Hmm dirty bike

So my father-in-law just bought a chromed out harley. Beautiful bike. Deep blue color and blinding chrome everywhere. Got me to looking at my xj. Sitting in a dusty old barn for 10 years neglected, its taken a splotchy stained look. I've spent all my time getting it running since last summer, and now it is, but..... I'm half scared to try anything since I dont know what will hurt my bike or help it. So, anyone have any product recommendations or tips to help me get it new? Thanks in advance.

 

Elbow grease.

Seriously, get some soft sponges, bucket of water and car wash solution. Gently scrub the entire bike, try to get into the nooks and tight spots as best you can. Don't spare the sponge in favor of water pressure, squeeze it in there and use gentle water pressure to rinse everything out. Take care with water around the electronics and wiring. Let the bike dry completely in the sun, and take a chamois to the tins to get the water spots out.
Once it is dry, any automotive wax will work wonders on the painted parts, and a good quality metal polish (I like Mother's brand) to work up a shine on the bare aluminum and chrome parts.

Its a labor of love, so enjoy it.

 

Alright. I just happen to have some elbow grease laying around. Thanks.

 

well, im just about out of elbow grease........ and fingers. I will say that mothers metal polish did make everything look a lot better, but there are still some tarnished looking places on the bottom of some engine covers and some dark places on the top and front. Anybody ever tried the whole starting at 280 grit and going up to the 2000 grit thing. Off subject, but does anyone run marvel mystery oil in their oil or gas? Just curious about if would mess up wet clutches or clog my fuel filter.

 

Yes, I did the high to low grit wet sand thing on a set of heads for my H1. They looked fabulous when I was finished. However if you are running low on elbow grease, you will have problems. Especially with all the deep fins in the head, trying to polish with wet sand paper will be super challenging. You might try Scotchbrite pads or a brass wire wheel on a Dremel.

I ran a 1/2 quart of MMO in my Jeep's oil pan once. Within a week it blew its head gasket. I am not saying the two events are related, but I won't use the stuff inside a good engine anymore. In the gas, maybe.

 

i put a shot or two in the gas for my lawn tractor, makes it easier to see how much gas is left

 

I am of the opinion that bikes look best when they aren't all shiny. Ride it. You can't see the thing when you're on it anyway.

 

I agree with K-moe. Without doing a frame-off resto, it's pretty damn hard to get it looking spotless. And sometimes the mission to polish something ends up leaving something else drab in comparison, and it's an endless road...

I like the WD-40 method. It gets the grime off, then you can wash it again with simple green or similar to get the WD off.

It won't be perfect, but it'll leave a bit of character.

 

Unless you've stripped the old clearcoat off those areas you're trying to polish FIRST you're fighting an uphill battle. At the risk of getting flamed for posting too many pictures of my bikes, see below. That bike was the nastiest, grey-mottled and stained mess you could ever imagine. It had spent 4+ straight years outside, in Michigan, only covered occasionally with a heavy canvas construction tarp before I rescued it. I don't have a buffing wheel, just an electric drill and a Dremel and one huge can of elbow grease.

Don't put MMO in your oil OR gas. Use good -quality motorcycle specific conventional 20W40 or 20W50, and do a few "short"oil changes after the bike goes back in service (don't wait 2500 miles, do them at about 1K.)

 

+1 with Fitz; Dremel, elbow grease and time; cant beat it.

 

K thanks guys. Beautiful bike fitz. I was already staring at it in your gallery to get an idea of what mine should look like. I'm not too upset with the turn out from using mothers. I'd show you, but I still cant figure out the damn picture thing.

 

Use a third party hosting site (e.g. Photobucket), and use the direct link code to paste into the image window on here.

My touring bike in its natural state.

 

Hey K-Moe, what fairing is that? And how do you like it? Helmet buffetting? I'm shopping right now and leaning towards a National Cycle Street Shield EX or Slipstreamer S-08 (which I think might be a little too tall).

And so it's not a total hi-jack, I just used the wet aluminum foil trick on all my chrome and it did an amazing job cleaning up minor rust and 30+ years of, well, time. Then the Mothers Chrome Polish. I cannot freakin' believe how well that works.

 

When I first got my bike, my friend cleaned it with "Castrol Degreaser."
Turned some of the motor green. Now it doesn't match.

Bigfitz, wanna borrow my bike for a while?

Chris.

P.S. I love the flatter seat on the seca. My King/Queen drives me crazy.

 

It's a Slipstreamer Spitfire. I cut it down 2" and have it angled back a bit more from where it is in that picture. I only get a tiny bit of buffeting when riding into the wind at highway speeds. It's good enough for me, but I may make a shorter screen, or cut it a little lower. I really prefer clean air over my helmet and still air at my chest, with the turbulance breaking over my shoulders.

 

just testing

 

ok cool. Think I got it. Thanks KMOE. Your bike is awesome as is. Love the solid red. As you can see, this is pretty much what I started with. ^^ Show you guys where I am now tomorrow.

 

KMOE!!!!! YOU'VE CREATED A MONSTER!!