Spic 'n Span

I ride my motorcycle, a lot. Not necessarily big miles, but I ride often. This summer, I have ridden back and forth to work in innumerable rainstorms, and I rode over 400 miles on wet roads, when I made my little weekend trip to the western slope, last month.

I wash the bike, fairly often, in a cursory manner. Only occasionally do I put it up on the pit stand and and clean the nooks and crannies. So, grime tends to build up on the wheels, swingarm, etc. Today, in preparation for the Distinguished Gentleman's Ride, on Sunday, I figured I should clean the Scrambler, for real.

So, up the bike went, onto the pit stand. I took the Corbin seat off, and planned on putting the stock seat back on for the ride. It has a more "classic" look to it, and I figured that it would be more appropriate.

I started wiping the rear rim off, before I thought to take a picture of the grime. You can see it, between the spokes, still.

The spokes, themselves, didn't look too much better.

Flossing.

The final results aren't too bad. Sometimes, I forget that there is chrome under all of that black goo.

In this picture, I have cleaned the left grip with a "magic eraser" sponge. The right is still untouched.

Here's the bike, all spic 'n span, glowing in the sun.  Where did all of the grime go?

Quite a bit of it went under my fingernails and on my knuckles!

As I rode home, yesterday, the bulb in the left front turn signal burned out. So, after the bike was clean, I decided to ride it down to Performance Motorcycle and get a replacement. I also needed a shield for my helmet.

Well, I got the shield, and a helmet to put it on. The new lid is a Speed and Strength SS600. I like the oldschool graphics, and the fit is nice, too.

I love the gold metalflake Daytona lid that I've been wearing. It's nice and visible in traffic, and I get a lot of compliments on it. Sometimes, though, I would like to be a little less flashy. I think this new helmet has a pretty classic/classy look. I'll probably wear it, Sunday, for the ride.

I'm looking forward to the ride, and I'm happy that I was able to raise some money to fight Prostate Cancer (although, I would like to raise more!).

Look for ride pictures, soon after Sunday.

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