As some of you know my bike sat in a cover car port for 12 years in the elements uncovered.
This has taken its toll on the bike it self.
I need some pointers on getting the thing looking spiffy again.
1. what can I do to get the shine back to the alu motor
2. Get the seat not to look so dirty eventhough its not
3. Get all the rust off of the different parts like the exhaust places here and there on the frame and exhaust?
Also whats the best way to clean a dull and discolored windsheild?
Aluminum motor:
-Use paint stripper to remove the clear coat
-Then Aluminum polish and a lot of patience
The Seat:
-Try some vinyl conditioner, you can find it at any auto parts store
-That may not work, then the only option is re-covering the seat
Rust:
-Exhaust
--Try a chrome polish
-Frame
--Black paint
Windshield:
-Plastic Polish
Good luck,
Rex
For the seat - If it isn't ripped, you can clean it as best as possible using rubbing alcohol. Then get some Dupli-Color vinyl dye. It works like spray paint. Supposedly does a great job but I haven't tried it myself. Available in Black, Red, Grey & probably a couple other colors as well.
When cleaning off the yellowed varnish from the engine, be careful around the painted Yamaha & YICS insignia - otherwise, you'll clean the paint off too. Might try filling the indentations with something that will seal those areas off from the stripper.
H2O
might seem like an overly obvious comment, but on the seat, don't use anything slippery like Armor All, unless you want to end up on the tank when you hit the brakes. :)
For the chrome exhaust use 000 steel wool, get into any deep gouges & clean them out, then spray the scratches with chrome or silver VHT paint & let dry. then LIGHTLY go over it again with the steel wool. you want to remove the paint on the good chrome & leave it in the scratches to keep it from rusting again. some flat black on the ends make it look clean & adds a nce level of detail.
Rust on the frame: same thing, steel wool & then topcoat with semigloss black. use newspaper to mask off anything you don't want black.
use paint stripper & steel wool to remove yellowed clearcoat on the engine. then polish with steel wool & finish up with Mothers aluminum polish. you can detail the crevices on the engine with a dremil tool.
you can clean up most windshields with various steps of plastic polish (different grits, coarse to fine. i've heard of people with really badly yellowed shields starting out by wetsanding using super fine sandpaper & going from there. this will be a very tedious & long process, but you should be able to get decent results over time. another option would be to paint the shield or tint it since you don't look thru it anyway...
--Lucky