Just got the wheels back from the powdercoaters, I have fitted new bearings and seals. Fresh new set of Bridgestone S22 200/55 & 120/70 fitted. Will be mounting them to my 1299 base model once the wheels are balanced, time to say goodbye to the chicken feet. Very happy with the results from the powdercoaters so far, can't wait to get them on the bike. I ended up going for white gold with matt finish, when the light hits it you can see the metalflake, don't think the pictures do them justice. Pic of bike before Akra install & OE wheels just for reference See pics below for 7 spoke 1198S wheels. Will update soon
thanks everyone for the kind comments. No not exactly, rear wheel is a straight swap but the front requires a spacer kit, not sure on the exact dimensions off the top of my head but they can be found on google somewhere. Still not got around to fitting them! need to pull my finger out
Forged light weight alloy wheels go through a heat treatment process to improve their strength and durability during manufacture. Powder coating reheats the wheels. I wonder what Marchesini recommend?
powder coating cures at 180-200 deg C for 10-15 mins, which is neither hot enough to anneal aluminium alloys or long enough to precipitation harden it.. despite what forum metallurgists may like to think
Not a metallurgist, but it was covered by my lecturers when I was at tech college. I also recall reports of forged car alloy wheels failing after being powder coated. But hey, if you're a qualified metallurgist, and are prepared to go on record that these wheels won't fail, it's all good. Like I said though, what do the manufacturers of the wheels say?
Dont panic Mr Mannering No danger of melting a magnesium alloy wheel because the powder coating temperature is not hot enough. Different temperature ranges are used for each type of annealing and the material needs to be held at those temperatures for sustained periods, longer than would occur with powder coating. Annealing actually increases temper and strength of magnesium, so if anything the wheel is stronger! (but probably not because the duration is short) The main thing is making sure the shop knows how to prep Mag alloy properly so it doesn’t get electric mice nibbling away under a poor coating job
Yep, read that blasting can alter/compromise the wheels surface. Different people have different attitudes to risk, I'm quite twitchy when it involves safety critical components. I wonder what Ducati do/approve?
I said magnesium above and I should have said aluminium or magnesium alloy. I doubt Ducati or Marchesini would approve anything other than factory, if people are so negligent with maintenance on their very expensive superbikes that they dont notice bubbling under a coating then there isnt much that can help. These are not cast mags or pure magnesium, they are a forged aluminium alloy to handle other factors a streetbike requires i.e. durability. If they were reasonably high in magnesium you probably would be crack testing them pretty regularly and definitely not coating them, they are NOT suitable for street use.
Update as promised. Note :- Front mudguard not fitted, waiting on a brake line clip to hold the abs line in place ( Gloss carbon ) Gloss carbon hugger + heelguards fitted to match the akrapovic. 7 spoke wheels fitted. Stuck a couple of stickers on, not entirely sure about the Ducati Corse.. may remove.
For the record I don't question the reliability of the rims after powdercoat, they are only aluminium not magnesium. Been done plenty of times on other forums without issue, I'd be more concerned running magnesium or carbon wheels on the road than a set of powdercoated aluminium wheels. From what I gather they have to get extremely hot to be weakened or distorted something like double the heat of powdercoat curing.. the powdercoat place I used have done lots of aluminium wheels for motorcycles without issue, they are well equipped to carry out the task. If the wheel finish doesn't hold up for whatever reason I may get them painted instead at a later stage. None of the less, as it sits, at the moment I am very happy with the result.
I knew I was skipping the rules a bit.. Maybe I can have Ducati Performance instead ( as I bought the optional performance exhaust ? )
Finally got the front mudguard on, decided to remove the Ducati corse decals. Final update to thread.
