11-24-2017, 06:17 AM
Everything has its drawbacks, so knowing what they are in advance leads to an informed choice. My Harley had cast mag wheels that were chromed. Rocks would chip the casting, exposing raw material, and then ultimately the chrome would peel at the chip site. On the plus side the cast mags are not prone ( at least in my experience ) to being out of true, which can happen with spoke wheels, and as has been pointed out a flat can be plugged. I started riding motorcycles at 17 in the late 60s, and back then everything was spoke wheels with tires that had inner tubes. We were all used to it, and it was just part of riding a motorcycle. I knew and accepted all this when I bought my 2017 EX, as it was a trip back to my 1974 CB750 Four. Whereas back in the day, the rims were chromed steel, now they are anodized aluminum. Then too, back then the spokes were usually zinc plated steel, whereas now the EX has stainless spokes. Both of these developments has solved something we struggled with periodically back then...rust. Now at age 65, for me the trade offs to have the retro look of spoke wheels is worth it, but may not be to others. I use Gojo white creme hand cleaner jell ( not the orange that has grit ) on a paper towel to clean grease off rims and spokes. It is dirt cheap at any auto parts store, works very well, and is water soluble. For Chromed steel parts, I use Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish. It has no abrasives, works equally well on chrome or stainless, and is again found for reasonable at most auto parts stores.