Motorcycle Questions......

[Dennis Peacock]

OK....I've got some questions for all the folks here that own and ride motorcycles.

1. What type and brand of oil is the best for a motorcycle engine that wont impact the clutch? (Honda Shadow) Oil Filter too while we're on this subject.
2. What's the best way to clean the chrome and painted surfaces?
3. I assume that standard car wax will work fine on chrome exhaust pipes?
4. For those that ride to/from work....how are you making yourself more "visible" to all those driving cars/trucks to better your safety?

[Craig D Peltier]

OK....I've got some questions for all the folks here that own and ride motorcycles.

1. What type and brand of oil is the best for a motorcycle engine that wont impact the clutch? (Honda Shadow) Oil Filter too while we're on this subject.
2. What's the best way to clean the chrome and painted surfaces?
3. I assume that standard car wax will work fine on chrome exhaust pipes?
4. For those that ride to/from work....how are you making yourself more "visible" to all those driving cars/trucks to better your safety?

Cleaing chrome and Painted surfaces I can answer. There are lots of cleaners out there. Since I ride a Honda , Honda Spray cleaner works great on all chrome, plastic, paint , pipes (make sure there not warm)and your seats.
HD has one I think its called Hog SH** or something like that, that I heard works well.

Oil- Amsoil


Visibility, loud pipes. Alert. Visibility out fo your helmet sides easily.

You can got www.vtxoa.com an go to the forums and look at the tech section, theres thousands of helpful people on there.

[Heather Thompson]

Dennis,

As far as cleaning the bike goes, I would recommend S100 Total Cycle Cleaner, this stuff is made in West Germany and it works great. It is not cheap, I get it at my local BMW (bring money with you) dealer. In reguard to oil, run from Amsoil! I bought a road race bike years ago from a professional racer and this is what he told me. Since he had two championships under his belt I tend take his advice. When it comes to safety, ride aware and always wear proper gear (helmet, gloves, boots, leathers). I have riden over 100,000 miles with no serious injuries, I did total one bike in Missouri do to an encounter with an animal. Riding a motorcycle is like working with tools, there is a level of risk involved, there is also a great deal of satisfaction.

Heather

[Kurt Strandberg]

Cleaing chrome and Painted surfaces I can answer. There are lots of cleaners out there. Since I ride a Honda , Honda Spray cleaner works great on all chrome, plastic, paint , pipes (make sure there not warm)and your seats.
HD has one I think its called Hog SH** or something like that, that I heard works well.

Oil- Amsoil


Visibility, loud pipes. Alert. Visibility out fo your helmet sides easily.

You can got www.vtxoa.com an go to the forums and look at the tech section, theres thousands of helpful people on there.

If loud pipes save live, why do people get hit by trains?

Didn't they hear it coming?

The train didn't swerve into there lane



JMHO

[Al Willits]

Loud pipes are a way for morons to make their bikes sounds badder...to them.
Think droppler effect, or the next time your waiting at a intersection on a freeway, if you see a bike coming, see when its the loudest, its not before it gets to ya.

Honda's redline oil, if they still sell it was very good oil, spendy, but you don't use much anyway.

As far as being safe, ride like they're out to get you, they don't see you and many just don't judge distance when it comes to bikes, they will pull in front of you or come into your lane, drive like they don't see you...because most don't.

I used a lot of the Mequires (sp?) products for cleaning and polishing, hit a few of the bike/car shows and round up all the free or cheap samples you can, then find which one works for you.
I think you'll find that there's a lot of cleaners/polishers that work well.

Al

[Jason Roehl]

Good post about the pipes, Al. (BTW, it's "Doppler effect"). I hate loud pipes. A one time, there were probably 8-9 Harleys that lived within 2 blocks of me, and a stupid teen with an insta-deaf stereo in his car. I was not a happy camper.

As for engine oil, it depends on the bike, but in my last bike ('94 Suz Katana 750), I ran a full synthetic. Find a manual for the bike, find what weight it recommends for your climate (I'm sure in Arkieland that you need the heaviest weight it calls for), and then get that weight in a synthetic. If you don't run the bike hard, you'll get many miles out of that oil.

When I rode, I basically assumed everyone else was out to kill me. That worked great except for the two times I was on slick surfaces and went down on my own. I forgot that I was out to kill me...

[Nancy Laird]

No one has mentioned a safety vest for you to wear for visibility. I notice those on riders.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Nancy....in Dennis' case...do they make safety bib overalls?

[Mike SoRelle]

Nancy....in Dennis' case...do they make safety bib overalls?

For the sewing inclined, I imagine it wouldn't be hard to affix some strips of the reflective material to the overalls....

[Craig D Peltier]

Loud pipes are a way for morons to make their bikes sounds badder...to them.
Think droppler effect, or the next time your waiting at a intersection on a freeway, if you see a bike coming, see when its the loudest, its not before it gets to ya.

