Look for a stock image of your motorcycle when it was brand-new, then compare it to the one you actually possess. Your computer has aged well, don’t you think?
For those of you who had a pang of… something during that activity, this post is for you. Although the kilometers were worthwhile, your bike does seem a little worn out, don’t you think? Maybe you took up a “good bones” project with the idea of restoring the light out of a sense of ownership. Maybe it’s time to sell, and you figure a well-kept bike would bring in a bit more money. There are several reasons to give attention to your bike’s appearance.
I like to think of myself as Common Tread’s resident cheapskate since master mechanic Zito texts me pictures whenever he “Greasesers” an issue with a cheap but effective remedy. That makes me as qualified as anybody on the CT team to help you through the process of sprucing up a bike without spending a lot of money, especially when combined with my fleet of junk-turned-kinda-nice bikes. Remember, we’re not talking about mechanics here; if the bike isn’t operating smoothly, look for assistance elsewhere on Common Tread.
Let’s start riding some old motorcycles. Washing the bike, polishing the chrome, vinyl wrapping, Plasti Dipping, mending plastics, popping dents, simple painting, replacing seat covers, and more are covered in this course.
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Clean your bicycle!
Some folks prefer the well-traveled look that a little grime gives their bike. Your bike is definitely a little bit dirtier than you realize for everyone else. Start by reading our comprehensive guide to cleaning your bike. Here is a brief summary.
- Prepare the work area and the motorbike
- Spray some simple water on the motorbike.
- Apply a suitable chemical to the motorcycle and wash it.
- Rinse\sDry
- the drive chain with lubricant
- Use wax or polish to protect the paint.
Getting your bike detailed is another alternative, despite the fact that it offends my cheapskate tendencies. A “clean” bike and a “very clean” bike may sell for quite different prices, making the extra work worthwhile. If you’re thinking about doing your own detailing, find out how much your neighborhood shop is charging for a deep clean and compare that cost to how much you value your time. From that angle, hiring an expert might not cost you all that much. I use lemon Pledge to clean the plastic parts of my dirt motorcycles after each ride. My post-ride wash often removes all dirt and mud, keeping my bikes clean and smelling fresh in the garage.
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Motorcycle chrome polishing and cleaning
Start with our excellent post on caring for chrome in our archives. Dirt, tar, and other muck that has gathered on your motorcycle’s glossy components may be removed with common materials. Recall that chrome doesn’t rust; the steel beneath is what causes the bubbling, cracking, or worn-out appearance. Once the chrome has begun to break apart, only fresh chrome will restore its original appearance, which requires either replacement components or rechroming. Here are some tips to help you survive when your bank account is low.
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Start by using your preferred anti-rust treatments to remove any existing rust. Cleaning your part with a Chore Boy copper scrubbing pad and a solvent, such as acetone or kerosene, is an excellent place to start. My favorite inexpensive, non-toxic choices for sections that can be removed and submerged are vinegar and Evaporust. Gels like Permatex Rust Dissolver or naval jelly can be used to remediate in-situ components that would be too difficult to remove. (However, navel lint is ineffective against rust.) If the chrome is really damaged (flaking, significant rust holes and patches, significant pitted parts), I’ll clean the surface with water and crumpled aluminum foil. Some people would claim that this is OK for any chrome, but I would never use this method to anything respectable.
The naked steel surfaces where the rust once peeled through will need to be treated in some way to prevent more rust once the rust removers have been neutralized. Here’s a free method to cover up the naked steel surfaces and lessen the humiliation of seeing damaged chrome: Spray some silver spray paint onto a cloth, coating it well. To ensure that the silver paint stays in the cracks and spaces, use the rag to press it down into the steel. Then, wipe the chrome clean as you would with furniture scratch filler. Yes, your ugly pitted chrome still there, but from six feet away, silver paint seems better than rust. When it comes to the thin chrome plating seen on Japanese bikes from the 1970s and 1980s, this is extremely useful.
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One further piece of advice: Zinc plating is less risky, simpler, and more affordable than chrome plating. If you’re handy, you could probably construct yourself a respectable zinc plating equipment for less than $200. On elements like brackets, pedals, linkages, hardware, and chain adjusters, to mention a few, zinc looks well at home. Here is a great video that illustrates the options.
Putting vinyl on a motorbike
There are two fallacies about vinyl wrap that need to be debunked. First off, wrapping a completely or even partially faired bike is not inexpensive. Around the sharp edges and aerodynamic elements of contemporary motorcycles, vinyl wrap is particularly difficult to apply. Complex forms require ability to apply the material precisely, and competent labor is not inexpensive. (Wrapping a whole S 1000 RR will be lot harder and more expensive than wrapping a Sportster tank or fender stripe.)
