Chrome wheels

[hitechcpa]

Has anyone chromed their R12RT wheels? I saw chrome wheels on a K12RS and they looked great. Wanted to hear pros and cons from any who have done this. Thanks.

[Tony_K]

I will give you a few things to consider.

 

Plus side,

Shiny "bling" wheels.

 

Negative side,

Cost of chroming.

Easily mauled by tire change techicians.

Possible blistering and flaking of chrome.

Any damage like the two above require another trip to the chrome shop to fix or alloy wheel will start to corrode under the finish.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mr_Ed]

+1 to the above....

 

IMO chroming ones wheels makes about as much sense as installing a set of spinners..... but.... I bet if I chromed my GSA wheels that I'd get my 15 minutes of fame.

[Sailorlite]

You will notice that no chrome plated wheels are available from the German car manufacturers. Any you see are either aftermarket wheels or locally plated factory wheels. Evidently the chrome plating process reduces the structural strength of an alloy wheel which then becomes a safety issue. Factory wheels are sometimes polished for a chrome-like appearance.

[RTinNC]

One of the things I loved about my K1200LT and now my R1200RT is the powder coated EASY TO MAINTAIN wheels. I am very anal about my bikes and the BMW wheels make my life a bit easier!

[ianboydsnr]

You can of course now get chrome looking powder coated wheels

[BeemerLover]

German car manufacturers are subject to some of the most restrictive pollution control laws out there and BMW likes to chrome over aluminum. I had an R1200C with chromed wheels and they were a nightmare. The wheels were aluminum and the chrome would pit and flake off, no matter how well the wheels were taken care of. The side panels were made of stamped steel and the chrome would flake and peel. No fun!

 

Gael