I've taken on a small cleanup project from a TRCer (i'll leave names out for now so if you know the bike, please don't say anything until they have) All I have to go on up to now is a few pics, but in all honesty nothing really worrying Got a bit of an on-going debate regarding levels of finish, levels of painting, fastners, polishing on exhausts etc etc. All of which will massively influence both the time taken on it and possibly even the expense. HAving never worked on a BMW before I'm actually looking forward to seeing the quality (or lack of, I dunno yet) and getting stuck into it. Expecting about a 2 week turnaround on it once I get the bike at the weekend. I'm estimating i'll have 20-30 hours in it by the end of the job. If you guys don't fancy this thread, let me know and I won't update...if you do... then i'll happily continue as work progresses
I've just took off and resprayed the main and side stand as mine were very rusty ... The side is a pain to get off as have to remove the brass bush before it will come off ...have fun .
This is cool, please keep posting. I miss mine a lot. I did about 18000 touring miles on a 2006 version.
You guys end up with the slightly concise version, a couple of posts from another forum and a bit of a time lapse. Hopefully it won't confuse things too much. Had a spare hour while my boy was being bathed etc so started on the process. Stuck about ten quid of sdoc100 on there and of course the results are instantly apparent to see. It's really good stuff and has started getting the first layer of dirt off it. Things I've noticed, Bloody hell it's massive! I mean absolutely huge! It weighs an insane figure, I've struggled with it half a dozen times already moving and handling it! It's quite accessible to get to most of it. Lots of size equates to lots of space to reach bits. I can get to 80% of the bike easily meaning I can get a soft brush on it and start removing layers. Need to work out what paint to use for the frame. I discussed with the owner and it seems to be not quite gloss, not quite satin so ill find a test area to spray black and see but I think I need a tin of satin to see if that's the best match. It has my pet hate of a white plate installed which will be coming off asap. Lots of black plastic to clean and sort, but I have stuff that gets it lovely! Another little 45 min window as my lad was doing Lego. So cleaned up the luggage rack and exhaust. Had to take it all apart to get in all the bits, people often make the mistake of thinking it's too hard or, no one will notice. But that of course isn't the case! Little touches like removing the baffle bolt, otherwise you end up with a mark where it was. The carbon strap is a bit melted, but that's the owners job not mine to resolve. Just spent 90 min on the rear wheel. The bike is more of a challenge than I first thought. The spokes and hub were not the best, the spokes though have come up really nice. Very impressed, which is more than I can say for the hub, that's corroded and messy I'm afraid. I like the way the spokes are about 2mm apart meaning you can clean their full length. Other spoked wheels I've had, you can't as they touch at crossover point. The hub itself is such a pain to clean, you just need more and longer fingers to get in all the bits. But a little soft brush and some improvising and it's not terrible now. The rim, that's a different story. Normally it's chain lube, even if thick it still comes off fairly easily. This though I just can't get nice. No matter what I use it gets no better than meh! I'm now leaving some gt85 to soak and later or tomorrow will crack on with the undertray section and rear light cluster areas. I now need to head out to Halfords for another load of their intensive tar remover as I'm out now, along with another pile of cleaning cloths. It's funny sometimes when I look at pics and you think, that doesn't look much better! But I'm hoping the owners can see the work and the results.
I've not really stopped on this since just after 7am and progress has been pretty good I think. There's things that don't help, generic corrosion and mess, also the engine fins are really hard to get clean. But essentially it's getting there now. Next up are the calipers and then once someone tells me how to remove the rear wheel, that's on the list too, just to get the last bits off the swingarm I can't reach, but it's possible once I get the caliper off, I may be able to get it sorted anyway. They won't be done until tomorrow though as it's my boys birthday party in an hour and half so I need to get showered and ready. Day after will then be painting the frame after rubbing it down and by Tues night, possibly Weds it will be 100% done and ready to hand back to the owner
Can you tell us the age of this bike and the mileage Weeksy? And any particularly good/bad bits. All useful, reference.
