I'm polishing my 2010 Ultra wheels. I have the 28 spoke wheels, are they steel or aluminum and how do you tell the difference? The book says they are "cast wheels", I guess that means cast aluminum, right? Thanks for the help!

 

Cast aluminum, of course. Steel wheels are for locomotives.

 

professionally polishing or..

there is a clear coat on the aluminum, once it's scuffed the wheels can look horrible.

Mike

 

try a magnet on them you will see they are aluminum.

 

I don't think there is a clear coat on them.That's why they look like crap so quickly.I solved the issue by putting Ulta Limited wheels on my 09 Classic.

 

Thanks, I was going to have them chromed, but I figured I would try to polish them first and save some cash. I wet sanded them last night and they are coming up real nice, I just wanted to double check the material because I would need to use different compounds.

 

They are aluminium without clearcoat on them. Polish and then wax them should come up nice.

 

I think there is a clear coat on the wheels. That is why they start looking like crap when you leave break dust on them for long periods or use harsh cleaners to clean them.

 

There is no clear coat on the wheels. Says so right in the owners manual on page 225 of the 2011 Touring owners manual. They suck. I was going to get the chrome wheels off the Limited bike but instead I traded for a new 11 Limited. Problem Solved.