Low side crash from maintenance mistake

[Pursuvant]

Had a crash 2 months ago, my fault. Had spent a couple days deep cleaning grungy areas. Pulled C/S cover and dug out all the old chain lube that had turned into "plasti-goop" as one part of clean.

Mistake - I got a streak about inch wide on the outside of tread on one side of rear wheel - a streak of cleaner/wd-40/oil/goop. Ya, on the outside, where you won't find it till you heel the bike over in a turn. 

Lucky, I hotdogged the throttle-up as I pulled out onto road I live on - and at lean rear tire broke free like ice. Bike cut 30 feet of asphalt with my pegs/case savers. Yes this was luck, because what if I had a full head of steam and then got iced?

In full gear but I still drew a wierd pattern of blood dots on arm thru the elbow armor, good bruise on the hip thru level 2 armor. Damaged bar-end stuff, case saver, clutch lever gone, handlebar risers moved, forks needed relaxed.

Don't do like Homer did.

[mjh937]

Years ago I had a friend who used Armor All on his tires.  It looked great until he came to the first corner.  Apparently that stuff is slippery too. 

[klx678]

According to Bridgestone when I did a seminar with them long ago, the only thing tires should be cleaned with was water and soap.  No dressings on them, most dressings will leach preservative out of the tire compound.   They also leave tire treads slippery.   The rep told us soap and water with a scrub brush and learn to like the flat black look of a clean tire versus the shiny black coated finish from tire dressings.  

[Triple Jim]

Just now, mjh937 said:

Years ago I had a friend who used Armor All on his tires.  It looked great until he came to the first corner.  Apparently that stuff is slippery too. 

Many years ago I spent an hour or two in a ski boat on the Wye River, off the Chesapeake bay.  Then I got in my van and drove home.  At some point soon after that I got out of the van to do something quickly, leaving the door open.  When I got back in, I sort of did a running leap into the driver's seat, as I had done a few times before over the years.  This time when I hit the seat I slid off and went down between the seat and the engine cover, getting somewhat stuck in that small gap.  I was alone, so there was no one to laugh along with me.  I realized that the boat owner, who loved to Armor All his boat seats, had caused my pants to get coated with the stuff, and that had transferred to my van seat!  I decided never to use that stuff on anything.  It's probably something like silicone oil in a solvent like alcohol.

[balkor2]

I think it was back in the early 80's or late 70's, I was informed that Armor All was like the worst thing to use on anything. Would cause dry rot to tires, crack dashes, cause seats  to break down, etc.

What I can't remember is what we use to use back then. Today, use soap and water, wipe dry with cheese cloth or microfiber cloth 

[Triple Jim]

Just now, balkor2 said:

Today, use soap and water, wipe dry with cheese cloth or microfiber cloth 

That's the best way.  The companies that make the products want us to think we can't live without them, but we actually can.

[balkor2]

Just now, Triple Jim said:

The companies that make the products want us to think we can't live without them, but we actually can.

Hey wait, WHAT?
Are you telling me I can live without Tock Tic or MyFaceSpace, seems like a heretic  LOL 

[Triple Jim]

I can tell you that when we have an Internet outage I get noticeably more work done around here.  

[balkor2]

Just now, Triple Jim said:

I can tell you that when we have an Internet outage I get noticeably more work done around here.  

hehe, I hear ya.

[shinyribs]

When I was a kid I used to watch my Dad thin black paint, oil based of course, with brake fluid and brush it on to his tires. They weren't shiny, they looked new. Surprisingly, it would last a really long time and would wash clean like any other painted surface. When they would start peeling a carwash wand would knock out loose and you could start over. 

 

I still like to paint tires to a degree. Growing up, you weren't cool unless you had white letters. I still don't like plain tires. 

Apologies for posting a pic of the mongrel version 

Edited September 29, 2022 by shinyribs

[Pursuvant]

Just now, shinyribs said:

When I was a kid I used to watch my Dad thin black paint, oil based of course, with brake fluid and brush it on to his tires...

Great story, this 60 something feels those teen years again. Just great, you win the, ahh, well I guess AOL for the day (retro ya know)

[Triple Jim]

Just now, shinyribs said:

I still like to paint tires to a degree. Growing up, you weren't cool unless you had white letters. I still don't like plain tires. 

I prefer to fade into the crowd, with no unusual visual cues that might help someone I accidentally irritate find my vehicle later when I'm not around.  

[shinyribs]

Just now, Triple Jim said:

I prefer to fade into the crowd, with no unusual visual cues that might help someone I accidentally irritate find my vehicle later when I'm not around.  

I must blend in to my surroundings pretty well. I remember the first time I drove my race car to the bank. Flashy flamed paint job and making a ton of noise. The ladies all spoke to me normally when I walked up ( been a regular since for over a decade) but they were all looking out the window. I could hear them wondering where that car came from. I thought to myself, " well, I'm the only other person here, so...". I asked em if they liked my car and jaws dropped. 

