Useing the bike through winter, stainless headers?

[ogri48]

I commute Monday Tuesday Wednesday, but home early on Wednesday, so religiously wash/ fs365 the bike along with clean the chain/ relube and clean rear shock and tie rods etc with wd40 every Wednesday afternoon. Every three or four weeks tops I check tyre pressures and take all three calipers off, drop the pads out and clean Pistons anti squeal shims pins etc, coppa grease and back together, along with running all the exup stainless cap heads out and back in again with coppa slip. I also clean the headers up with one of them green pads the missus uses to do saucepans. I'm assuming they are stainless, mine get filthy with all the shit on the roads around here this time if the year( the commute is probably about 200 miles and it's nearly always wet, with salt and mud from tractors thrown in) do you think I should just stick to washing them? They get stains behind the crud that won't come off with soap and water. Breaks me heart to use the bike like this but needs must

[ogri48]

does anybody use a grease of some sort on them that withstands the heat?

[Tmation]

Alloy wheel cleaner brings them up a treat, brush it on and leave it a few minutes then wash off. Follow up with some solvo auto sol for a sparking shine.


Oven cleaner Gel is also good



The green scotchbrite pads can be used to remove stubborn bits or road detritus.

[Graham53]

What about a good coating of acf50 ?
I don't have the problem with the same level of mud and crud etc that you're describing but I've always done my bikes in that and although I've only had my thou for a short while my 600 is 14 years old and still on original headers, it smokes like hell at first but any road crud washes of pretty easily after, it's pretty good stuff 

[ogri48]

Cheers guys I've got some acf50 I'll give it a go. Took the zzr 11 out today, once the roads are dry it seems to lose 100kg, had a ball

[Rob R]

Last time I sprayed ACF50 around the downpipes it smoked like a chip shop fire and took ages to burn off- never again. Almost as big a mistake as getting it on the seat.
Rob

[Graham53]

Last time I sprayed ACF50 around the downpipes it smoked like a chip shop fire and took ages to burn off- never again. Almost as big a mistake as getting it on the seat.
Rob

I don't put a lot on , I spray it on a rag first and then rub it over ,it's a bit of a pain to get in the nooks and crannies so I just put some on an old toothbrush for those bits , the seat is a big no no though  I did that with Mr Sheen once  like the man said big mistake !!!

[dickturpin]

Optiglanz... Google it or YouTube...Not tried my bottle yet

[PieEater]

Just a thought, have you got a fender extender fitted? I've only just put one on my bike but wish I'd done it much earlier as it does prevent a lot of the crud from being flung onto the engine and exhaust.

[ogri48]

yes mate, crucial bit o kit

[Rob R]

Graham53 wrote:
"I don't put a lot on , I spray it on a rag first and then rub it over ,it's a bit of a pain to get in the nooks and crannies so I just put some on an old toothbrush for those bits , the seat is a big no no though  I did that with Mr Sheen once  like the man said big mistake !!!"

Yep, learned my lesson and now I spray it into the cap and paint it on with a brush. Just love that smell though and the fact that you can see exactly where you've applied it.

[Dudeofrude]

Does a belly pan make much difference? My pipes got caked in crap this year so I'm considering putting one on for next winter but they all seem to be quite open in the centre?

[crussell92]

Does a belly pan make much difference? My pipes got caked in crap this year so I'm considering putting one on for next winter but they all seem to be quite open in the centre?

Belly pan makes no difference to dirt on mine all I find is it makes it harder to clean and autosol. Although saying that it looks loads better with it on 👍

[unfazed]

I commute Monday Tuesday Wednesday, but home early on Wednesday, so religiously wash/ fs365 the bike along with clean the chain/ relube and clean rear shock and tie rods etc with wd40 every Wednesday afternoon. Every three or four weeks tops I check tyre pressures and take all three calipers off, drop the pads out and clean Pistons anti squeal shims pins etc, coppa grease and back together, along with running all the exup stainless cap heads out and back in again with coppa slip. I also clean the headers up with one of them green pads the missus uses to do saucepans. I'm assuming they are stainless, mine get filthy with all the shit on the roads around here this time if the year( the commute is probably about 200 miles and it's nearly always wet, with salt and mud from tractors thrown in) do you think I should just stick to washing them? They get stains behind the crud that won't come off with soap and water. Breaks me heart to use the bike like this but needs must

How did you attach the bike to the ceiling to clean the headers? 

[ogri48]

Wasn't easy. Calls for diligence...

[PaulSmith]

You could save the showroom look for the show room and get a fully faired winter hack *cough*Dullvile*cough* for a few quid. Or for more fun, get a bike that looks better dirty then clean, though a 200 mile commute on a trials bike is not my first idea of fun.

[tommyardin]

Wasn't easy. Calls for diligence...

Plus if you look at Ogri he is only a dear little geezer, it was lifting that camera above his head that was the hard part   The bike is actually on the center stand

[ogri48]

Cheeky buggers lol, you do what I do for a living all day when I ain't at uni, lifting a bike upside down to get a photo us a breeze ;-) I gotta sort that iPhone out, I can never remember which way the buttons should be for it to be in the memory in the right orientation

[tommyardin]

Cheeky buggers lol, you do what I do for a living all day when I ain't at uni, lifting a bike upside down to get a photo us a breeze ;-) I gotta sort that iPhone out, I can never remember which way the buttons should be for it to be in the memory in the right orientation

Ahhh look! He got a little wheelbarrow too, the opening behind him is a cat flap in the door.

[ogri48]

Lol ok , you got me bang to rights..getting decent bike gear sucks when your tiny...this was xxs...

[tommyardin]

Lol ok , you got me bang to rights..getting decent bike gear sucks when your tiny...this was xxs...

Yeah one of your ex girlfriends mentioned that