I bought a new 08 Sportster 1200R about two months ago. Since I was recovering from shoulder surgery the dealer delivered the bike to my house. Well, we finally got a break in the weather (it's winter in N.J.) so I went out to the garage to take it for a ride only to find the rims covered in white oxidation. I've spent about 10 hours trying to buff the wheels out but it looks like I'll need to have that done professionally. The dealer was nice but said there was no provision in the warrantee to cover corrosion. So I called Harley and they explained that weekly maintenance of the aluminum was the owners responsibility. How the hell are you supposed to wash and wax any bike in the dead of winter when it's 20 degrees in the garage? I'm afraid to see what will happen when this thing sits for an entire winter.
Don't get me wrong, I love the bike, I just think Harley's attitude after spending 10 grand on a bike just plain sucks.
Any suggestions that don't cost a bundle? Any of you do wheel repair in N.J.?[:@]

 

Yikes, that sucks the big one. Unfortunately, I'm afraid your anger is misplaced. Aluminum oxidizes and it's nobody's fault, it's just a fact of life. Sucks, don't it?

To clean it, you have a couple choices. What has worked very well for me in the past is a combination of rubbing compound, polishing compound, Nevrdull and carnuba wax. It ain't easy, and it'll take time, but it will clean up. Use the rubbing compound sparingly, in fact you may not even need it. Use the rubbing and polishing compounds to remove the build up and pitting, then use the Nevrdull to make it shine. The carnuba wax will help keep it shiny.

With some effort and care, you can get aluminum to shine like chrome, but it'll take ALOT of work to get it there and almost as much to keep it there.

 

Any efforts will be fruitlessif you plan to continue storing it in same location/conditions......It's an enviromental thang, not a warranty issue.

Now you know why I keep all my bikes in the house.

About all you can do is try to stay on top of it or swap to chrome wheels....Even then you will discoverall other polished alum pieces will suffer same fate.

 

Mother's Carnuba Wax slows the oxidation down pretty well, but the only "maintenance free" aluminum finish I've found is that grey crud he has now.

A couple healthy coats of MCW also makes the weekly cleaning much easier. At one point, I had my '85 Ironhead cleaned up so that all I had to do was wash it and then use MCW to clean/polish/protect the aluminum. Then I skipped a month or three and it was right back to the polishing compound.... ARRRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

wd-40

 

sucks to be you! Take the wheels off and get them painted.

 

Thought you took care of this using Maguiers on your 02/21 post? Didn't work?

"Now the good news!
Try Maguiers Hot Mag and Aluminum Polish. Man it is just plain incredible stuff. The alloy on my bike now looks like chrome with minimal work. It is by far the best alloy polish I've used.
By the way, if your Harleys gonna sit, better put a good coat of wax on the alloy!"

 

I saw this stuff advertized a couple years ago.

http://www.zoops.com/zoopseal.asp

Has anyone ever used it and how well did it work?

 

Paint em or have em dipped...aluminum is hopeless.

Then again...trade ME!!! (you can't have my spokes though...they're too pretty )

I like ratty lookin $hit! haha!

 

Call it character and ride the thing.

PS... the 1200 Roadster is the nicest-looking Sportster model. *thumbs up*