Stainless, Billet or Chrome wheels?

[Maggar]

I'm about to replace the tired looking spoked wheels on my 2001 Wide Glide with one of the following;

Stainless spokes - keeps the original look but without the tarnishing, much the cheapest option

Billet alloy 10 spoke - easier to keep clean but need to keep on top of them

Chrome alloy 10 spoke - easiest to clean, most expensive, will they last?


Any advice / experience ??

Mag

[MacHarry]

My choice

Stainless spokes - keeps the original look but without the tarnishing, much the cheapest option

[Chiefy]

They've all got their downside

Stainless spokes will go loose because the stainless stretches. Apart from looking nice Stainless is one of the worst materials that a spoke could be made of.

Alloy takes a lot of polishing to keep it shiney

Chrome's a bit of a gamble, Harley can't get it right, everyone I know whose got chromed wheels has had to get them changed under warranty.

My money is on the Alloy wheels, I seem to have found a recipe for keeping them tidy. Autosolvosol to polish them up, Alu-Magic keeps them that way.

Having gone thru' all this, I fitted my chop with 80 spoke (stainless) wheels with chrome steel rims and hubs.................nice

[chilly]

Metal needs to be triple plated to make a proper job,like they used to do on the Brit rims like Dunlop or Jones ,they stand up to our weather better and the finish is far superior,HD are plated straight onto the metal.There are some nice alloy rims out there now which look good as well.

Try Hagons or Central wheel for more info.

Chilly

[Maggar]

Thanks. Food for thought there.

Didn't realise that stainles spokes would stretch

What about powder coated?

Mag

I had a pair of PRO ONE alloy billet wheels on my old FXDX, as AS Chiefy says use solvol, and I also used Mothers aluminium polish. Just remember to do them regularly.

[Phil]

Originally Posted by Maggar

Thanks. Food for thought there.

Didn't realise that stainles spokes would stretch

What about powder coated?

Mag

Alloy plus elbow grease, best by far.
Problem with powder coated wheels/spokes/hubs os that they have to bake them at high temps to `cook` the powder coat, which changes the metal. Together with stainless spokes they need a lot of maintenance.
P/Coated hubs being the worst as the heat expands & deforms the tapped holes causing the sprocket or discs to come loose.
Hate spokes anyway, always need truing, deforming in curves, esp. 21inch.
Chromed alloy wheels in the British climate are problematic as others have said.
Keep alloy polished, coat with a good wax, better by far.