Has anyone ever tried to polish the stock wheels? I put a polishing wheel to the inside of one last night and it did nothing? Any thoughts?

They are clear coated..only way to polish would be sand it down..

For the time and effort, they don't look as good as a decent high quality polished wheel IMO.
You can round up a set of polished douglas' for a little extra cash from what it takes to buy all the supplies to do a good polishing job.

If you do polish them, they will shine better than stock, but unless to final sand them with 400 grit then you'll be able to see marks and it'll look rough. Also it means after every couple rides you're gonna be in the shop re-polishing them from the tarnish and oxidation.

Just my $.02.

do not do it!

First off...you started backwards in the polishing process...The polishing wheel is the last thing that touches it... but thats for a whole nother post...

I built a custom 2001 Yamaha R1...I polished the frame on it and you can't tell the difference between it and the other chrome on the bike...I can show you a picture if you want. But it took me over 120 hours to make it like that...The amount of time it would take you to polish stock wheels to the quality of a Douglas, you'd be better off to get another job and buy some. Believe me...

Second...IMO, I hate polished wheels in the sand anyways...They look good for a couple trips, but after that they slowly get dull until one day you stop to look at them and think, man, those look like w00ter. Theres nothing I hate worse than polished wheels someone let dull...thats why all my wheels are powercoated black...

If you want polished wheels, buy some new Douglas wheels and have them PC'd clear... They will appear polished but you can wipe them down like chrome.

you can polish them b ut its a little bit of work. there are websites that will take you step by step on how to do it. i would agree on getting them clear powder coated or you could just get your wheels ceramic coated like they are now. dont get discouraged, if you want polished wheels do it. they are alot of maintenance without the clear coating though.

hmm whats the point just gonna go ride and get them dirty again.

I was bored today and thought i might be able to put a shine on them. Not really interested in removing a clear coat.

Thanks for the replys.

I just did mine last week. It doesn't take long with the right tools. get an 80 grit flap wheel on your drill and take the clear coat off, sand with 180 paper, then 320. then wet sand with 400 or 500. Then hit it real quick with brown tripoli compound and finish off with a high gloss compound. It's actually easy to do and looks really nice but I would also recommend a clear coat so you don't have to keep messing with them after every ride.