Hide your eyes

[f6john]

Pulled my bike out from its resting place today. Looks really sad. I’m sure I’m going to be kicking myself for not meeting up with BigBF when he came through Kentucky.  The battery is dead, wouldn’t even accept a charge.



Not been licensed since January 2015!!



It will take me a couple of days just to clean so I can bear to look at it for more than a few minutes at a time.



Carbs are going to need to be rebuilt for sure and a complete rear end service too.

I’ve got a new product to try on my wheels that supposed to bring them back from the dead. I’ll report my findings as I have a rear wheel in desperate need.

[Rams]

 

[DirtyDan]

No so bad

Ohh I’ve seen worse

[DDT (12)]

F6John,

Even in a neglected state, that's still a nice looking ride! I like the way you have it set-up, and I absolutely love the colors!!! Good luck with the restoration... Looking forward to seeing it at some future gathering.

DDT

[Hook#3287]

F6John,

Even in a neglected state, that's still a nice looking ride! I like the way you have it set-up, and I absolutely love the colors!!! Good luck with the restoration... Looking forward to seeing it at some future gathering.

DDT

Bruce, that's exactly what went through my skull when I saw it and read F6John's post.

She's still a beauty, even needing a bath.

[John Schmidt]

I especially like the paint on the bags. 

[Savago]

She is still good looking...

May I ask what happened?

Mine I/S was collecting dust for 1 year thanks to 2 broken alternator's bolts.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

She is still good looking...

May I ask what happened?

Mine I/S was collecting dust for 1 year thanks to 2 broken alternator's bolts.

How did you get the broken bolts out ? I've got one broke now can't get a drill to it to drill out . It's been broke a couple years the other two bolts have been doing their job and I still ride it but I'd like to get that broke bolt replaced.

[f6john]

She is still good looking...

May I ask what happened?

Mine I/S was collecting dust for 1 year thanks to 2 broken alternator's bolts.

Life in general, but more specifically, my wife and I have been commuting 400 miles round trip every week for over 2 years in order to be the primary day care providers to our twin grandsons who were born premature.



Had to make a lot of sacrifices to our lifestyle but has been one of the most enjoyable times our our lives.

[Skinhead]

I love the hats om those dudes!  Cute kids.

[f6john]

  Thanks for the kind remarks, the bike has never been abused and always garaged but the last few years it has been neglected.

DDT, I thought you might be a little partial to the color! The bike has gone through a lot of changes over the years starting with leather bags, an ACE Supertank at one time, Ultimate seats for two up riding, deuce risers, custom paint on the hardbags and of course add on chrome.

John, I had the bags painted years ago at the same time I was having the Supertank painted in a stock design. I told the painter I wanted the scallops to mimic the tank but he did the layout work on his own and I was pleased with his design.


Skinhead, that’s my screen saver pic that I’m partial too. I have more recent pics on my phone but not on my iPad. That pic is about 8 months old.

[hubcapsc]

and of course add on chrome.

Some of the best and hardest kind to find 

-Mike

[Fazer]

F6--I am interested in your method of cleaning up the rear wheel.  I have tried lots of different products with little success.  I hesitate to use emery cloth but may have to resort to it.  Tried fine steel wool and different polishing compounds but no joy.

[hubcapsc]

F6--I am interested in your method of cleaning up the rear wheel.  I have tried lots of different products with little success.  I hesitate to use emery cloth but may have to resort to it.  Tried fine steel wool and different polishing compounds but no joy.

I think fine steel wool and polishing goo is too timid for the first go-around...

I used 1000 grit wet dry sandpaper and wd-40 for the wet to get this...



I never go any further than the above, but after that you could use the wool
and the polishing goo and get close to chrome, I think...

-Mike

[Jess from VA]

First, I clean with corrosive wheel cleaner (sprays) or S100, with stiff brushes and OOOO steel wool and scotch brite pads or Brillo pads, and HOT soapy water.  Maybe two or three times.  The idea is to get as much crud off as you can before you begin polishing. Eye protection and nitrile gloves are a must, since you are guaranteed to rip your skin on this job, and the corrosives really sting in open wounds. If you don't do this first, the stuff that scrubs off just fills your buff wheels up with crud immediately and wrecks them.

