Cleaning Advice

[Zohw]

Thanks guys.

There is a story behind it, concerning a my buddy, his rebuilt RD350 and his bored girlfriend......

I could easily guess what happened, but it would still be entertaining to hear the full story.

Normally I'd just leave the bike. I ride in the rain so it would only get dirty again, but what the picture doesn't do justice is all the grime. Mainly my reason behind focusing on the engine parts. A lot of old oil stains and the like, but thankfully not too much rust.

There's some staining on the engine and clutch cover that I assume only polishing will fix. Another time for that.

[ceemes]

Thanks guys.

There is a story behind it, concerning a my buddy, his rebuilt RD350 and his bored girlfriend......

I could easily guess what happened, but it would still be entertaining to hear the full story.

As you wish. This goes back about 20 years ago. My buddy had bought a rather beat up Yamaha RD350 aka Racing Death350 and had restored it. The RD350 was a two stroke light weight racing machine with lots of power and oomph.

I was visiting and we were working on my CB750. His girlfriend complained she was bored so buddy gives her a bottle of Armor All and tells her to polish the RD's plastic parts.

Anyways, we need to get a part for my CB, so he and I hop onto the RD, me riding pinion and roar off......only to find out when we braked hard, she has also Armor All'ed the saddle. Guess you could say that during that ride, we almost became much closer "friends" then either of us could of imagined or wanted, almost biblical in fact.

[SHADOW1100T]

Here's a few things I use, a foam paint brush, best darn thing to use in the fins, get it soapy and scrub away, works great, to make it shine, you would be amazed how well Lemon pledge works but my favorite is Liquid Glass, that stuff is amazing, for alum. I use Mothers, to blacken the tires I use Back To Black, it's not a wax and brings the tires back to looking new with out the shine that other products give, I hate that, looks phony.

[Zohw]

Thanks for the advice guys, and the funny story ceemes.

Like I said before that picture doesn't do much justice, but maybe these will (Better camera, and with macro on!)

Harley riders, hide your eyes!



Yuck.


This is how it SHOULD look: Notice it's not black?


You can see where I melted my boot.



Guess this is one I'll have to polish.







Dirty enough for you jstark47?

I'll be focusing on these parts, and already bought some simple green. My next question is how long should I put the simple green on these areas? I hear with super clean it should not be put on for long due to it being aluminum. Same with simple clean?

[jstark47]

Dirty enough for you jstark47?

Awwwrrr, that's not dirty then, mate!!

[dr_bar]

I got into Barrie Ont. after leaving Gananoque and had a varnish like coating of bug guts on my engine, took me three washings to come close to having it all removed... jstark47 was right about the bugs this summer.

(At least he had his better half along to clean his windshield at every stop. Thank God for Plexus)

[Zohw]

Dirty enough for you jstark47?

Awwwrrr, that's not dirty then, mate!!

Well, I tried.

I had no idea bugs could make your bike that dirty.

[ceemes]

Dirty enough for you jstark47?

Awwwrrr, that's not dirty then, mate!!

Well, I tried.

I had no idea bugs could make your bike that dirty.

Try riding thru a bug storm at night......had to pull over three time on the run between Princeton and Penticton to clean my visor and headlights....was still picking bug wings and other body parts out my helmet vents and off the bike for a week afterwards......compared to smashed and baked bugs, mud, oil and grease are a joy to deal with.

[Zohw]

Stage one of cleaning: testing out the Simple Green.



What I used: Simple Green and a toothbrush. Big difference compared to what it used to look like. Still have a lot to go, but it's a start.

[Bubba]

Well, I've decided to finally give my bike a good clean. Been about 2 weeks or so since I first got it, and have been waiting for the mechanic to replace a few things here and there before I would clean it. Turns out he has to order another part or two so it's going to take another week.

I use S100 to clean my bike. If you use it, sarting with the new bike, it should be a piece of cake every time you wash it.

Just spray on and wash off. No rubbing. No scrubbing.