That's better

Finished cleaning up my new bike today and I am pleased with how it is turning out....just need side covers now and to hit under the fenders.




















Hey...what's that one doing in there. :lol:

 

Lookin' good. Very good.

 

looking good! how did you get it so shinny?? i want to get mine looking that good!! any tips on how you did it?

 

Much that is done is dependent on how bad the bike is. I restore guns and just use some polishing techniques that I learned. Some of the bad spots on the motor may require starting out with maybe a 400 grit sandpaper and then moving to a 600 grit. Follow up with #1 steel wool and then go to a #00 to polish. Always start fine and then move to a coarse if necessary. I then can go to a rubbing compound and then polishing compound to get a mirror finish but I didn't do that yet on this bike. I substituted the rubbing compound with a Miracle Polishing cloth (hard to find but available) (removes tarnish, light oxidation and rust too). Then I use Shiela Shine to protect the metal. There is all kinds of techniques to achieve the same results and cutting steps and making it as easy as you can will save you some work. I always wash the bike good first and then douse it with Dupont silicone with teflon to treat rubber parts, wires and lubricate the linkages and frame. I use Westley's Bleach White on the motor to get the gunk off of it and scrub it quickly with a brush and rinse. I do the silicone thing at least once a month to keep the bike fresh looking and protected and buff it to taste. I used polishing compound and wax on the tank because it wasn't bad enough to have to rub it out. I'll put up more pics when I go for a high polish on the bike later.

 

Oh yeah Coastie...I used the Miracle cloth on the chrome and then the Shiela Shine. You can use just chrome polish if you can't get those 2 products.

 

8O Wow- looks like a new bike.

 

Two thumbs-up from me!

Exceptionally well PIMPED-OUT

Beee--youuu-teee-full !!!

 

I feel real fortunate to get this bike in the condition it was in. From what I gather, the guy who had it died and it was put in the hands of an old guy friend of his that knew his beans about bikes. The old guy did me right but the bike required some elbow grease to bring it back to it's former glory. This was my 2nd clean job and with each consecutive session, it will get to where I want it. It was passed on to me with a varnished motor and some very light corrosion starting from not being kept for properly since the old guy died. It made it to my hands just in time to catch things before it got worse. I can't wait until my manual, brake pads and filters get here because I'm not riding it any more until I change fluids and pull both wheels. This gives me time to get the cosmetics done and dig in the net for the learning process. I'm very appreciative to this site and the membership for being a resource for me and a place to pass leisure time. Everyone has something to give back and I intend to do as much as I can from what I find worthy to post. I can't give back as much as some because of my current knowledge but at least I can do something so I don't feel like a leach attached to some of the the brainiacs here. :lol:

 

For those who don't understand polishing metal, It basically is starting a job with an aggressive enough abrasive material to get to the base of all defects that you want to remove so that the surface if smooth and shiny. You may have to live with some defects because they are too deep and will weaken or make the surface not flat/uniform anymore, so to speak. You can use sand paper, steel wool, abrasive pads or abrasive pastes and a buffing wheel/rag etc. to remove metal at an appropriate rate. Think of polishing as turning large scratches into smaller ones until you can't see them from a certain eye distance or magnification or get to the desired finish. You have to step the scratches down in graduations buy using less abrasive material with each step. You would have to work too hard if you try to step the abrasives to quickly to get to the final step and get a shine on the surface. Run a test spot and come up with a plan as to how your going to get the metal to the finish you want. Some metals are soft and easy to work but others are hard and removal rate is decreased. Some finishes are brushed and you want to see the scratches but some brushed finishes also have a direction in scratch orientation and are not random. To get a particular brushed finish, you have to determine what size the final scratches are to be and use the correct material. I can polish my bike to a mirror finish at the stage it is in now, and I will do it with various pastes and a buffing wheel because it is easier than by hand. You still have to do some of it by hand because it is hard to get into some area's. A nice time to do it is if you ever have each part removed from the bike, because it is a whole lot easier and quicker. I may just do the covers of my motor to make it easy with accent pieces instead of the whole thing.

 

I almost forgot to mention that obviously chrome is an applied layer. Once you get to the bottom of it, it's gone forever and you will have to have it re-chromed. You can make the best out of the chrome piece though and shine it to be good enough for you but it will always be better than it was by polishing.

 

before you run that bike, you may wish to move the clutch cable, or it will melt.

 

They are beautiful Scrape, got three more here if you get bored! Nothing wrong with the XT, great little scooters. Wish I still had mine.

 

Thanks everyone! And Robert...I'm never bored BUT------->I would scrub, lube, condition, torque, shine and polish my fingers to the bone in trade for your motor/tech. skills. Why can't you live on the east coast...bummer and depression for me! Thanks for the compliment anyway in reference your trust in allowing me to lay my hands on your prized Xj's...I am honored! I have always liked to make things look new again since I was a kid and it gives me great pleasure and satisfaction.

 

Good eye Pgh! It's as good as done!

 

Robert covers the West Coast Operations ... which extends from California to the Inner-Coastal Waterway.

I handle Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. Aye-uh!

 

so who covers the mid-atlantic/ohio region??

 

Wow!!!! I Guess it will be a long way to have my engine looking like this! Really gerat looking.
Ramon
with regards from germany