Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Cleaning alloy wheels

Newbie here. Looking for suggestions on cleaning my alloy wheels. I have stock '04 SM alloys.

Hot soapy water.

This is good advice. Be very careful about after market products-they can eat the protective finish right off alloy wheels. Ask me how I know.

Trade em for BA spolkes...
Before I swapped rims, I used soapy water with a drill attachment bought from autozone that was made for car wheels. Stay away from aftermarket "cleaners." I have had bad luck in the past not getting all the soultion off and it pits overnight. Good luck

mothers powerball and or flitz

Frank

I try not to use water when cleaning my bike. I use a spray like WD-40 on my rims. The light lubricant eats the road grim and leaves the spokes and rim really clean looking, yet it helps protect them from rust and such. I just spray them down and wipe them off with a clean rage. Once in a great while I will polish them with Mothers chrome polish.

But tcv, spokes and rims aren't alloy wheels and I don't know this but WD-40 may harm the coating.

Ok, let me correct myself. I use Metal Protector spray from Amsoil, which is sort of like WD-40. Metal Protector spray is good for all metals, plastics, rubber and won't discolor fabric. Not that I use it on fabric, or at least not on purpose. So, it shouldn't be a problem with alloy wheels.

I was talking about the protective finish on the alloy wheels. I made no statement that it was bad just a precautionary warning to be careful using any kind of solvent on alloy wheels that could damage said coating.

This may not be the best, but here's what I know. I would never use the aluminum wheel cleaner as stated above, I've seen what it can do, and don't want any part of it.

Earlier this week, I had to clean off some chain lube off the rear wheel from a bit of over zealous application. As anyone knows, that stuff is like tar and glue mixed together. I figured I would try some WD40 to clean it up. Man, that stuff cleaned my rear wheel like brand new with about zero elbow grease. It really shines now. I made sure to remove all the residue I could so that it won't attract dirt/dust, and 3 days/200 miles later, it still looks good.

On the front wheel, I would just use was/polish, maybe WD40 for stubborn tar/grease...

I'm telling you from experience. Bel Ray chain lube is the cleanest, and best lube I've found. Won't fling all over your wheel. Yes it does have some fling off, but the wheels stay cleaner longer.

On cleaning an alloy rim, Ian hit it right on. Hot soapy water, just make sure its a mild soap. We're not using laundry detergent. WD-40 is a very good cleaner, but it leaves an oily finish that dust can adhere to faster. You guys may laugh but for my painted, plastic, and chrome parts, I use pledge dusting spray. Its like an easy spray on wax cheap too.