I've heard of using the outer cover from parachute cord.  Cut a comfortable length and pull out the center part then make one complete wrap around the spoke and a dab of some cleaner or polish and saw it back and forth up and down the spoke...mat take you a while though  

Appliance epoxy comes in "stainless steel look" these days... as well as gloss black, gloss white and gloss almond.

My Savage's front wheel is as old as I am and looks fine... the bike is a 98, the wheel, early 1970s...



One of these days I need to final coat or buff the hoop. And polish the brake plate.

No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you, I hated the stock wheel, and an early Suzuki Titan hub/hoop with early Honda CB450 brake plate fit like it was made for the Savage...

you have the choice to replace them or paint them.

If you wanted something shiney...

http://www.eastwood.com/almost-chrome-aerosol-paint.html

If you go to Harbor Freights or most any hardware store you can buy these flexable foam sanding pads in different grit. Buy a fine one. It will wrap around the spoke and just wipe up and down and they will look like new. A little bit more work and they almost look like chrome. Might take a half hour to a hour to do the all of the  front spokes but looks great when finished.

v-pilot wrote on 03/06/14 at 21:24:47:



After trying several approaches I went for this. It can put enough friction on them to make them too hot to touch. Even this, tho, wont bring them back to pretty. Theyre aluminum, & if youll look closely, youll see that the side thats facing forward on the top of the axle is more nasty looking than the back side. Thats pitting from sand & whatnot,, You cant fix that w/o polishing the surface smooth,, & yer not iguana get that done, I promise you..  What you will do is spend a few hours & wear your butt out to gain a 30% improvement.. After doing what I did, getting the results I got, my recommendation is, wash the bike, wax it, & ride it. Heck with the spokes. Keep the rim chrome up & itll look fine,.
Aluminum spokes suck for pretty.. ride it, man,,
IF you decide youre determined to clean them, pull the wheel & lay it on a 5 gallon bucket. Youll never do it again,,
I used Turtle Wax chrome polish. Maybe something a bit more abrasive, like rubbing compound would yield better results with less effort. I went thru several lengths of cord. They eventually break from all that rubbin & scrubbin.. But parachute cord with the innards removed proved to be the best way to scrub them. With some thinking youll be able to wrap it so it will walk down onto the nipple & even run between where the spokes cross.

Ya know,, nowchew mention it,, I didnt get the gobs of black goo Id expect from albumium,, AND,, Albumium otta polish up easier & better than they did,, Ill bet youre right,, that kinda stress on aluminum is probably a coupla steps outside of smart.,.

Whatever they are, dont use Turtle Wax chrome polish,, It didnt wurk wurfaHOOT! IF I was gonna take another run at it, Id use rubbing compound on a couple of them & see how it does.. Mine is gone, Ill not be doin that again,,

procrastinator wrote on 03/10/14 at 21:05:19:




I think for now I'm just gonna keep the shine up on the rim and worry about it later.  

Im shawked!  Whats your name again?





I've seen some really nice spokes on a few different sites at so-so prices. What might I be looking at to have them put on ??


Why even bother asking? Its a lot more hassle than polishing,,& it costs more, too,, RIDE that Sucka, Duuude!  Dont worry bout them spokes,, have fun.,,IF someone walks up & straight up TELLS you you need to DO something about those spokes,, just hand him a rag & walk AWFF..