Then polish.  Hand is slow.  I use various cotton (stiff, not floppy) buffs of 2-6" diameters on an electric drill with aluminum (not chrome) polishes. Be careful, it's easy to hit the wheel with the drill arbor and permanently mark your wheels (especially when you go sideways with the drill to higher up on the wheels).  I've used Mother's, Eagle 1 (white pastes), metal bar/stick polishes, rubbing compound, and BombsAway (maybe the best metal polish ever made)(similar to White Diamond).  It is a long and laborious process if you have let the wheels get bad.

No matter how tired you are, when you decide you've had enough, always finish with a good paste wax, because fresh polished wheels are a crud magnet and get bad again in no time.  

So much easier off the bike, but mine are only off for new tires then right back on.  So I jack it up a little and do it on the bike.

I put in hours and days early on, then kept up with it so it wasn't so bad.  I've just let mine go the last few years, other than washing and scrubbing,  because my body pays me back for spending all day crawling around on my hand and knees.  Battleship grey is not a bad match for a black bike.

I had a long term plan to buy one front and rear wheel and have them powder coated a satin light grey (wash and wear forever), then work them onto my two bikes as I needed new tires.  An additional front and rear off the bikes would then get powder coated as I worked into the tire change/rotation process.

It's a good plan, but I haven't done it.  

Something like this.


I could live with this forever, instead of the hands and knees torture, especially the back on my bagger interstates.  The front is pretty easy.  The back you have to be an acrobat (while it's on the bike).

[97BLKVALK]

Life in general, but more specifically, my wife and I have been commuting 400 miles round trip every week for over 2 years in order to be the primary day care providers to our twin grandsons who were born premature.



Had to make a lot of sacrifices to our lifestyle but has been one of the most enjoyable times our our lives.
[/quote]

 

The bike looks great, the kiddos are amazing!

Michael

[Savago]

@f6john: I completely understand and think it was totally worth the sacrifice for the little boys.
 

@smokingjoe: since I broke 2 of the bolts (unlike your bike that was only one) I drilled through one of the bolts using a dremel (took hours and a few days). When I was done with the first, I just gave up on the second and got myself a new bike (Honda ST1300).

One year later, I brought the bike to a Goldwing specialized shop (WingNut@Fairfield - CA) and let the pros do their magic. They modified a drill bit for the job (made it shorter) and used one of those short/90 degrees driver/drill.

They drilled through it and used new bolts with nylon collars, it looks ok and is functional.

In your case since you still got 2 bolts, I wouldn't go through the hassle of trying to remove the broken bolt.

[f6john]

and of course add on chrome.

Some of the best and hardest kind to find 

-Mike

But you know Cobra chrome, both the swing arm covers and the radiator covers are peeling. Some years ago I had a set of new in the package Cobra driving lights and I decided to resell them with all the pitting and peeling others have had in the past. I’m going to take them off and see if Advanced Plating in Nashville can do a better job than the oem.

[hubcapsc]

and of course add on chrome.

Some of the best and hardest kind to find 

-Mike

But you know Cobra chrome, both the swing arm covers and the radiator covers are peeling. Some years ago I had a set of new in the package Cobra driving lights and I decided to resell them with all the pitting and peeling others have had in the past. I’m going to take them off and see if Advanced Plating in Nashville can do a better job than the oem.

My radiator covers are still good, going on 10 years.

A fellow in Virginia did a great job rechroming my Cobra swingarm
pivot covers, so your rechrome idea should be very much worth it 



-Mike

[f6john]

and of course add on chrome.

Some of the best and hardest kind to find 

-Mike

But you know Cobra chrome, both the swing arm covers and the radiator covers are peeling. Some years ago I had a set of new in the package Cobra driving lights and I decided to resell them with all the pitting and peeling others have had in the past. I’m going to take them off and see if Advanced Plating in Nashville can do a better job than the oem.

My radiator covers are still good, going on 10 years.

