New to the forums! Cleaning a rusty bike?

Evening guys and gals.

first post on the forums, which im extremely happy i found!

ive got a quick cleaning question, im selling my bike to a friend and need to tidy it up before i sell. the sooner i get rid, the quicker i can get an SV!!!

i really am not a bikes person, as much as i love them, im usless at doing anything manually with them. well i did change the indictor myself

nywhoo ive attached some pics of the rust etc that i need to clean up. i have never cleaned the bike in the 2 years ive had it....

the exaust, is there anything i can i with it, should i take off all the excess rust or will that make it worse?

my tools, wd40, and a sponge. lol.

i appreciate any help

scott

Really never washed it? xD what age is it?

I recently cleaned the rust off my brother bike, but it require re-sanding and painting. I could be wrong but can it really get worse? worth a try with some WD40? TBh just a real good scrub would be good.

Maybe some autosol (Couple of quid from halfords) Metal polish and just use a rag/latex gloves and rub for a few hours brought my down pipe up great.

2006, when i first got it i scrubbed down the frame to repaint silver but never got round to it because i moved.

the garage has never told me off or mentioned its in such a bad condition that i really need to do it so i just, never...

[mikerj]

"God's teeth, what a heap" - in the words of an infamous cartoon character

Very gentle use of a plastic pan scrubber and WD40 will remove most of the rust on the fork, but don't go near the working area if it's not rusty. It will all come back very quickly though if neglected.

The exhaust can is scrap, simply not worth salvaging.

The painted areas will need rubbing down and repairing, you won't get rid of the rust any other way.

Correct me if I'm wrong but those fork legs look pitted quite badly. I was under the impression that if your forks got pitted, particularly in that state the it would be a MOT failure. The bike in the pics is in a bit of a state and probably worth very little at all in the condition it's in and would probably cost more to get into a roadworthy condition than it's worth. Personally I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot barge pole unless it was extremely cheap (free). The exhaust looks like pure rust, possibly rescuable with a wire brush and exhaust paint but I would be worried about rubbing through it with the wire brush.

If you haven't cleaned it for 2 years I cannot imagine what your potential SV would look like in a couple of months.

Hey Ho, it's your bike though and you can do with it as you please.

The condition . But more a self pride thing or maybe im just a clean freak xD

But you could always improve it some even without doing loads of work. better than it is now for your mate

+ is your break fluid level ok, i cant really see on pic?

He he, that bike makes yc's look good, ehaust is defo scrap, don't try cleaning it it will fall apart, as for the rest of the metallic parts try wiping with an oily rag, it's not like your going to do a full strip down and powder coat is it

i totally understand what your saying. because i no nothing about keeping it clean and mainly, being lazy, i just never did it. i mean the bike works perfectly fine, i love it! but yeah, not been the best owner hence why im trying to salvage it before it gets worse.

also with the next purchase, thats why im here, to learn from experienced riders how to look after it etc

again, i appreciate you replying

Originally Posted by Murph

The condition . But more a self pride thing or maybe im just a clean freak xD

But you could always improve it some even without doing loads of work. better than it is now for your mate

+ is your break fluid level ok, i cant really see on pic?

yeah, just had it serviced at weekend, mot was couple months ago

[Shellywoozle]

Blimey that's rusty ..... tip for ya SV, hot water and bike cleaner makes it clean ..... just for starters

Can't help with teccy stuff but WELCOME x