Triumphrat

Jamie · 06-17-2005

Have seen a computer-edited pic of a RED RIII with chrome-plated wheels. The original ones. Look fabulous. Anyone has gone that route yet? If so, am curious. Lots of manpower involved in dismantling and re-assembling, no doubt, but what of the plating job cost itself? :???:

Mercy buckets

vonbonds · 06-17-2005

A customer at my dealer had his wheels chromed. They came out horribly (probably the chromers problem) but my dealer said it was a waste of money anyway. If you put bags on the bike and this customer did who is going to see the wheel anyway?

Jamie · 06-17-2005

How much is the dealer or customer talking about? Ballpark dollars, Euros or whatever?

Dat ah-was ze queshun, Vonbonds dear. Have no bags on the back. If I had AND if I also had bags around the front muguard , your point would definitely be well taken :razz: :razz: :razz:

vonbonds · 06-17-2005

Get a quote from a chromer near you. I hear all sorts of numbers depending on who you go to and how friendly you are with them.

Toystoretom · 06-17-2005

If you can't tell... I'm home today with a screwed up ankle...

Be that as it may... we used to send mag wheels off of cars out to a place in Colorado (Springs, I think).. that specializes in chroming wheels.. we would do it on an exchange basis for wheels they already had in stock (say for example 17" Maxima wheels) and it cost aproximately $100 to $150 US per wheel. This price depended on size, rarity of the wheel, and the wheel surface (from the factory) and how much polishing they had to do. The polishing part is the killer.

When we got the chrome wheels in the chrome was poor, lots of bubbles and bumps and not real shiney. After the car went through a couple of rain storms or just one snow storm with salt on the road the chrome would start to peel. After about a year they looked horrible. I think chrome is hard to apply to aluminum and the heat from the brakes didn't help....

I wouldn't mess with them after the first set I put on because it was impossible to mount a tire on them without damaging the chrome along the bead, and we have a $5500 tire machine with robot arms that will mount 40 series tires on 20" rims. At least on the cars its a loose .. loose situation. I know they look good on Trailer Queen show bike Harleys but for the money....

I know you would like to know who chromes these things but we have a couple of problems here in the States. The EPA has cracked down on the chrome platers and has put probably 75% of them out of business. Only the really big ones remain and they are getting very expensive. And they take forever... as in over a year. The second problem is bikers. When their chrome work isn't done in two weeks they show up at the platers and threaten them. You say "motorcycle" to a plater and they "show you the door". Its a very bad situation.

You probably will have much better luck looking around in Switzerland...

Tomo

Jamie · 06-17-2005

No, I probably won't (Switz. is about the size of New Jersey, as I have to keep on reminding myself). Only a couple of chromers around Geneva. Stiff prices. But I expected info from this forum PRIOR TO asking for a local quote. One has to specify triple chrome-plating with, I guess some other metal (s) in-between (nickel? copper?) . And polishing is indeed something that chromers described to my HD bddies as costing more to them than the plating process itself.

Hence my curiosity about "typical" prices in the US of A or anywhere else. YOU've been helpful. THANKS

[ This message was edited by: Jamie on 2005-06-17 12:32 ]

Toystoretom · 06-17-2005

I don't know what kind of plating works on aluminum... The way chrome plating works is you have to at least lay down nickel, that is what gives the silvery shine. You then put chrome on top of that, chrome itself is a clear metal. If the nickel won't stick to the aluminum, then you have to put down something else first... like copper.

The aluminum wheel has a clearcoat that keeps it from cooroding. This must be removed first before you can polish it and apply the copper. So you start with a bare aluminum surface. Chrome, nickel and copper are all pourous so water gets thru to the unprotected aluminum and it coorodes and bubbles. Also... aluminum is very soft, chrome is very hard. Any impact will cause the chrome to crack.

Ok... I just flipped through a copy of "Street Rodder" and a copy of Hemming's "Classic Car"... there isn't one chome plater ad in either. Yikes. If someone has a copy of Hemming's Motor News maybe they could check in there. Also just a thought... Try Davo... he has the Mad Dog's chromed somewhere... environmental laws in Oz probably aren't near as strict as in the US....

I'm not much help.... I used to build and restore bikes but I got out of it because of the chrome situation... paintwork taking forever and PITA customers....

11-04-2005

I had my R3 wheels chromed before I took delivery of it and they where sent to Houston by the dealer. It cost me $450.00 including shipping and I'm sure the dealer marked it up to make some extra cash.
It took seven days once they received the wheels, I've got 1800 miles and they still look great so far.
Call Dave @ 352-596-8028, ask for the # for the chrome plater in Houston.
I'd send a pic if I knew how.

miketango · 11-04-2005

I have thought of chroming my wheels. I live in western Pa and I think the chromer is in Maryland or West Va. The name is Pauls or something like that. All of the motorheads use them for there show chrome. I will have to find out where this place is. I do know that it would be $325 for the rear wheel. The cost includes removing the clear coat and it would take 4 to 6 weeks. Now that was in the summer when people aren't chroming to much. I would think they have more orders in the winter and it wouldn't take as long. My theory is more orders and not as long a wait to do a complete batch.

Mark

Aussiekeeper · 11-04-2005

Actually, there are plenty of chromers around. The chrome process is as follows....Clean, polish,copper plate,nickel plate,chrome plate,done.....The nickel plating is the "bond" for the chrome, the copper is the "bond" for the nickel, and you can just about copper plate anything......Chrome is not clear, it is chromium, a very hard shiny metal. But it needs a perfect bond. Most poor chrome comes from not using the 3-step process using the 3 different metals. The cheap chromers use only nickel and chrome, not a good bond. The EPA and local governments are banning the use of Cyanide (sp), which is used to clean the object to be plated.......

Ron