Are my mags too far gone to refinish?

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Dot Heton

XS650 Enthusiast
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I have a set of mags that most of the finish has flaked off and the exposed aluminum is powdery. Are they worth refinishing and how would I go about it.
 
Depends. Surface powder does not necessarily mean they are pitted. I'd chemically strip them first to get an idea what you have to work with. If you don't find any heavy pitting at that point then blast them with a 320 grit equivalent aluminum oxide blast media. It will remove all but deep pits without a lot of dwell time. If you have to dwell to clean a spot up, I'd ensure to get it all cleaned out good, even if you have to mechanically blend it. Those wheels are made of a pretty decent alloy that does not pit easily, so you have a decent chance of keeping them. In my experience, the most likely place for pitting is in tire iron gouges on the flanges and the slope of the bead. Good luck, and post pics if you run into a spot where you need advice. There's folks here that have rehabbed some serious turds over the years.
 
Thanks for the offer gggGary but they're XS500 rims. they are quite a bit narrower than 650 rims. My plan was to swap the narrow triple trees, forks and rim to the 650 for a skinny look. Its still at the idea stage, I haven't measured the neck to see how feasable it is.
 
Can you post some pics?
I powder coat..... I'd bet that after a glass bead błast yiu would be surprised how well they look.
If your interested, I can powder them and ship back to you.

Posted via Mobile
 
And oddly enough I have a nice set of XS500 rims shod with BRAND NEW Avon tires,

Avon MKII on the rear
Avon MS on the front
 
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I just measured the neck and they are the same on the xs500 and xs650. So the fork swap would work, but looking closer, the width of the forks is only 1/2 inch narrower and the top triple tree on the 500 is pretty ugly. I don't know if it's worth it. What started my wheels turning in the first place was wanting a disk brake on the rear and I have a rolling xs500 sitting here so I thought to put the swingARM (haha) and fork from the 500 onto the 650. My real problem is that I have 4 bike projects going and I get distracted easily.
 
My bike projects are the WLA Harley, a 175 Benelli, and two xs's. One of the XS's has a rephase and the motor has just been buttoned up but I'm stalled on the the clutch. I've ridden the Harley though so at least I managed to get one together.
 
gggGary said:
And oddly enough I have a nice set of XS500 rims shod with BRAND NEW Avon tires,

Avon MKII on the rear
Avon MS on the front
Click to expand...


Good lord Gary, is there anything you don't have 3 of? I demand pictures of your garage, it must be glorious.
 
figure8 said:
Good lord Gary, is there anything you don't have 3 of? I demand pictures of your garage GARBAGE, it must be glorious.
Click to expand...

Uh yeah well......

What I really need is a round tuit. If I just got a round tuit I'd be golden.
 
Rahndo it's a long drive. I would like to end up with a nice example of the first 4 years. I let a decent 73 go to friend this spring.

Sorry figure8 no extra front hubs, at this time.

Please, this should go to the the emporium thread. We seem to be stomping all over the OP's thread.
 
There's an early xs in the minneapolis Craigslist listed as a 76' for 300 bucks. Might be the one your looking for gggGary.
 

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