Honda's redline oil, if they still sell it was very good oil, spendy, but you don't use much anyway.

As far as being safe, ride like they're out to get you, they don't see you and many just don't judge distance when it comes to bikes, they will pull in front of you or come into your lane, drive like they don't see you...because most don't.

I used a lot of the Mequires (sp?) products for cleaning and polishing, hit a few of the bike/car shows and round up all the free or cheap samples you can, then find which one works for you.
I think you'll find that there's a lot of cleaners/polishers that work well.

Al

Loud pipes save lives.Bikes horns are very weak.When someone is coming into your lane or looking oblivious give a toot to your pipes and they can hear you.
Ive used this many times in splitting lanes in LA, people move right over.
Thanks for calling me a moron too... Appreciate it. Maybe your just a bit cranky when it comes to loud things.

[Dennis Peacock]

Nancy....in Dennis' case...do they make safety bib overalls?

ROFL!!!!! Good one Ken!!!!!!! Good One!!!!!!

[Craig D Peltier]

Dennis,

As far as cleaning the bike goes, I would recommend S100 Total Cycle Cleaner, this stuff is made in West Germany and it works great. It is not cheap, I get it at my local BMW (bring money with you) dealer. In reguard to oil, run from Amsoil! I bought a road race bike years ago from a professional racer and this is what he told me. Since he had two championships under his belt I tend take his advice. When it comes to safety, ride aware and always wear proper gear (helmet, gloves, boots, leathers). I have riden over 100,000 miles with no serious injuries, I did total one bike in Missouri do to an encounter with an animal. Riding a motorcycle is like working with tools, there is a level of risk involved, there is also a great deal of satisfaction.

Heather

I would think anything you buy from a BMW dealer is going to cost you. Id place a bet that the honda cleaner works just as well. Cost is $5.99 or $6.99. Dont take me wrong BMW makes great cars and bikes I suppose , they just charge a little too much.

Never heard anything bad about amsoil , so theres no facts other than one guys opinion to run from it?

[Dennis Peacock]

I've always worn helments when riding motorcycle. I've never worn any kind of other safety gear except for gloves in the winter and always long pants.

Today, because of family and a requirement by the LOML, I'm wearing these:

Safety Vest by Vision Vest:
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No...that's not me in the pic....I'd be wearing my bibs under the vest. I know this vest works VERY well as I've already had 2 people talk to me at a local gas station telling me that because of the vest, they were able to see me from a LONG way away.

h_kp2_silver.jpg
This jacket is HEAVY!!!!! It does have a type of body armor in various locations and when riding to / from work, I do wear it as well as leather gloves.

BTW, I've used Amsoil products for about 20 years and have never had any problem at all with those products. I just wasn't sure about synthetic and the clutch plates.

Keep those tips and pointers coming.!!!!

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I used to ride a 60's vintage Triumph Tiger:

1. What type and brand of oil is the best for a motorcycle engine that wont impact the clutch? (Honda Shadow) Oil Filter too while we're on this subject.

What ever I had handy.

2. What's the best way to clean the chrome and painted surfaces?

A rainstorm (you can always tell the happy biker by the bugs in his teeth).

3. I assume that standard car wax will work fine on chrome exhaust pipes?

Never tried it but, I'd think it'd burn and make a mess.

4. For those that ride to/from work....how are you making yourself more "visible" to all those driving cars/trucks to better your safety?

A pocket full of old bolts and spark plugs.

A friend of mine had a rifle in a holster converted from a saddle holster. He claimed that once he put that on his bike that no one ever messed with him again.

[JayStPeter]

OK....I've got some questions for all the folks here that own and ride motorcycles.

1. What type and brand of oil is the best for a motorcycle engine that wont impact the clutch? (Honda Shadow) Oil Filter too while we're on this subject.
2. What's the best way to clean the chrome and painted surfaces?
3. I assume that standard car wax will work fine on chrome exhaust pipes?
4. For those that ride to/from work....how are you making yourself more "visible" to all those driving cars/trucks to better your safety?

1. Most synthetic oils don't do well with clutches. There was one weight of Mobil 1 that was actually OK (and for some reason had different friction modifiers than the other weights). I wish I could remember which one, but I didn't use it. I usually used a synthetic blend motorcycle specific oil (Golden Spectro or similar). You need to find a MC shop that isn't a dealer and sells the stuff in gallon jugs. Still pricey, but way less than quarts from a dealer.

2. My bikes had little chrome except for the exhaust pipes.

3. Try it in an inconspicuous area, the actual pipes will sometimes discolor but the heatshield/muffler areas are usually fine.

4. Bright clothing and a big orange ball of a helmet are my strategy. My riding gear is red with lots of reflective material and my commuting helmet was a Shoei in bright orange. The glowing orange globe actually had a noticeable effect when I was commuting on the DC beltway. Nothing else actually seemed to help. You still need to assume you're invisible.