" You're so quiet and you drive THAT?!" 

That's been years ago. I still feel slightly offended  

 

[Triple Jim]

Just now, shinyribs said:

" You're so quiet and you drive THAT?!" 

Reply: "It's us quiet ones that are the wildest." (with a little smirk)

[klx678]

13 hours ago, balkor2 said:

I think it was back in the early 80's or late 70's, I was informed that Armor All was like the worst thing to use on anything. Would cause dry rot to tires, crack dashes, cause seats  to break down, etc.

What I can't remember is what we use to use back then. Today, use soap and water, wipe dry with cheese cloth or microfiber cloth 

That's exactly what the Bridgestone rep said.  He added if you want proof, look at show cars, trailer queens, the sidewalls are often all shiny and cracking on them.  Of course that was in the 80s when tires actually had relatively tall sidewalls, these rim protectors on cars now won't show quite as much.   The Armor All and some other cleaners will "clean" the preservative out of the tires.   

One interesting thing, we always noticed bikes that didn't get tires washed much would have a sort of greenish (? I'm partly colorblind) stuff on the sidewalls.  We had no idea, didn't seem to hurt anything, but kinda wierd.  It turns out the rep said that is the preservative that has surfaced.  No problem, scrup with soap and water.

[klx678]

8 hours ago, shinyribs said:

When I was a kid I used to watch my Dad thin black paint, oil based of course, with brake fluid and brush it on to his tires. They weren't shiny, they looked new. Surprisingly, it would last a really long time and would wash clean like any other painted surface. When they would start peeling a carwash wand would knock out loose and you could start over. 

 

I still like to paint tires to a degree. Growing up, you weren't cool unless you had white letters. I still don't like plain tires. 

Apologies for posting a pic of the mongrel version 

I don't care what anyone else thinks, I like the white wheels with the blue.  I'd just hate to keep them clean though... black is bad enough.

[balkor2]

Just now, klx678 said:

bikes that didn't get tires washed much would have a sort of greenish

My first thought on reading this is, the color black doesn't exist. Just like the magic markers - black. Towards the end of it's life it was green. LOL

Just now, klx678 said:

It turns out the rep said that is the preservative that has surfaced.  No problem, scrup with soap and water.

Back then, I rarely "cleaned" my bike. Spent so much time in  creeks and riding year round (south central PA) , so really didn't need to wash the rain off LOL. Car wise, wash them enough that didn't notice. But most interesting, green preservative .. makes me think of slimer from Ghost Busters LOL

[balkor2]

9 hours ago, Pursuvant said:

Great story, this 60 something feels those teen years again. Just great, you win the, ahh, well I guess AOL for the day (retro ya know)

AOL!!! heehehe

If it were AOL times. I would be 21, 6'4", washboard abs, 26 waist, XL shirt, perfect teeth, and Fabio hair.

Edited September 29, 2022 by balkor2
Punctionation

[DewMan]

On 9/28/2022 at 9:59 AM, mjh937 said:

Years ago I had a friend who used Armor All on his tires.  It looked great until he came to the first corner.  Apparently that stuff is slippery too. 

Also never armor-all the seat either. If you do, the first time you hit the brakes you'll be introducing your groin area to the tank in a swift motion. 

Ask me how I know. 

[shinyribs]

7 hours ago, klx678 said:

I don't care what anyone else thinks, I like the white wheels with the blue.  I'd just hate to keep them clean though... black is bad enough.

The stock black rims with the gritty texture looked 100 years old after one trip out my gravel road. The white wheels actually stay pretty fresh looking for a while, though I kinda regret not going with yellow instead. 

[Triple Jim]

45 minutes ago, shinyribs said:

The stock black rims with the gritty texture looked 100 years old after one trip out my gravel road. The white wheels actually stay pretty fresh looking for a while, though I kinda regret not going with yellow instead. 

When my parents built their retirement house at a lake in NC, Mom was choosing the color for the wall to wall carpeting.  I told her that because of all the red clay around the lot that would take quite a while to be covered with lawn, she had better match the red clay.  She immediately agreed and chose a red-orange for the rug.  It worked great!

[cornerslider]

11 hours ago, shinyribs said:

The stock black rims with the gritty texture looked 100 years old after one trip out my gravel road. The white wheels actually stay pretty fresh looking for a while, though I kinda regret not going with yellow instead. 

I agree with this.... I picked up some  take-off "high-viz" yellow wheels to replace my black wheels. They looked really nice for a couple months. After that, the paint chips made them look like my OEM black wheels. Granted, it was better "hidden" with the lighter/brighter color. Yamaha needs step up their quality with whoever paints the wheels. This is NOT just an "07" thing.... My buddy has an MT-10, and is having the same issues-