Nice 75 ss. I have the exact same one in orange. I have pair of stock GL rims and wasn't sure if it would be the worth headache on installing the new rims. I like the gold look and hope i can polish these oxide rims to look sweet. Did u notice any difference after you installed them. Or is it just looks that made the difference?
Well, yeah I did notice a huge difference as both original rims were extremely out of true and the bike bounced all over the road at 40mph...and this is commonly what you find, at least to some extent, when you pick up these old project bikes. Of course any spoke problems or damage gets magnified by their excessive weight. I feel like stock steel wheels is one of the few areas where 1970's japanese motorcycle company's really chose to build to a price point instead of engineering something more high quality and performance oriented.
I bought these wheels at a swap meet for $30. I really enjoyed lacing and trueing the back wheel, although I did have expert help from a friend. It was the first wheel I ever built and it has been holding up well after 5000 miles or so. And the front is an easy bolt on.
The hardest part about polishing those GL rims is dealing with the front spokes, as there is no reason to tear the wheel down. And they are clear coated with a very tough coating. It will have to be stripped somehow before they can be polished. I just cleaned mine up as best I could with regular automotive rubbing compound. They were still in pretty nice shape.