A fellow in Virginia did a great job rechroming my Cobra swingarm
pivot covers, so your rechrome idea should be very much worth it 



-Mike

I guess it was hit or miss on their chrome, I haven’t heard any complaints on the light bars in a long time. If I’m not mistaken the Corbin seat on my bike in the picture was bought from you quite a few years ago. I have an Ultimate sitting on a shelf for when I think I need a change.

[Fazer]

F6--I am interested in your method of cleaning up the rear wheel.  I have tried lots of different products with little success.  I hesitate to use emery cloth but may have to resort to it.  Tried fine steel wool and different polishing compounds but no joy.

I think fine steel wool and polishing goo is too timid for the first go-around...

I used 1000 grit wet dry sandpaper and wd-40 for the wet to get this...

Hubcap--WD-40?  Do you spray it on the wheel and then sand with dry 1000 grit paper?  My fronts don't look bad, it's the rear I need to work on.  Your look great.

[hubcapsc]

F6--I am interested in your method of cleaning up the rear wheel.  I have tried lots of different products with little success.  I hesitate to use emery cloth but may have to resort to it.  Tried fine steel wool and different polishing compounds but no joy.

I think fine steel wool and polishing goo is too timid for the first go-around...

I used 1000 grit wet dry sandpaper and wd-40 for the wet to get this...

Hubcap--WD-40?  Do you spray it on the wheel and then sand with dry 1000 grit paper?  My fronts don't look bad, it's the rear I need to work on.  Your look great.

I picked WD-40 because "it just seemed right"... go at it with the 1000 grit, the WD turns black... keep
sanding and wiping it off and repeating and stop when you're happy. This gets them "clean and nice", but
not chromular. It is easy to do when the wheel is off and doesn't take much time, unlike some of the
other polishing methods I've heard people talk about here... but I got "clean and nice", they got "almost-chrome"...

My method would suck for clear-coated wheels like come on the blue deluxe Valkyries with the white stripe.

I've always changed my own tires with spoons, my wheels have numerous scratches on them that
1000 grit sandpaper won't get off  ...

-Mike

[Fazer]

F6--I am interested in your method of cleaning up the rear wheel.  I have tried lots of different products with little success.  I hesitate to use emery cloth but may have to resort to it.  Tried fine steel wool and different polishing compounds but no joy.

I think fine steel wool and polishing goo is too timid for the first go-around...

I used 1000 grit wet dry sandpaper and wd-40 for the wet to get this...

Hubcap--WD-40?  Do you spray it on the wheel and then sand with dry 1000 grit paper?  My fronts don't look bad, it's the rear I need to work on.  Your look great.

I picked WD-40 because "it just seemed right"... go at it with the 1000 grit, the WD turns black... keep
sanding and wiping it off and repeating and stop when you're happy. This gets them "clean and nice", but
not chromular. It is easy to do when the wheel is off and doesn't take much time, unlike some of the
other polishing methods I've heard people talk about here... but I got "clean and nice", they got "almost-chrome"...

My method would suck for clear-coated wheels like come on the blue deluxe Valkyries with the white stripe.

I've always changed my own tires with spoons, my wheels have numerous scratches on them that
1000 grit sandpaper won't get off  Smiley ...

-Mike

Mike--Not expecting "chromular," but getting the gunk off would be nice.  I will be happy as a clam if they would even look like my front.  I'll try a spot with the rear wheel on and if it works will take the time to clean at next rear end service.  Mines a 98 Tourer with chrome bag rails which have to come off to get the wheel off--at least when I do it.  A pain, but each time gets easier.

Greg

[hubcapsc]

Mines a 98 Tourer with chrome bag rails which have to come off to get the wheel off--at least when I do it.  A pain, but each time gets easier.

I got my 97 long enough ago that you could still get the Rattlebars quick release kit... it is basically
just some threaded rods so that you take nuts off instead of bolts out...



-Mike

[Jess from VA]

I always pull my bags, but never my bag rails (or bag hardware, or lower fender half).  It does make you have to finagle the jack up or down a little to clear them during the process, but not really a problem.