[Unkle Krusty]

I hate polishing. But I have to on the newer and or cleaner bikes. My 79 XS1100 is disgusting. So is the XS400. They are the winter bikes. The salt **** rusts the steel bits, and tarnishes the aluminium alloy casings. So to practice before I work on the mint 80 XS1100 I attacked Yami. Bought polishing wheels and tried all kinds of stuff. What works?

The sand blaster was the winner. But I need to strain the sand. the bigger bits are interfering with flow.
The wyre brush worked well on the cylinder fins.
The soft polishing units spinning in the drill, have little impact. I will try some more severe units. Can not find the wyre wool, so that did not get tested.

The critical thing for the winter bikes, is keeping them running. Everything wants to seize, like the side stand pivot point. So I blast it with lube, which spreads about. Solid and liquid grease are my friends.
In about weeks I will blast both of them with the pressure washer, trying to avoid the wheel bearing and spark plugs, and other sensitive bits. Will blast my van cage too.

UK

 

[Unkle Krusty]

I hate polishing too.

Have you tried soda blasting? It uses industrial baking soda as an agent - the bit that I have done it it worked well and cleans up easily.

I will do some research on that. I have used the walnut shells, but it is too much $$ for a small amount. To do one bike might lake a gallon or two of blasting stuff. I bought a small blaster like the one Slumlord mentioned a while back.

The cleaner bikes will not need such aggressive action. I will research Never Dull.
Above it should have said: In about 4 weeks. By then the rain should have washed off all the salt **** from the roads. But I will continue to hose off the cleaner bikes more often. The Triumph will be next for the road.

UK

 

[Unkle Krusty]

Why do they put salt on the roads? Just kidding. Tongue in cheek comment from someone living in the sub-tropics (expected temperature of in the high 20s C/low 80s F today)

It is supposed to be salt brine, whatever that is. But it is salt pellets, and or sand and gravel. The pellet I have on my desk is:
5/8 X 3/8 X 3/8. In the past I have had a piece of gravel take out a head light as if it had been shot with a large bullet. That piece of gravel was 1 1/2 X 5/8 X 5/8. On some mountain passes it is common to get at least one window chip or crack on every trip.
Temperature is the deciding factor for what they are going to do. Zero C to minus 3 they will spray the roads before a snow fall. At minus 6 they change the stuff the apply. On my Island they wait until it snows, then plow the main roads early in the morning. To heck with the side roads. By the time the side road folks get their letter of complaint published in the local paper, the snow has mostly melted. The other problem is no proper snow tyres on most vehicles, and they can not get down their side road.

UK

 

[Unkle Krusty]

I might be wrong but I think UK could care less if things are pretty, he wants them to work. Like I said, I could be all wet so to speak.

I know about Never Dull and other products, just rarely touch any of them. Chain oil, liquid oil in a can, grease and other lubricants, are all at hand. The side stand, center stand, cables, enrichener choke device and other bits, all want to stick. The tach cable on the XS400 sings all sorts of songs.

But come summer, I do think about cleaning. Right now tho Yami has gone beyond dirty. Hence the action. Next week blasting stuff.

UK