It is a 09. 24,000 or so. Definate winter use and neglect. Main downsides are corrosion on hubs, frame corrosion and of course a mass of crap inside the fins on engine. It's not terrible but its not impressed me. It is though easy to clean and most bits are easy to reach. But by god its heavy! I was planning on trailering it back to the owners but it would kill me if I got it wrong when loading! The controls and buttons look like they're off a 70s tractor. All in all, I don't like it much. I hear its an amazing bike to ride, but I have no intention of finding out
Tips on getting centre stand off mate? I can't get springs off and orry if I remove mount bolts to spray I'll never get back together. I have a curly spring puller but I'm not getting very far with it.
With the stand up and less tension on the springs I used a pair of mole grips to pull them off one at a time ....
Thanks buddy... I may have another crack at the springs tonight then. It's a sodding akward angle to get to though too !
This is the part where it all gets serious, cleaning the tricky bits, the bits no one wants to do, the bits you need to get messy for and get the tools out. You know, the ones you can't reach with a soapy sponge. Front wheel went a lot better than the rear, calipers done, hub done and rim done. Weirdly, the spokes on the front are worse than the rears. Then onto back wheel out, inside of swingarm and rear hub etc, caliper mount and disc. Sadly, the rear disc is way way beyond cleaning! Other than that, it went ok. Then cleaned up all the rotors in case of contamination with brake cleaner. Within reason now it's looking pretty ok. If it were mine there's loads I'd take apart and swap bolts etc, but in some ways that can spoil it as things look totally out of place. As it stands it's a lot cleaner and hopefully will have a bit of wow factor. If I can do centre stand that will be a bonus, not sure on that yet. So it's taken about 11 hours cleaning to get to here, which isn't too bad I guess.
What did you use for the spokes?, my brother has my old Stelvio and they are in need of a great deal of TLC
Spokes, were 2 fold, first spray was SDOC100 then some Bilbrerry allow wheel cleaner. It brought the front set up... ish.... but the rear spokes came up really nice. Stand currently drying after 2 coats of paint. It will dry a nice satin not gloss, then will stick on sidestand later when the wife goes out so I can mask it all up and paint any little bits I've missed while it's down at that angle. The all important new black number plate! I then finished off with a quick touch up on the oil cooler, it had lots of stone chips through to the metal, so touched up and resprayed that and looks a little better. Last little job was to touch up a few frame scratches/surface rust. I wanted to swap out a few bolts too, but the ones I needed I didn't have any better than the actual ones already on there.
Not sure what Weeksy has used here, but the following works: CarPro PERL - CarPro PERL Coat Protectant - 500ml - Elite Car Care - good finish, can be a little glossy rather than OEM finish, plenty for your money. However it is not the longest lasting stuff in the world but is improved by getting the surface spotless beforehand. 303 Aerospace - 303 Aerospace Protectant 16oz Elite Car Care - real nice finish, expensive, doesn't last that great for the cash. Megs Tyre Gel - Meguiars Tyre & Trim Gel - 946ml - Elite Car Care - good finish, goes far, can use on tyres too (sidewalls). Tends to be a little sticky and attract stuff to it. Those are all well and good but ultimately will last a week or two before it starts to lose its look, also they can streak in the wet which looks terrible. If you want to do it and put in some work (not to mention money) then get this - Gtechniq C4 Permanent Trim Restorer - 15ml - Elite Car Care - C4 from GTechniq. It I have used all the above and others on various vehicles over the years, but this hands down beats them. Took the neglected plastic on my Mini from grey to black and its well over a month now since applied. Looks like new after application. It's expensive at double the price for a tiny amount but it goes a long way. Half that bottle did every bit of plastic on my car which is the entire perimeter of it. Bit of work to put in with it, but well worth it.
Apologies... I thought I'd replied, but now the above poster has, not sure I need to.. But it's this Poorboys Natural Look Dressing - Clean Your Car
