more maintenance

last sunday blessed me with some spare time to spend with Selene. this is only the second trip i've been able to make to her storage area in order to do the maintenance that i need/want to do. i packed up my usual stuff (coffee, munchies, music and tools) and headed off.

this trip was a test of how anal i can get when i'm cleaning something. as i was sitting next to Selene grooving to Deadbolt on my mp3 player i noticed how dirty the cooling fins on the engine were. knowing that these fins were mostly for looks (liquid cooled engine and all) it struck me that they should at least look clean. after poking around a bit, i noticed that there were several allen bolts holding the fins in place. i pulled out the bike's tool kit (yes, mine actually came with one) and removed the bolts. the fins came off rather easily and gave me this odd look at the engine.


Engine minus fins


so i sat there and cleaned and cleaned. i found out how difficult it is to get clean those damn little fins and realized that it was too late to stop. in the several hours that i was there i only got the right upper rear fins and most of the lower half cleaned. it was a real pain to get between the fins and getting the corrosion off the exposed aluminum was killing my fingers. to be fair, i really didn't have the right tools to clean between the fins. a screw driver and cloth have to be used very carefully...you really don't want to scratch anything. so yeah, i think new cleaning tools are in order.

the unfortunate thing is, that's all i got done. i spent an entire evening there and it felt like i got no where and there's so much more to do! not to mention the fact that i still haven't got my jack from my parents to remove the wheels for cleaning and new rubber. i want winter gone so much that i'm not thinking about how much time i need to clean...lol. of course, life always throws you a curve ball or two, like last week with joey in the hospital. no details here, but she is now doing well and back to her complaining self ;) i'm gonna get smacked for that one...

i know most people wouldn't even try to clean that hard and others would call me nuts for doing it, but i really care for the bike and want it to look as good as possible. i don't do it for anyone else but myself. it bugs me when she is dirty and it really irks me when i see rust, corrosion or chips. i've already turned one bike into a fixer-upper due to my own stupidity and i won't allow it to happen to this one.

3 comments:

Biker Betty said...

I don't dare look too close at my bike. I haven't cleaned it in months. I will have to see if I can remove my fins like you can. That would make cleaning them so much easier. Every now and then it's a good idea to give our bikes a good cleaning like you did. About 4 times a year I give my bike a very thorough cleaning, like you did. I love how it looks afterwards.

It just snowed yesterday. It's melting fast, but they layed a lot of rock on the roads due to severe icy roads yesterday evening, augh!!

Lucky said...

Jeeze, you guys make me glad that my bike doesn't have any cooling fins! I'm just curious though, if the fins are removeable, why not try popping them in the dishwasher? NOTICE: I will not take any responsibility if you actually decide to try this!!! It's just that a buddy of mine used to put all sorts of engine parts in the dishwasher to remove grime and dirt; I don't ever remember it screwing-up anything.

Cheers,
Lucky

Giest said...

betty: yeah, i cringed everytime i looked at Selene. i'm very fussy and fully believe that if you take care of a machine, it will take care of you.

we got nailed with another snow storm and are currently shovling things out. as a matter of fact, i had to go rescue joey last night. she got stuck in the parking lot...LOL.

lucky: honestly, i wish i had thought of the dishwasher before i wore out my hands cleaning between those cramped little things. it's an interesting suggestion and will be used for anything else i need to clean. wonder if i can get my wheels in the dish washer...