LRCXed wrote:I found a process a few years ago that dissolves the anodizing off making a little easier to sand off the rims and buff them out to a great shine.
Do you have some time to explain the 'process'?
Nice job. I buffed like hell for a similar effect on the handlebar controls. Getting through the black was a real pita.
It always baffles me why people would want to change from reliable, good looking, easy to keep clean Comstars to wire spokes.
Have you ever had a wire spoke break? I did on my GL1000 sidecar outfit and it took out about a dozen of it's neighbours with it. Not a good situation. Comstar spokes don't break.
Have you ever had to true wire spoke wheels? It is a royal pain and really should be checked annually. Comstars stay true unless you bend the rim.
And I won't even begin to discuss rusty spokes.....
mcreviver wrote:Comstars DO break. I had a customer with a CB-400A and a wheel chair/side car rig. The Comstar wheels should be checked for rivets that are loosening up if a sidecar is installed. His rear wheel was pretty wobbly and had to be changed. I don't recall the mileage at the time but probably less than 15k.
I won't say it is impossible to break a Comstar because I have seen ones from bikes that have crashed, but I put over the sidecar on my GL500 at about 55,000 Km and I retired it with about 100,000 and the only time I drove it without the sidecar was up & down the block after I had been working on it a couple of times. The front wheel went the whole distance (45,500Km). I changed to an 18" CX rear for better tire selection at about 88,000Km (that's 33,000 on the original wheel and 12,000 on the 18").
At about 75,000 I replaced the rusted, wobbling, out of round spoked wheel on the sidecar with the Comstar that is still on after that 25,000 Km and somewhere more than 35,000 on the Nighthawk and the 650.
I have put something like 25,000 Km on the 650 so far, all with the sidecar. I have not had any rivets or bolts on the wheels loosen up. (I can only imagine the amount of maintenance wire spokes would have needed over that time.)
I have a feeling that the problems with your customer's wheel had some other cause than the extra loading of the sidecar.
CXSarnia wrote: LRCXed wrote:I found a process a few years ago that dissolves the anodizing off making a little easier to sand off the rims and buff them out to a great shine. Do you have some time to explain the 'process'? Nice job. I buffed like hell for a similar effect on the handlebar controls. Getting through the black was a real pita.