Always disconnect the negative first and re-connect it last,avoids sparking and injury:s
Things You Should Never Use On Or Do To Your Bike.
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Always disconnect the negative first and re-connect it last,avoids sparking and injury:s
jimweaver
Member
I always wash my bike with dish soap. Good mild soap, removes about everything but not the wax. No residue after drying. Meguairs paste wax on the tank and fenders. Spray detailer on the chrome. I swear by Neatsfoot oil for all my leather. Bags, seat, jacket, vest, chaps, boots, gloves, everything.
My black leather vest was almost brown from exposure to the sun, couple of applications of Neatsfoot and it looks better then new. Helps keep leather soft and plyable and helps repell water. Stuff is amazing.
My black leather vest was almost brown from exposure to the sun, couple of applications of Neatsfoot and it looks better then new. Helps keep leather soft and plyable and helps repell water. Stuff is amazing.
A friend of mine had a similar problem with his $400.00 leather jacket turning Brown from the sun/rain. He took it back to the store where he bought it (Walter Dyer, in Framingham, Ma.) and the woman there told him to spray WD40 on it! I kid you not. He said it worked. I saw his jacket and the color Black did indeed return but in all honesty, I'd rather my jacket smelled like Neatsfoot than petroleum based WD40!!
Not so sure about the dish soap for washing though. I heard that it DOES strip the wax off when washing. I see that you use a paste wax. My understanding is that a paste wax is more long lived than a spray on type so maybe that's why your wax isn't coming off. I use the paste wax twice a year. In the Spring & Fall. In between it's Maguire's, or Pledge.
Man, when you mentioned Neatsfoot I had almost forgotten about that product. I was instantly transported back in the past when I used to treat my baseball gloves with it. Good stuff! Thanks for the memory jog!:s
Breeze3at
Experienced Member
Never cover your bike for the winter on a concrete floor, without checking it a couple of times. I bought a cover (admittedly cheap), and put her away for the winter (on a lift). Luckily 2 weeks later, a buddy wanted to look at something, and the bike was covered with condensation. I was glad I didn't discover it 3 months later! Now I use the old king size bed sheets (lucky for me, the wife goes for solid colors, not flowers). Some motorcycle covers don't breathe, some concrete floors wick a lot of ground moisture.
I don't keep a battery charger hooked up all winter, I just put it on for a day or two each month. My batt. "tender" is made by Yuasa and has boiled the water out of two batteries (before I switched to AGM'). Evidently other brands are better.
I don't keep a battery charger hooked up all winter, I just put it on for a day or two each month. My batt. "tender" is made by Yuasa and has boiled the water out of two batteries (before I switched to AGM'). Evidently other brands are better.
Use a "real" bat. tender,there are major differences in products.With the bat.tender or the bat. tender junior you plug it in and forget about it for the winter.I have used them on my boat and bikes for years with no problem. Batterytender.com - Home of All Your Charging Needs
Breeze3at
Experienced Member
Crazyole; The ultrafine steel wool might have taken the tar, bugs, etc. off, but if you look REAL close at the chrome where you used it, you'll probably notice that it's cloudy.
Chrome is not as hard as we are lead to believe and even fine polishes will cloud it over time. I'm for the kinder genteler approach (pledge,windex) that others have mentioned.
Chrome is not as hard as we are lead to believe and even fine polishes will cloud it over time. I'm for the kinder genteler approach (pledge,windex) that others have mentioned.
Excellent point Breeze and I agree. I like to use a thinner like Lacquer thinner to dissolve tar etc instead of anything abrasive. Chromium is not as hard and tough as many think it is and it will get cloudy when sitting in the sunlight if you use even chrome polish on it being an abrasive.
Hoople
Account Removed
This one I am Framing and hanging in my shop/garage.
The few "Factory Trained" techs I have spoken too around here, I think were sleeping in class.