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How to remove water spots from my Harley rim

My question is how do I get off what appears to be water spots on the back rim of my Harley? We had just bought it 3 weeks ago, it's a HD custom softtail, 2008. A friend of ours has the 105th custom softtail, and his back rim is doing the same thing. At this time we have tried Nevr-Dull, Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish , and several others and nothing has worked. Could somebody help? This isn't your normal stain on aluminum. Thanks for time and help,
Mike and Becky King

Michael King
motorcycle rider - Mercer, Pennsylvania
June 30, 2008

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July 7, 2008

Hey Michael,
In a lot of cases aluminum polish is not strong enough to remove stains on aluminum. It's likely that the aluminum was attacked by some type of an alkaline substance that was on the road or in a puddle.
Get a few jars of cream of tartar at the local grocery store. Mix up a paste with warm water. It's easier to add the cream of tartar to water while mixing to get good consistency. Apply with a soft rag and let sit a few minutes. Rinse with clean warm water and dry with a rag. Then you can apply the polish for future protection. If the stain is real stubborn, use a fine grade of scotch brite rubbing the rim in the same direction of any surface machining with the cream of tartar applied. Good Luck!

Mark Baker
process engineer - Malone, New York