who wanted to trade

 

Several HDF members have gotten their wheels powder coated ... see, for example, Joe Knapp's bike. The new FXDB wheels are sweet; they're "profile" wheels (i.e., they have a rounded cross-section vice stepped).

My personal opinion is the stock wheels with a good powder coat job look just as good. Another thing Joe Knapp and a couple of others have done is a pinstripe around the edge of the wheel. Really sets the wheels off nicely! I think he's also got twisted spokes or something.

I think another thing you could look at doing is getting just the rims, get them powder coated; then over the winter or some time when you won't be riding, take your wheels off your bike and re-lace the powder coated rims to your hubs and mount the tires.

Could be a pain in the ****, but if you price wheels what I've suggested would be much more economical approaches. Or, if you can find someone who's willing to give up a set of take-off wheels for not a lot of cash (or for a trade) ... that would be a good thing, too.

I saw a really sweet set of 18" black powder coated front and rear wheels at the stealership a couple of months back that I was coveting. I asked how much for the set of wheels and tires ... $1,200.00!!!

Good luck, let us know what you end up doing and be sure to post photos.

R/
Priest

 

09 wheels are o.k. but if you are going down the black road, do the hubs as well. I.M.O. it would look like custom wheels with the hubs black as well and not like 09 take off's with just the rims done.

 

While doing your research on cost, be sure to factor in the tear down of the rims and subsequent re-lacing and truing after they're powder coated. Oh yeah, you'll also have to get the bearings removed from the hubs and pressed back in afterwords.

No matter what, you should come out WAY ahead getting a set powder coated over buying new.

 

If its a good powder job should be as good or better than take offs and much cheaper however powdercoater makes a good point can you do the labor or will you have to pay someone?

 

I do not have black rims, but mine are coated, along with the hubs and spokes (spokes are black, ha ha ). Anyways, here is a cost breakdown for me

Powdercoat rim (rear) = $80.00
Powdercoat rim (front) = $70.00
Powdercoat both hubs = $70.00
Powdercoat spokes (80) = $50.00

Un-lace rims = I did at home = $00.00
remove & install bearings from hubs = $30.00
re-lace & true rims = $150.00
tire mount and dismount = $35.00

Total $485.00 or so and some of my time. Well worth every penny and second. Do the hubs now, do them once and be done with it.
Wish you all the luck and hope you get what you are looking for.

 

Powdercoat will be the cost of buying only one wheel from the MOCO.

 

everyone that does powder coating has different prices... i do wheels alot... just takes time... as stated above you can save some $$$ by unlacing, and relace/ true yourself... here are some examples of what you can do... for fairly cheap... powdering your spokes is an easy and very affective change... not everyones cup of tea but here is
powder danger yellow with high gloss black hub and rim - ALSO black rotor



my wheels, hight gloss black rim and hub, wheel stripe, twisted stainless spokes-> also high gloss black rotor and pully

 

Junior:

Thanks for your input. I've always really admired your bike as one of my favorite examples of what a tricked out FXDB is worthy of.

I would like to do my wheels, but I just never have the down time. I'd like to trade someone my old set of '05 FXD take-off 13-spoke aluminum mag wheels for a set of 16" x 3.5" FLST wheels I could powdercoat and put on without taking my bike off-line for too long.

Have you posted a thread on how-to do the pinstripe around the rim? Also, when PCing the rotor, do you tape the brake surface off or just wipe the powder off before baking? That really dresses up your rotors.

Looks sharp!

R/
Priest

 

you have to use a specail tape made for powder coating... it is a pain to work with as you have to heat it wiht a heat gun, mold it to the material you are coating, and then do it all over again till it is perfect... then powder...
the wheel stripe is something i have been doing on rockets for years... figured i would try it on my bike... got great feedback and i love the look. just ebay wheel stripes... it is a decal.