Bikes looking its age

[dion]

Hi just joined the forum and need some tips. I have a 1999 r1100gs and although its in great mechanical shape it looks a bit wethered in places as i use it all year the rocker cover bolts have gone rusty annd can't seem to find any on the tinterweb. can an any one advise?
Also thinking of having the wheels cleaned up and sprayed as can't afford new spokes at £4 each from bmw and can anyone recomend an independant bmw mechanic in the cornwall area for the jobs i haven't the balls to tackle

 

[Stewart H]

They do get to acquire a patina of use, the rocker cover bolts are available in stainless,try ebay or motorworks etc, but look a bit overshiny in my opinion, silver hammerite and an artists brush may do it but touch ups can stick out like the dogs danglies, there was a thread somewhwere about some outfit that were powdercoating wheels whole for a decent price, try searching, I have not seen the results but it may be an option, one of the advantages of the GS is that they look okay dirty

Stewart

 

[dion]

I agree they do look ok dirty but i'm an engineer and i know what will come of the rockercover allen bolts if i leave it too long don't want to hide the problem later with paint. have tried ebay and motorworks but no joy yet

 

[Stewart H]

I agree they do look ok dirty but i'm an engineer and i know what will come of the rockercover allen bolts if i leave it too long don't want to hide the problem later with paint. have tried ebay and motorworks but no joy yet

I was going to suggest Stagonset but I seem to remember they have gone under, those allen bolts are very unlikely to seize, they pass through rubber in the cover and screw directly into the head in a warm oily place, I did remove them once, how about removing them, wire brushing them and spraying them up? I have some dark silver spray for steel wheels that ought to look okay, tough stuff too.from memory the ebay stainless ones were in the order of £4.50 each, not bad until you realise there are eight of them
Stewart

 

[MattW]

I cleaned mine up with a dremel brass cup brush (yes, I'm very sad but my new 4000 series dremel is ace ) and I painted them with silver smooth Hammerite as Stewart suggests.

However if you want stainless ones, this gang do them - sit down before following the link though...

http://www.shawstainless.co.uk/www.shawstainless.co.uk/info.php?p=5

 

[Nobby]

North devon wheel com,south molton.have a look at them

 

[Stewart H]

North devon wheel com,south molton.have a look at them

Were those the guys who were powdercoating whole wheels?

Stewart

 

[alistairl]

Hi just joined the forum and need some tips. I have a 1999 r1100gs and although its in great mechanical shape it looks a bit wethered in places as i use it all year the rocker cover bolts have gone rusty annd can't seem to find any on the tinterweb. can an any one advise?

Not sure if I'm reading your question right but are you saying you can't find rocker cover bolts on the interweb ? http://www.motorworks.co.uk/bmw/products/product.php?f=b&bke=bmw&q=ENA54223&x=17&y=9

 

[Nobby]

Not sure.they do bmw wheels and powder coating.might do but anyone doing powder coating will probably do it

 

[waterloo700]

I bought a nickel plating kit for £50 off e-bay. Did all the one-off bolts and then moved on to make other non-shiny things shiny again.

There is a certain zen-like satisfaction in seeing these things come back to life - anyone who feels compelled to type "just ride the thing" .....I know what you mean but I just can't stop and I need help!