Second, vinyl wrapping can’t completely take the role of paint. Wrap is more akin to the factory-applied graphics on motorcycles. It dislikes scuffs, prolonged sun exposure, and gasoline spills. In actuality, vehicle-grade vinyl has a lifespan of five years, which can be shortened if the covered car is left outside in the weather unprotected every day. These qualities are advantageous if you only want to temporarily alter the appearance of your vehicle.
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Motorcycle Plasti Dippinga
Plasti Dip develops a reputation as a miracle solution for affordable and simple aesthetic updates, similar to vinyl wrap. Let’s discuss various uses and some limitations for Plasti Dip for bikes even if I myself don’t like it. But let’s first confirm that we are speaking the same language.
Old-timers won’t associate Plasti Dip with a removably applied, flexible spray coating. The first version of Plasti Dip was toxic ooze in a container. You might, for instance, dip the bare metal handles of your pliers into the substance to rubberize them. Except perhaps on the ball ends of your levers, as seen on certain vintage cycles, you wouldn’t want to use that stuff on your bicycle.
The same manufacturer produces what we now refer to as Plasti Dip, but it is applied with a rattlecan similar to how paint is applied. When Plasti Dip spray dries, a thin, rubbery film is left on the surface. When these layers are built up sufficiently, a protective, mostly matte finish that protects the base surface appears. If you wish to go back to what you had, properly applied Plasti Dip may be removed; the operative word here is “properly.” You’ll rub your fingers raw attempting to remove it since a single pass of Plasti Dip spray is not durable enough to survive peeling after it has dried. For the spray to create a coating that will eventually peel off cleanly, it takes around five passes. A popped balloon’s thickness and flexibility can be used as an analogy. Do not imagine that one can will suffice to complete a motorcycle. If you’re interested in dipping, the knowledge in this video significantly outweighs the cost of production.
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Plasti Dip spray has a highly potent smell and ought to only be used in an area with sufficient ventilation that is open to the air. It’s bad for your brain cells and the environment. It’s crucial to be aware that Plasti Dip dissolves in petrol, so if you want to dip a tank, you’ll need to get inventive or use extreme caution every time you fill up. After I made the error of purchasing a motorbike that had been Plasti Dipped by its former owner with only one pass, making the dip almost unpeelable, I took advantage of this information. I spent many days cleaning the dip with a towel that had been drenched in gas. If you dip your bike, don’t scrimp on the spray!
My father’s notion for my own favorite Plasti Dip application was born. On his late 1960s Honda, he requested a certain tire, but a whitewall version wasn’t offered. The task was completed using white Plasti Dip and highly precise tape application. He hasn’t had any problems other than the hue turning a creamy white since that time, which was about four years ago. It’s important to note that this specific bike is better suitable for Sunday rides than for everyday commuting.
Fairings repair
Oh wow, this is a difficult one. Fairings almost ever look as nice as they did before to the incident, and the price of a reasonable repair generally steers people like me to eBay for used models or the aftermarket for a fresh start. We won’t discuss it as this essay is about simple, inexpensive remedies. (But seriously, for the majority of the widely used completely faired bikes out there, firms like Auctmarts can mail you an entire set of plastics for a fraction of OEM cost.) Your first step should be to minimize your expectations because a smooth fairing repair is practically difficult to complete without paint and bodywork. Here, we’re seeking for quick and inexpensive upgrades rather than a concours restoration.
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Do some research first. Find out what you already have before acquiring supplies since motorcycle fairings can be composed of a number of materials, including plastics, fiberglass, and carbon fiber. Use forums for your bike to find out what other owners are using to patch their bikes back together as a glue that works for one material may cause issues for another. Just keep in mind that any glue made for direct contact with plastic won’t attach to paint the same way if the interior of your fairings is painted. There may need to be some sanding.
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When working with basic ABS fairings in the past, I’ve found that two-part epoxy works best. Another option is to use a steady hand and a “hot staple” gun. The cannon heats a short, bent bit of wire until it is hot enough to press into the plastic. The fracture is held together as the fairing cools around the wire. In my experience, “welding” plastic with filler material is a dubious concept at best. AVOID using Gorilla Glue and superglue (cyanoacetate).
From the rear side of the fairing, fiberglass is quite simple to patch; any auto parts store should have all the fiberglass and resin you need to do simple repairs. Similar steps are needed to repair carbon fiber, but if you own a motorbike with a carbon fairing, you undoubtedly have the money to hire a professional to do it.
