New baffles

I went out to do a little polishing to pass a few hours, okay an hour. Nothing on the TV and well, I have a ride out tomorrow. 

Someone might get the camera out and Suzi needs to look as good as I can get it. 

I was using Peek to clean up some surface rust on the shocks and luggage rack when I saw a bit around the top of the large exhausts.

I think the active ingredient in Peek is something that smells like pee. Pee not pea....

To make it easier I was also using a pan scourer! A little Peek and a light rubbing. Nothing too hard. The idea is to get the surface off and not scratch the chrome to buggery. 

I cleaned up the frankly disgusting oil coated chain guard with some oil/grease wipes and then Peek on there too.

I even had a go at the rusty rear mudguard. It's not in too bad shape apart from the rust around the frame mounting points. A shame but unless I can get a new one or maybe find someone to repair and rechrome then the 45 year old one has to stay. Around 30 years ago I removed it and gave it a clean and painted it with black car undercoat. Maybe that helped?

It looks a lot better. 

The chain looks a bit silvery pink. This is actually what the Slippit-In chain lube looks like!

My brother, Neill, gave it to me when we tidied out his garage earlier in the year when he was moving out of his flat. Weird stuff once it hits the chain!

I usually use Wurth chain oil.

This looks a little weak/thin when sprayed onto the chain but seems to do the job. I use it on Vera Strom too. In fact I took a can with me on the Czech trip. 

Peek Metal Polish

After slogging away with a tube or two of Solvol Autosol and making very little impact on the surface rust. I had a look on some forums and apart from "loyblox" there were few  alternatives. Then I saw Peek mentioned.

I bought a tin on Amazon Prime. I know we should shop locally but we are after all still in lockdown until June with only partial let offs!

Oddly in this day and age it comes in a tin with a lever off lid.  This seems to be a bad point according to the Amazon reviews.  

However, I don't have a problem with that.

With tubular metal I tend to use a method involving smearing a small area with the polish, And then with a thinnish, maybe two inch strip of cloth, I saw back and forth, like lighting a fire with a stick.  

Except instead of using a bow, I hold both ends of the cloth and work the paste into the chrome. I doubt this is original but it works for me. 

My only "talent" when at school and doing metalwork class was making rings.  Any size from  copper or "gilding metal" from a girlfriend's finger (she was unimpressed!) to larger rings like napkin rings! either highly polished with a beaten effect.

Peek is not as thick as Solvol so it is easier to spread across the area to be polished. It seems to work pretty well too. There is also a smell very reminiscent of pee.

I decided to test it on the Rickman rack. There is a lot of surface rust. I took before and after pics of one section.

Before

After

Not quite the same angle of dangle but with only about ten minutes of polishing the difference is marked.

I then moved to the handlebars and mirrors.  Neither were anywhere near as pitted as the rack and so they came up pretty well. Shiny!

The next job is to get out and finish the rack. Then move onto the rear mudguard and the chainguard.

From the photo above you can see chainguard is really manky. Oily and quite disgusting.