| Author | Message | ||
     Ourdee |
I had a Uly XT and went so far as to use a green pad and WD-40 on the header. Cleaned it up pretty nice. On my Scg I've been polishing the header. I showed my neighbor when I started. He is a little OCD and has an 09 Lightning. I was hesitant and told him to just work a little at a time. Yea, right. He spends hours at a time. I don't have the heart to let him know that every time he works on his, I sneak out to my garage and put in another hour. He hasn't figured it out yet why he hasn't caught up.    | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
looks great! | ||
| Pwnzor |
I always used 1200 grit and a little water on mine... then wipe it down with very thin oil... let it sit a few hours, and wipe it down thoroughly with clean dry rags.  | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Y'all got way too much time on your hands. | ||
| Greg_e |
I wrapped mine, no more ugly pipes! | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Careful how much you polish it- you may rub through and hit air! How much do you cry when you splash through a puddle? | ||
| Two_seasons |
"How much do you cry when you splash through a puddle?" Thinking the same thing. Riding is more my pleasure, for sure! I really doubt that you'll ever see an Erik Buell museum (ala HD museum) where the bits are shiny and flawless  | ||
| Pwnzor |
for my part, that shine took me about 10 minutes every other week. It really doesn't take much effort at all. My wheels were polished raw, no clear coat... they were more hassle than anything to keep shiny... white hazy oxidization was a pain in my arse.  | ||
| Ourdee |
 Steve, I didn't cry any riding in that puddle behind you. I was just wiping it down every month so it wouldn't get as bad as the Uly did. Then one day I sat down and spent a half hour on it. There is nothing to cleaning it now. I don't worry about dirt when I am riding. There is the thought that this one may get parked for the salt this year. That will be a first for me, but, I like Lil Red and it will be my ride in about a year when retirement comes up. The biggest influence was cleaning the Uly after 32,000 miles. A little here or there is easy and little kids look at this one like it is a Hot-Wheels toy. Ah... what am I saying? I do to. Don't think I've gone all collector. Lil Red's first responsibility is point A. to point B. Second is all the fun. That is a two minute rub with wet 3000 grit disc and a wipe with polish and a dry micro fiber cloth. I should not need the grit again. It is almost a mirror. I stopped short of taking out all the OEM blemishes. The patina on these are great after a few heat cycles on the road. I've had migraines kicking up this week and I don't ride with them or after taking the meds to stop them. So I go sit on a little stool by Lil Red with the lights dimmed in the garage. I know better than to take the key with me. And it doesn't hurt to clean a little. | ||
| Pwnzor |
That must be right after you did it... Cuz that's way shinier than I ever got mine. | ||
| Two_seasons |
I'm surprised that the NTSB doesn't make the mfr's put a sticker in the vacinity...CAUTION: VERY HOT SHINY BITS HERE  | ||
| Two_seasons |
By the way, that is why my 87 year old friend Bob was attracted to your shiny bike at HC...entering that zone in my life too...ride on brother...  | ||
| Ourdee |
I liked Bob. I did make sure I had the key in my pocket though. He looked like he wanted to take it for a ride. | ||
| Ourdee |
Matthew, This morning while debating on riding in the sprinkle. I hit it before going to bed last night. 90% chance for rain showers and head still doesn't feel right. | ||
| Brentx1 |
 Here is mine before I fired it up for the first time. Sorry, I didn't mean to hyjack this thread. | ||
| Ourdee |
Not a hijack. That's pretty and SHINEY! | ||
| Etennuly |
Good golly! Ya'll like rubbing your tubes too much!  Really makes them look nice though! I did not know the Uly had pipes. I thought it was just a hot spot in what ever parts are in there. Pipes......huh.....who knew. I will have to look into that when I retire! I have always said the best thing Buell did was choosing chassis colors to match road dirt!  I noticed that right after I painted my wheels to match. | ||
| Ourdee |
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| Ourdee |
I don't know if I like the cheese grater or not. Thought about painting it blue with a water bowl under it with a pump for a fountain. For now I have rubber ducks swimming in the dry pond.  Rubber Duck, what did you think R.D. stood for? | ||
| Aesquire |
I don't do wrap on stainless pipes. The airplane header guy I know curses them. Yes, it holds the heat in, but at a certain temp it drives out the chromium etc. And they rust. Fast. I admit I'm to lazy to polish mine. Ok if I just admire yours? | ||
| Ourdee |
The trick is to just get started then quit but quit often. | ||
| Hootowl |
The cherry bomb XBs are the prettiest. But I'm biased. | ||
| Ourdee |
I like the 08s from before the 09s being blacked out. | ||
| Etennuly |
I like the 08s from before the 09s being blacked out.  What he said. I loved my Hero Blue City-X's translucent blue color, but always flip flopped on the decision of blue to red. Damn they are good looking machines. Hey that "quit often" thing.....I can do that!  | ||
| Griffmeister |
"I don't do wrap on stainless pipes. The airplane header guy I know curses them. Yes, it holds the heat in, but at a certain temp it drives out the chromium etc. And they rust. Fast." So that's what happened to mine. Had them wrapped for a year until they started to look like "The Mummy", had a lovely brown mottled finish after that. When I had the engine apart last year I finally took some time with the headers. Started with 80 grit to get that mess to a somewhat even hue and worked down to 320 grit when I ran out of steam. Decided that the kitchen sink finish was good enough and better than it was. Oh well. | ||
| Zac4mac |
RD - I polished the primaries on my Uly a couple of years back. Looks like Black-Chrome now... it gets better with time IMO!! Z | ||
| Ourdee |
I agree. Stainless ages well with heat. |