To maintain the side that faces the outside, try to apply your repairs as much as you can to the back of the fairing. If you’re fortunate enough to locate a paint match, a patch of vinyl wrap can be utilized to conceal the damage. Fill any minor holes or cracks on the repair’s exterior with toothpaste after sealing up any cracking from the rear. Certainly toothpaste. Simply filling the surface will allow the vinyl wrap to follow its contours properly. Lay the vinyl down after allowing the toothpaste to dry and smoothing it with an emery cloth. The most effective toothpaste is white toothpaste with baking soda in it. Whatever option you choose, the paste may be removed if you ever decide to have the crack fixed by a professional by dissolving it and washing it away. The toothpaste and vinyl method also helps fairings that have been gouged or rashed but do not have cracks.
Creating dents on a fuel tank
Another issue without a lot of a simple, affordable answer is dents, yet we’ve all experienced them, right?
Imagine your tank has an unattractive dent from a tip-over. Call a paintless dent repair business for a price if the paint is still intact and the damage is no bigger than a grapefruit. Paying for a bit of their time and knowledge may be less expensive than purchasing all the necessary instruments to do it yourself because they remove dents from thin sheet metal all day. The majority of DIY dent repair kits come with a puller, a suction or adhesive device, and an instruction pamphlet with vague instructions. For large items, I’ve found that GoPro suction mounts—using a GoPro as a handle—work better than any of them. Do this when the bike’s tank is off.
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Small dents might be challenging. The process of removing paint from the dented area to expose steel for the welder is very effective when using a stud welder and slide hammer, but since most people don’t have stud welders in their home garages, you should at least try to have a dent-pulling professional take a shot at it at that point.
For popping dents, compressed air is a commonly disregarded alternative. The dent may be removed from the inside of the tank by inserting a manual-pump blood pressure cuff between the tunnel and the tank side and inflating it. A water bottle that has been crumpled up and has a hole drilled into the top to accommodate a blow cannon connected to a compressor may be used for the same trick. Whatever it takes to reduce Bondo!
If the paint has broken, you have three options: DIY pop’n’paint, buying a replacement tank, or hiding the damage (Stompgrip occasionally works if the dent is in the knee-gripping region). Once paint and bodywork are involved, you’ll be shocked at how rapidly labor costs for a little dent escalate. A new can of factory-original paint is probably not going to match the paint on your bike because it has probably faded over time. This disappointment has frequently been felt by me.
Organize the co*ckpit
Pay close attention to the bike’s co*ckpit. Do you have any complaints about this place while you ride? Broken grips and a cracked mirror? Rust stains on your hardware and ruined paint due to a master cylinder leak? As the only part of the bike you can see while riding, the co*ckpit is a great area to concentrate your efforts.
It’s simple enough to swap out grips. The tiniest blow gun tip you have should be used to blast compressed air between the rubber and the handlebar if they won’t slide on or off. This should cause the grip to move with practically no resistance. If you’re truly strapped for cash, Harbor Freight’s DG-10 is only $4.
Nothing is more unsightly than a front master cylinder that is leaking, complete with bubbling paint and disgusting brake boogers around the lid seal. Get rid of the trash off the bike, wash the brake parts with water, tape the machined mating surfaces, and paint the master cylinder’s caliper. Unfortunately, DOT 3 and DOT 4 fluid will eventually be vulnerable to brake fluid leaks; this is a reality of life. Before reinstalling and bleeding your system, let the paint completely cure. Also, keep a moist cloth on hand to clean up any brake fluid spills. Once everything is shut up, you should be secure. If available, replace the cap’s screws to complete your reservoir repair.
Painting the wheels of your motorbike
Motorcycle wheels may be filthy. It might be pricey to buy new wheels or paint your current ones. What can a tightwad do?
Unlucky individuals among you will have to cope with minor dents and chips, most often from tiny stones and tire levers. I’ve been fixing wheels utilizing some fundamentals I picked up from a few Australian car YouTubers. Remove the wheel weights, wipe the wheel down, and then disassemble all the braking parts. The tire may then be completely deflated by removing the valve stem core. Next, use sandpaper to smooth out any nicks or paint damage. To achieve various wheel elements, you can wrap sandpaper around a wooden dowel or a Sharpie. Dings can be smoothed out by using Bondo or JB Weld to fill them in. (Never patch up holes or cracks in a wheel. If you are unsure about any damage, have an expert inspect your wheel.)
When you’re finished with the preliminary work, the entire wheel should be flawlessly smooth to the touch. To avoid unattractive overspray, clean everything once more with mineral spirits, wipe it down with a tack cloth, and tuck playing cards between the tire and the rim. In a pinch, index cards will work, but plastic-coated playing cards will slip between the wheel and tire with ease.
