[Nick D]

I want to get some ideas for what I should do with my rims. The red paint is peeling off in places, they're filthy for the most part, and I just want to give it something a little extra. I'm not going to leave anyone out, but I'm more interested in ideas for 1st gen wheels.

I'm leaning toward staying red but leaving the rim lip and the flat ridges as bare aluminum, but I'd considered different routes as well. Anyone else have anything good?

Edit: That is the wheel when I got the bike. Yes, that is Armor All on the tire. Yes it was slippery. Yes, he did do it to the seat too. Yes, I did scoot all over the bike when speeding up and slowing down.

 

[Guest]

I'm boring when it comes to Rims. I've always prefered either silver or black rims on cars and bikes. The only colour the silver rims on my EX have is from a bit of lube that came off the chain and stuff to the rims...I really need to wash my bike

 

[Nick D]

I'm not against plain jane wheels, I just get tired (no pun intended) of being bored with my rolling stock.

One of the other ideas rolling around in my head is to make them look similar to my KZ wheels. I think it would look good but I'm not sure. It would be just black and silver (aluminum), but would still look like the Ninja wheel and kinda old school Kawasaki.

 

[Nick D]

I decided to play around with the black and silver a bit. Sorry about the poor quality of my drawring .

 

[Guest]

I like the black/silver personally. But I'm biased since I hate coloured rims.

 

[Nick D]

Hater.

 

[Guest]

To each their own (my 550 can beat your 550! )

 

[Nick D]

(my 550 can beat your 550! )

Blasphemy!

 

[Art1989]

Hey has anyone done an 88-06 ex250 rear wheel conversion to an 87 to 93 500 to get rid of the drum brake for the disc brake, looks like it would be pretty simple mod?

 

[Nick D]

Hey has anyone done an 88-06 ex250 rear wheel conversion to an 87 to 93 500 to get rid of the drum brake for the disc brake, looks like it would be pretty simple mod?

Hijack! I hadn't thought about using a 250 disc rear for a conversion, is it the same wheel as the old EX's?

In all seriousness, though, I don't really see an advantage outside of looks. I've got my rear tuned in where it will lock up if I really slam it, how can you brake any stronger than that?

 

[Art1989]

Better braking is not just a matter of locking the wheel discs have better feel and resist fading better than drums in my opinion anyway, I've done the initial measurements from my sons ex250 every thing looks the same as far as wheel fit I'm sure I'll need the brake pedal and master cylinder from a gen 2 500 and I'll have to weld a caliper stay bracket to the top of the swing arm but once all the parts are together it should be quick.

 

[Nick D]

Better braking is not just a matter of locking the wheel discs have better feel and resist fading better than drums in my opinion anyway, I've done the initial measurements from my sons ex250 every thing looks the same as far as wheel fit I'm sure I'll need the brake pedal and master cylinder from a gen 2 500 and I'll have to weld a caliper stay bracket to the top of the swing arm but once all the parts are together it should be quick.

For the record, I didn't mean that locking the rear brake was the proper stopping technique ;D. I just meant that if the drum had enough power to lock it up it should do the same job when properly adjusted.

It'd be an interesting project, as long as the fluid proportioning worked out well throughout the system. Too much or too little fluid pressure once the parts are mixed are going to give you unsatisfying results to say the least. Knowing Kawasaki, though, it might be the same parts. You might even take a hard look at the 250 swingarm to see if it wouldn't slide into the 500 frame, saving having to make a bracket and such.

 

[ex_dsmr]

i didnt really mind the black wheels..but seeing as how EVERYTHING below the upper fairings (minus the front fender) was black, i had to do something to break up all that black. so i opted for semi-matched wheel stripes. their nice and subtle but add a nice touch.

btw they are a red/maroonish. they are lighter and almost look pink becaues of the sun hitting them, and they are teh reflective type

 

[Art1989]

I did look at the 250 swing arm and it looks like it would work, but I don't see the need, all you really need is some way to mount the caliper stay or rod, it would take 5 min to weld one on. which would save the time and expense of buying a 250 arm and changing it out.

 

[Nick D]

i didnt really mind the black wheels..but seeing as how EVERYTHING below the upper fairings (minus the front fender) was black, i had to do something to break up all that black. so i opted for semi-matched wheel stripes. their nice and subtle but add a nice touch.

btw they are a red/maroonish. they are lighter and almost look pink becaues of the sun hitting them, and they are teh reflective type

Those do look really nice, they tie into the bike really well. I don't think a polished lip could've looked any better.

 

[07Ninja]

I so want to do red rims on my ninja. Is it possible for me to just use a spray paint sort of substance to cheaply change their color. Mine are stock atm. I think it could look pretty awesome. Thought..advice?

 

[Nick D]

You'd just have to clean them really well and then prep them (sand them a bit so the paint would stick, basically). With some decent paint it'd stay nice for a while, crappy paint might flake off after a while. Your best bet would be to find a powder coater would could just coat them red and it'd last forever, but you can use paint just the same.

 

[fog]

Before I realizied that such stuff took more time than I was willing to give, I polished a set of wheel rims only on the smooth machined lip from the tire in about an inch. This is smooth and easy to do, and looks good no matter what color the rest of the wheel is.

FOG

 

[m-clar70]

I so want to do red rims on my ninja. Is it possible for me to just use a spray paint sort of substance to cheaply change their color. Mine are stock atm. I think it could look pretty awesome. Thought..advice?

The reddish brown scotch brite pads do a great job for roughing up surfaces in prep for paint and don't leave big scratches in their wake

 

[Nick D]

Jumping back on the original bandwagon (feel free to continue the other discussion, BTW, I just happened to find some pics I wanted to post), what do you guys think of these wheels? They're off my Suzuki parts bike, I was considering cleaning the heck out of them and swapping them on the ninja. Not sure if I'd stay black and aluminum, go all aluminum, or paint them and polish the lip.

I need some opinions, what do you guys think? BTW, the front is a 19" rim (common to '80s standards, so I've found), and is easier to find cheap rubber for. Rear is still 16".

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