The friendly "dumb" bike questions thread

[V8RX7]

Krikkit said:

I know it's probably obvious to anyone with two brain cells to rub together, but don't clean the chain with the thing in gear and running...

That's how I always do it - as long as you use brushes and common sense - it's no different to using a lathe

I polish my car's alloy wheels the same way

[Kent Border Kenny]

rexwexford. said:

will be trying my first winter commuting so generally preparing in advance whilst its still 'nice' out there.

i have handgaurds but my bike doesnt have heated grips so i have some questions..

- how much difference do heated grips make ?
- are they effective still if wearing big winter gloves?
- is it worth looking at heated gloves instead? i feel like these seem easier than faffing around putting the grips and i like the ones currently on my bike.
ta

I don’t think that they make all that much if a difference, the backs of my hands and fingers still freeze.

Bar muffs, for me, are the thing that works best.

[AceOfHearts]

Kent Border Kenny said:

I don’t think that they make all that much if a difference, the backs of my hands and fingers still freeze.

Bar muffs, for me, are the thing that works best.

I really suffer with cold hands in winter and the best I have had is bar muffs with heated grips. Makes a huge difference to comfort for me and well worth it imo

[V8RX7]

AceOfHearts said:

Kent Border Kenny said:

I don’t think that they make all that much if a difference, the backs of my hands and fingers still freeze.

Bar muffs, for me, are the thing that works best.

I really suffer with cold hands in winter and the best I have had is bar muffs with heated grips. Makes a huge difference to comfort for me and well worth it imo

My KTM 690 came with bar muffs fitted, I too suffer with cold hands, I'm not usually bothered by appearances but I'd rather have cold hands than use bar muffs

[Pothole]

Speed addicted said:

Pothole said:

soofsayer said:

Pothole said:

When I rode through the winter I poured a watering can of hot water (filled from the hot tap, to dissolve road salt etc. better than cold) over both front and the rear calipers EVERY TIME I CAME HOME. a 5 minute faff, sure, but saved me having to rebuild calipers like the previous winter...

I was told many years ago never to do this. Afaik hot water aides corrosion from salt and is not a good idea. Cold water is a much better option. Maybe that’s wrong but what I do?

How can it "aid corrosion" when the salt is washed off? Doesn't seem at all logical. I can only go on my limited sample size "research". I didn't ride a control bike on which I only used cold water, though.

I feel the need to wade in here with partial information, I’m an inspection engineer in the oil industry and spend far too much time looking at rust. As you can imagine salt damage is an issue on oil rigs.

So, the main issue with salt is that it traps moisture while increasing the electrical conductivity of the area. So your metals can get to corroding away quite cheerfully, more so when you have things like stainless or carbon bolts going through alloy parts so you get nice little corrosion cells going.

Hot or cold water? Well the main concern would be shifting the salt and getting it dry to stop the corrosion, so hot water is best as it’ll get rid of more salt for the same amount of water. If you’re comparing a kettle to a hose then the hose will probably do a better job.

Corrosion works better with a bit of warmth but the brief time it’s warmed for won’t make a difference, unlike sticking it in a warm garage while it’s wet and covered in salt.

I used a watering can full of hot water from my hot tap.

[trickywoo]

V8RX7 said:

Krikkit said:

I know it's probably obvious to anyone with two brain cells to rub together, but don't clean the chain with the thing in gear and running...

That's how I always do it - as long as you use brushes and common sense - it's no different to using a lathe

I polish my car's alloy wheels the same way

You are the same guy that puts car oil in a bike and complains when the clutch slips aren’t you?

[Krikkit]

trickywoo said:

You are the same guy that puts car oil in a bike and complains when the clutch slips aren’t you?

True.

[underwhelmist]

V8RX7 said:

That's how I always do it - as long as you use brushes and common sense - it's no different to using a lathe

I polish my car's alloy wheels the same way

When you do eventually lose some fingers in a freak chain lubing or alloy polishing accident, do us a favour and don't post any gruesome photos eh?

[Pothole]

trickywoo said:

V8RX7 said:

Krikkit said:

I know it's probably obvious to anyone with two brain cells to rub together, but don't clean the chain with the thing in gear and running...

That's how I always do it - as long as you use brushes and common sense - it's no different to using a lathe

I polish my car's alloy wheels the same way

You are the same guy that puts car oil in a bike and complains when the clutch slips aren’t you?

I was thinking about that the other day...my new bike has a dry clutch so cue cheap oil changes!

[rexwexford.]

V8RX7 said:

My KTM 690 came with bar muffs fitted, I too suffer with cold hands, I'm not usually bothered by appearances but I'd rather have cold hands than use bar muffs

thanks. (and everyone else) who replied will check out heated gloves.

Yeah i hadnt considered bar muffs on looks alone haha. can see why they are practical though

[Iminquarantine]

rexwexford. said:

thanks. (and everyone else) who replied will check out heated gloves.

Yeah i hadnt considered bar muffs on looks alone haha. can see why they are practical though

Muffs look ridiculous.

I have a pair of winter gloves - I never wear them, because I use heated grips instead. 3 seanon gloves plus heated grips is enough. The idea of a bike in 2020 which doesn’t have heated grips just seems dumb.

[Iminquarantine]

underwhelmist said:

When you do eventually lose some fingers in a freak chain lubing or alloy polishing accident, do us a favour and don't post any gruesome photos eh?

Speaking of bizarre accidents, I had a bizarre hand sanitizer accident a few days ago. Gave it a good pump and it ricocheted right off my hand and straight into both eyes. That stung.

[underwhelmist]

Iminquarantine said:

Speaking of bizarre accidents, I had a bizarre hand sanitizer accident a few days ago. Gave it a good pump and it ricocheted right off my hand and straight into both eyes. That stung.

Coincidentally I have had a similar incident with carburettor cleaner this morning. Serves me right for not putting goggles on, they were right there in the bench!

[A500leroy]

Steve Bass said:

A500leroy said:

Cheers lads! I dont think theirs much wrong with it performance wise it just looks tatty and appears to have some kind of black gunk sealing the lid on as well as the screw.

Post some pics if you want, we can give you the collective advice

As promissed, what do we think?

[Speed addicted]

A500leroy said:

Steve Bass said:

A500leroy said:

Cheers lads! I dont think theirs much wrong with it performance wise it just looks tatty and appears to have some kind of black gunk sealing the lid on as well as the screw.

Post some pics if you want, we can give you the collective advice

As promissed, what do we think?

Sand and paint with something that doesn’t come off if you get brake fluid on it, or polish it.

[Krikkit]

If I was doing a really snazzy job I'd get it media blasted and then paint it

[A500leroy]

Does it look safe enough as is though?

[V8RX7]

Krikkit said:

trickywoo said:

You are the same guy that puts car oil in a bike and complains when the clutch slips aren’t you?

True.

No you utter cock sockets - it slipped when I upgraded to fully synthetic bike oil - read that multiple times until it sinks in.

I then went back to car oil and it's fine

So to recap - car oil is fine, fully synthetic bike oil makes it slip

Got that yet ?

[V8RX7]

underwhelmist said:

When you do eventually lose some fingers in a freak chain lubing or alloy polishing accident, do us a favour and don't post any gruesome photos eh?

I'm guessing most of you have office jobs ?

It isn't remotely dangerous with a brush - try handing boiling bitumen on a roof - that's dangerous.

[Speed addicted]

V8RX7 said:

I'm guessing most of you have office jobs ?

It isn't remotely dangerous with a brush - try handing boiling bitumen on a roof - that's dangerous.

You want danger? I once told my wife she looked a bit big in a new dress!