Apply caliper paint or engine paint from the auto parts store to the wheel. These paints are frequently durable and simple to use. To make touch-ups simple, you may either add a clear coat on top of the paint or leave it alone. Make careful to give the paint enough time to cure and dry. Remount the wheel, balance it, and reinstall the valve stem core. Make that everything has been put properly, paying specific attention to the axle and braking elements.
Restoring it after painting it black
A component often only need a fresh coat of paint to look as it should. I’d want to share my down-and-dirty rattlecan method with you since modern high-performance aerosols can do a respectable job of restoring and preserving your parts.
The part should first be cleaned with the mildest solvent possible, completely dried, and then smoothed with sandpaper. Is the component still primarily painted in its original color? If so, try to resist the urge to take everything apart to the bare metal. In general, factory paints are of far higher quality than those you may find at your neighborhood hardware or auto parts store. Simply applying a decent finish over the worn original paint will do. Use gradually finer sandpaper to smooth out the component until it is completely smooth to the touch. Generally speaking, whatever you can sense will manifest itself in the finished painting. Any exposed steel portions should be primed with auto-grade primer before being buffed with 800 grit.
I steer clear of the standard paints and only use the specialist varieties. Frames and brackets benefit greatly from chassis/rollbar coatings. A wonderful option for parts that will be in close proximity to a lot of heat is grill paint, as well as paint for automobile engines. Even though sprayable enamel paint might be tricky, it works best for inexpensively replicating factory paint on antique bikes. Caliper paint comes last. As long as you follow the instructions on the container and spray at an appropriate ambient temperature, caliper paint—which I regard to be my secret weapon in the backyard paint booth—is both strong and simple to apply.
A mixed bag is clear coatings. A two-part clear coat should be applied to anything that might come into contact with gasoline to avoid further gummification of the freshly painted surface. The finest I’ve found are 2K clear coatings from Eastwood or Spraymax. I use the same brand clear coat as the paint I used on generic pieces that won’t come in contact with gasoline or brake fluid, even though I’ve mixed brands before without any problems. Although I finished a set of fork lowers that way two years ago and they still look wonderful, I seldom use clear coat over caliper paint.
Preparation is key when using paint, as most do-it-yourselfers will tell you, and they’re correct. What about execution, though? For instance, if you have an outside spraying area or pets that shed a lot of hair, shield your flawless paint job from obtrusive detritus while it dries by placing a clean plastic container over it.
Recover the seat of your motorbike
A ripped seat is unsightly. I won’t try to top Lemmy’s thorough instructions for reupholstering a seat, which are provided here for your education and pleasure.
For those of you riding bikes with basic, one-piece vinyl seat coverings, I’d like to provide a few additional ideas. Particularly prevalent on sport motorcycles, dirt bikes, and nakeds are these. Purchase a square yard of the desired color marine-grade vinyl. Then, after removing the old seat cover, proceed as instructed by Lemmy. Over the marine vinyl, spread out the original cover flat and trace it, leaving an inch or so around each edge. Bam! You just created a seat cover for practically nothing. The only other piece of advice I have is to run a line of 3M Super 77 spray glue directly down the centre of the seat, not on the sides, from the front to the rear. This will prevent the vinyl from shifting as you walk forward and backward while allowing the cover to extend out and move freely along the edges. With a new utility blade, remove any extra vinyl, and you’re done. Feel free to make errors! Marine vinyl costs $10–$15 per square yard, which is often enough for two coverings.
Reinstall the reflectors?
Want to improve the appearance of your bike without spending much money or time, especially if you want to sell it? Switch out the reflectors. They are all.
The first components that are often removed from a new motorbike are reflectors and factory plate hangers. Yes, replacing these parts gives the bike a somewhat more edgy appearance, but edgy is clean, and clean is preferable. Who knows—maybe my notion is completely unfounded in this case. I believe it’s a low-cost solution to restore the bike’s luster and draw in a more responsible buyer.
Does your motorbike appear to be a little less worn-out?
It feels wonderful to get these restoration hacks for motorcycles out of my garage and into yours, where they may perhaps help give whatever you have some life. This is the largest collection of motorcycle restoration hacks I’ve ever published. In my early years, I was simply unable to buy a nice motorbike, let alone the necessary repair materials. I have no regrets. I saved a few wrecks, picked up a ton of new skills, and even got one of my inexpensive restorations accepted into a local exhibition.
By handling my own cosmetic work, I can save more money for far more crucial things like insurance, brakes, tires, routine maintenance, and petrol. These pointers ought to help you make the most of your motorcycle given the time and money you have available.
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