Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Me once I buy a van ;)

Joke as any van I get won't be ULEZ.

My stolen motorbike has been found!
In a canal....

Oof…

It’s difficult to understand what the problem is. Do you think with the clutch engaged it’s metal on metal or a piece of metal in the clutch plates. You know it’s unusual in having a car type clutch. The clutch cable could be failing slowly and stretching.

I'm renting a trailer next Friday and taking it to a geezer in Ruislip. It could be so many things or multiples having sat unused for 35 years. I'll report his findings.

Do you have to pay for it's collection?

The clutch is the only job I didn’t diy on mine. It’s possible the clutch material aged and then disintegrated when you started using it. It’s a dry clutch so it could sound like an angle grinder.

I’ve been diy servicing mine for 20 years. There are great when you get them in good order.

My mate has all the relevant locking and dismantling tools to do the job, so I/we/he could remove the clutch and replace it but it is bound to snowball and then be beyond my pay grade. I'd like it sorted so I can ride until the winter, then I'll replace the pitted stanchions, dodgy silencer etc.

The chrome on the wheels of my Honda is ruined. The pitting is so severe that there's no chance of saving the shine.

Is there any way to buff back the rust and coat them? or a paint or some sort that wont look naff?

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On chrome BMX bikes we'd use tin foil and coke to clean it up, then a bit of clear lacquer or nail polish on the flaked bits

Yeah I'd try the tinfoil and full octane Coca Cola as the first thing... I'm always amazed by how well it works!

Failing that I'd probably just paint them satin black or one of those bright silver alloy wheel paints from Halfords?

Weird question maybe, but what's the general thinking about informing the insurance company if you add things like frame sliders and axle sliders, ie protection, to your bike? Do they need to know about this stuff, or perhaps the real question is, would they worm out of a claim if these were fitted and they weren't informed? What do you all do?
Thanks.

“It was on it when I bought it and I thought it was original”

What they said about the tin foil, but I'd use citric acid (lemon salt if you have a Turkish cash and carry nearby) instead of the phosphoric acid in cola.

Problem is getting the paint to stick to the chrome and rechroming is very expensive and quality is not as good as the old chemicals were really bad for your health and hard to dispose of. See recent canal spill.

Probably won't cover their replacement and some argue that the bungs either dig in and cause more damage.

But compare this to an 600 RR hitting the deck at low speeds and always requiring a new seat sub frame and the main fram mounts to be jigged in to place.

Or modern KTM requiring a new everything where it’s all plastic sub.

Thanks @lynx and @pdlouche

I think I'll just tell them anyway. It's just that they charge £20 for any change in the policy (which they consider this to be). But worth it for the peace of mind alone.

Check your insurers web pages for a section on accessories and modifications. Most accessories are not notifiable (eg panniers) but modifications are (slip on exhaust). Devitt for example consider crash bungs an accessory.

If they are "safety" items or to prevent damage the insurance will not be increased but if they are an addition they do not know about it could invalidate your insurance. Tell them what you have added and they will then know and it will not be to your detriment. I can't remember where I read about a chap that had a certain year of a certain model of bike. His specific bike was one of the end of the run of non-ABS model which was not registered in the year it was manufactured but was in the next. That next year the model of his bike was fitted with ABS. He had a collision but his insurance stated "Your bike should have ABS and the engineer says it hasn't got ABS so your insurance is cancelled". I think it took him a lot of time and energy to prove his bike was an anomally. The moral of the story is insurance companies are utter cu......

That moral always stands

I used to be able to blag some alloy wheel cleaner acid from work, which we used to brush onto wheels then rinse off. It works a treat on rusty chrome so I used it on numerous old chromed steel wheels at home. Though you have to find the sweet spot as to how long to leave it on*. It makes your fingers a bit hot and stingy so take care. The stuff we had was trade stuff but google it and you'll find some. It usually says not for chromed steel but in my experience it works a treat though it does attack plastic and turns valve caps white. Once you've cleaned the wheels rinse well and dry then spin them and spray a clear coat onto them.

• One chap left all the chrome bits off an old Puch moped in a vat of the stuff for a whole weekend. Luckily it was okay but you have to monitor it.
  

Chrome cleaning - WD40 and wire wool. Am I wrong?

I thought that was stainless steel

That will give you a nicely contaminated surface that will rust despite being stainless!

Yes.