The (unprofessional) 'restoration' of an 1100GS...

[Dave T]

Looks good from a distance.
Whip the wheels out, get yourself several tubes of Autosol and some cheap toothbrushes from a supermarket and get scrubbing. They’ll come up really nice. It’ll take a few days though but we’ll worth the effort.

Rims, spokes and hubs ok with autosol?

 

[Dave T]

Oh, and it is the M97 gearbox

 

[Udders]

Rims, spokes and hubs ok with autosol?

Yep. The spoked wheels on my 24 year old 1150 are still like new.

 

[Udders]

You can also do the whole exhaust system with it.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Looks good from a distance.
Whip the wheels out, get yourself several tubes of Autosol and some cheap toothbrushes from a supermarket and get scrubbing. They’ll come up really nice. It’ll take a few days though but we’ll worth the effort.

Don’t put autosol on those rims

They’re anodised silver

You will ruin the anodising

Try Cif bathroom mousse @ £2.50 a tin

Don’t need anything fancy

Do the whole bike and wash it off promptly

 

[Wrigsby1]

Not seen a crack in a fork leg like that before... Much of that is a clean up job and if you delve too deeply you'll be going backwards before forwards...

 

[Dave T]

Not seen a crack in a fork leg like that before... Much of that is a clean up job and if you delve too deeply you'll be going backwards before forwards...

Crack in the fork leg - where?
There's peeling Chrome at the tops, and a split in the plastic cover?

 

[Dave T]

Don’t put autosol on those rims

They’re anodised silver

You will ruin the anodising

Try Cif bathroom mousse @ £2.50 a tin

Don’t need anything fancy

Do the whole bike and wash it off promptly

I did wonder if they were anodised or something like that.

 

[Wrigsby1]

Crack in the fork leg - where?
There's peeling Chrome at the tops, and a split in the plastic cover?

I've never seen chrome peel like that on one of mine .. glad it's only that...I've an 11 at the mo... Mines a bit ugly and makes yours look pretty good... I'm on my 5th and they're very addictive

 

[GedJack]

Don’t put autosol on those rims

They’re anodised silver

You will ruin the anodising

Try Cif bathroom mousse @ £2.50 a tin

Don’t need anything fancy

Do the whole bike and wash it off promptly

I do like learning stuff. Never knew that

 

[HxH]

Depending if your turning that forever bike into a Garage Queen or intending riding as you have done with it, having fun as you go.
Then a simple clean up is all that seems to be required, wouldn't bother with polishing or waxing, apart from shiny bits like tank, like mentioned, Cif on n wash off with hot water or a good household cleaner will suffice, keeping costs low.
Parts that require a repaint, use Hammerite Silver lasting longer than spray on rattle cans, powder coating costs more, but a better job.
Dab paint some onto the ends of the rusty looking Nuts, make it look much better even close up.

But do have fun, till you get bored! Remember it's old, just needs a damn good clean!

 

[Dave T]

Try Cif bathroom mousse @ £2.50 a tin

Funnily enough, I had some of that upstairs... 'Do not use on Stainless Steel' says the instructions...

Spokes are stainless I presume....

 

[Dave T]

2 pages in, and I've not even cleaned it properly yet

 

[850GS-J]

That doesn’t look half bad!

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Funnily enough, I had some of that upstairs... 'Do not use on Stainless Steel' says the instructions...

Spokes are stainless I presume....

It’s fine
Spokes are chromed mild steel and certainly not stainless

 

[HxH]

As for polish, again household cheapness, buy a tin of Lemon Pledge Furniture Polish, not only does it remove dirt n grime from paint, it's gentle on painted surfaces, and smells great too coming back at ya from the now shiny tank.

Check for some under the kitchen sink.

 

[Stevea63]

Im tuning into this as I am in a similar place with my 1100, love learning the tips people have picked up over the years. I recall recommendations on silver paint for the front cover but no one seemed to stock it last time I looked, any new recommendations ? ( I think it was from Aldi or Liddl .
Steve

 

[shifty]

My recently purchased 1150gs was much the same condition as yours, i wouldnt waste your time trying to clean old rusty bolts etc, just replace with stainless, its quite cheap to do , ive gone through most of mine and its cost me about £50 in stainless bolts, makes a big diffrence to the looks,, a word of caution tho dont put stainless into aluminium threads without coating in copaslip first,
Have a search round and find a local fastners supplier, buying of ebay or online for stainless is genrally a lot more expensive , . All the old tat is in the tub pictured

 

[shifty]

It’s fine
Spokes are chromed mild steel and certainly not stainless

you sure about that ?? the three 1150,s ive had inc the current one where all stainless spokes

 

[Dave T]

My recently purchased 1150gs was much the same condition as yours, i wouldnt waste your time trying to clean old rusty bolts etc, just replace with stainless, its quite cheap to do , ive gone through most of mine and its cost me about £50 in stainless bolts, makes a big diffrence to the looks,, a word of caution tho dont put stainless into aluminium threads without coating in copaslip first,
Have a search round and find a local fastners supplier, buying of ebay or online for stainless is genrally a lot more expensive , . All the old tat is in the tub pictured

I think I'll probably go down the stainless route. Motorworks do a 'kit' but it's a bit more than your £50. It might pay for itself in 'time saved' and multiple trips to the supplier though when you don't know what you need until you've taken them out.
Comment on Copaslip noted, thank you.