What did you do to your bike today?

[MPittma100]

Exhaust - After

Just completed a Venturer. Original 14K mileage bike. I rebuilt/repaired/adjusted the mechanical functions as well as an intense cosmetic cleaning. Original paint, original everything except for replacement of old rubber brake lines with ss lines. Would like to add that aluminum foil and Diet Coke worked wonders for removing rust, especially on the exhaust.

Obtained this one a year ago. Came out of Minnesota. It was complete. Had a few issues, but all are good now. Lot of work. Glad to be done! NEXT!

Will post some pictures when I get her out in the sunshine.

[MPittma100]

Exhaut Pics - Before

Just completed a Venturer. Original 14K mileage bike. I rebuilt/repaired/adjusted the mechanical functions as well as an intense cosmetic cleaning. Original paint, original everything except for replacement of old rubber brake lines with ss lines. Would like to add that aluminum foil and Diet Coke worked wonders for removing rust, especially on the exhaust.

Obtained this one a year ago. Came out of Minnesota. It was complete. Had a few issues, but all are good now. Lot of work. Glad to be done! NEXT!

Will post some pictures when I get her out in the sunshine.

[timktm]

Shaved and formed my seat today. Hopefully it will keep me from sliding forward when I ride.
Tim

[Prisoner6]

Did up some fancy new old-school decals, pinstriped, and re-cleared everything...she's gonna be awesome this year.

Nice work, G ...

Love the GREEN!

[Garagamus]

Did up some fancy new old-school decals, pinstriped, and re-cleared everything...she's gonna be awesome this year.

[Prisoner6]

Just completed a Venturer. Original 14K mileage bike. I rebuilt/repaired/adjusted the mechanical functions as well as an intense cosmetic cleaning. Original paint, original everything except for replacement of old rubber brake lines with ss lines. Would like to add that aluminum foil and Diet Coke worked wonders for removing rust, especially on the exhaust.

Obtained this one a year ago. Came out of Minnesota. It was complete. Had a few issues, but all are good now. Lot of work. Glad to be done! NEXT!

Will post some pictures when I get her out in the sunshine.

Mike,

Can't wait to see the pics of your completed Venturer ... your work always yields stellar results!

[nzemke]

Trying to finish up the repaint of the emblems. Our hastings finally restocked their model car paint...so no time like the present! Just a little more touch up and I should be good to go!

[2manybikes]

I spent about 7 hard hours yesterday polishing 20 years of road gunk off one of the head pipes on a 96 Guzzi I bought last summer. My right arm, shoulder and fingers were killing me, so I decided to let the remainder of that project sit for a while. I did spray the last couple inches of it with cold oven cleaner. I doubt it will do squat, but there is always a slim chance my cynical opinion will be disproved. I have been using 0000 steel wool and Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish on it, and have been quite impressed with the results. If they ever stop making it, I may as well sell my bikes. That is the single best product I have ever used. A friend of mine (almost 50 years) turned me on to "Evaporust". Good stuff, and environmentally friendly. A pleasant surprise. Got a tub of miscellaneous stuff soaking so I stirred that up and took an old toothbrush to some of the nastiest pieces, and dropped them back in. Then I shot an eclectic pile of scooter parts with some rust encapsulating undercoating I got from Eastwood. I have never been disappointed with anything I purchased from them, and this was not an exception. I will need to do a few more coats, but this stuff is easy to use. Then I perused a 79 F parts bike I got a few days ago to see what I would be able to use. I then spent a few hours on the Guzzis's left front fork with Mothers, and decided I had had enough for one day. Now it's time to sip some of Tennessee's finest, look for more parts, and research some of the questions I thought of while I spent 13 hours in what my fiancee refers to as the "chrome zone". I did finally get lucky and find someone who understands!

[MPittma100]

Phosphoric Acid

Yes, the foil is used as a scrubber used along with the Diet Coke. You would be surprised at how effective this method is. I did the entire exhaust on the Venturer - it looked like new. Will post some before and after pix after upload to Photobucket.

I fold the foil to about 4-6 layers thick into a small pad, dip in the coke and have at it. It will not scratch the chrome, but will remove the rust.

Thanks for the compliment on the red SF. I think the Venturer will be quite close to the SF in appearance even with no repainting.

There is a Yamaha Venture, but the 1981 XS1100 Standard was named Venturer. It had rear bags, fairing, and luggage rack from the factory - not from the dealer. Yamaha used the Special exhaust on it. It had a one gallon
(6.3) bigger tank and was one color only (dark metallic blue). No one is sure of how many were made.

Mike:

I'm sure lot folks are curious....aluminum foil and diet Coke?

Coke has lots of phosphoric acid, and phosphoric acid is good for removing rust. That makes sense. The phosphor might even be good for making a protective barrier?

Never heard about aluminum foil- do you just wad it up and dip it in Coke, and get rubbing?

After seeing your red Special XSSE last fall, I'm dying to see pictures of the Venture(r?). I think you stole that Special off the cover of the Clymer's manual.

[Radioguylogs]

Mike:

I'm sure lot folks are curious....aluminum foil and diet Coke?

Coke has lots of phosphoric acid, and phosphoric acid is good for removing rust. That makes sense. The phosphor might even be good for making a protective barrier?

Never heard about aluminum foil- do you just wad it up and dip it in Coke, and get rubbing?

After seeing your red Special XSSE last fall, I'm dying to see pictures of the Venture(r?). I think you stole that Special off the cover of the Clymer's manual.

[MPittma100]

Venturer

Just completed a Venturer. Original 14K mileage bike. I rebuilt/repaired/adjusted the mechanical functions as well as an intense cosmetic cleaning. Original paint, original everything except for replacement of old rubber brake lines with ss lines. Would like to add that aluminum foil and Diet Coke worked wonders for removing rust, especially on the exhaust.

Obtained this one a year ago. Came out of Minnesota. It was complete. Had a few issues, but all are good now. Lot of work. Glad to be done! NEXT!

Will post some pictures when I get her out in the sunshine.

[Garagamus]

Lets just say, if I'd known at the time, I wouldn't have probably done it. Whole front end has gotta be dropped. Luckily it was coming apart anyways.

[nzemke]

That's a good looking bike! How much of a pain is it to add the fork boots?

[Garagamus]

As promised, new paint. Can't wait for riding season to begin...although, with the weather we've been having...that could be Friday.

[nzemke]

Finished rewiring the new Tachometer last night. The Tank is all cleaned up. I dismantled the fuel cap and hit it with steel wool. Tonight I will start polishing the chrome. My new petcock seals will be here tomorrow. All that I'm waiting on now is for the paint guy to finish up the side panels and headlamp cover. I'm ready to get this all put back together so I can go for a ride!