I've used Green Dragon and Wicked with great results for a couple years.... However this past year with the terrible weather my ride took a beating. My billet wheels corroded, pitted and the oxidation made my wheels turn white and they felt like 100grit sandpaper. A friend and I came across Quixx Intense All metal polish on Amazon and with the use of a polishing cone and a polishing wheel....all I can say is WOW!!! This stuff is unreal. Gave my wheels new life. We also used it on our truck wheels and they look better than new. I'd post pic but I can't get on to my photo bucket

 

After you've gone to the trouble of polishing all that aluminum, keep it looking good with "Harley Preserves". This stuff is a thin polymer coating in a "moist towelette" and sold at the Harley dealer. I had terrible trouble with my fork legs corroding after the clear coat wore off. I polished the legs then applied the "Preserves" over five years ago. The fork legs look like new to this day.


Disclaimer: I don't work for H-D or whoever makes this stuff, I just use it.

 

White Diamond metal polish. I use it on my aluminum wheels and its nothing short of miraculous and the shine lasts a very long time. It also works on chrome and removes water spots. Google it and watch the videos. For me, it has worked as advertised.

 

A before and after shot. This is after maybe 20mins of polishing with Quixx intense polish.

 

Water spots and spots left from brake dust are two of the hardest blemishes to remove from aluminum wheels. Most polishes and cleaners just won't touch them.

For these really tough jobs I have found that jewelers rouge used with a 3" round cotton buffing pad which I chuck up in a cordless drill works very nicely. In the beginning you will have to put a lot of compound (rouge) on the new pad, but once it gets saturated it really starts to buff your wheel rims nicely. When you get done the wheels looks just like the day you bought the bike. Don't get carried away and put water on the buffing compound, you will only make a mess.

I bought my buffing pad at Harbor Freight for about $5.00. It comes with two sticks of buffing compound in the package. I have used it on my OEM wheels on my 2009 as well as the OEM wheels on my 2017.

 

Mother's Mag/Aluminum, NeverDull, Simichrome, and Flitz are polishes. After you polish, you should apply wax to guard against oxidation and water spots.

 

Semi off topic since I try to avoid shine. And prefer a more matt finish.
so I avoid using polish and waxes.
instead I have been using stele wool in the 00.00 and .00 grit
Of ourse all spots dissapere and the matt finish eventually developes a darker pattina which I love.
The only problem is those pesky cast swirls and hat are deeply imbedded in to the alloy.
Only thing I can think of to do to try and mask them would be to use a brass wire brush. But I'm a bit scared I might ruin them

 

I've used Mother's mag and Aluminum polish for years. I bought a 79 FX back in the 80's. It had been neglected for some time. The rocker boxes were so oxidized they were black. I shined them up like chrome using Mother's.

 

Dont wipe the polish off...leave it on when your gone and wipe it off when you come back

 

Autosol/Solvol is indeed the best stuff IMHO. The edges of the fins on my CVO started blackening within three weeks of purchase. I used a rubber sanding block covered with a lint free cloth and a dab of Autosol. The fin edges came up perfect with very little effort. A liberal spraying of ACF 50 and a wipe down afterwards and 5 months later there has been no reoccurrence whatsoever.