S90: Rear Light Modification

Classic rookie mistake: there have been at least three different versions of the S90 taillight bracket over the years, and the first two I ordered were both wrong.

The first one I tried was made for a completely different type of fender.  So I ordered another one that I thought was right, but while it fit the curve of the fender, the mounting holes weren't in the right place.

So, Dremel time...  The left hole below is the original size and location.  On the right is how much metal I had to remove to make it fit.  Once both sides were done, it fit perfectly.

S90: Handlebars Stripped

Yanked out the winker wiring, speedo cable, and the remnants of the old left side handle grip.  We're now left with a nice clean handlebar that we'll have to build up from scratch.

Evapo-Rust

My gallon of Evapo-Rust got delivered the other day and I was pretty eager to see if it lived up to the hype.  Twenty-four hours later I was sold.

Not only is it effective, the process itself couldn't be simpler.  And it's non-toxic to boot.  And it's not that expensive ($26.95 shipped for my gallon jug).  And it's re-usable.  What more could you ask for?

So you take a badly rusted bolt that looks like this:

You soak it overnight, and end up with this:

Viola, no more rust!

S90: Winker Switch

Apparently they're commonly referred to as "winkers" in Asia as opposed to blinkers or turn signals. 

Popped it open to see what we had to work with.  The switch was stuck in place so I figured it couldn't get much worse.  Took everything apart and soaked the metal bits in carb cleaner (no plastics!) followed by a good scrub with the bristle brush.

Some of the rusty parts are soaking in Evapo-Rust now.  I think the stuck switch is due to the ball detent frozen in place.  Pictures of the cleaned up and (hopefully) repaired parts to follow soon...

S90: Speedo Inspection

Yanked out the speedo to take a closer look.  It seems in good shape except the green lens has come loose and the inside of the glass could use a good cleaning.  Unfortunately I have yet to figure out how to open the thing up.

S90: Polishing Continued

A little more polishing today... starting with the easy part of the clutch cover.

Before...

'

And after...

Also the dimmer switch... which I probably won't even get to use in the end, given that I inadvertently melted the plastic part of the switch with carb cleaner. 

S90: Aluminum Polishing Test

The bike will never look right until the paint is freshened up and the engine and chrome is polished.  I'd read up on aluminum polishing and it looked pretty straight-forward.  Decided to attack it as follows:

1. Clean with solvent and steel wool to remove any and all debris
2. Go at it with 400 grain sandpaper
3. Then 600 sandpaper
4. Then 1500 sandpaper
5. And finally apply a good metal polish

Worked like a charm!

The only metal polish I had was an ancient jar of BlueMagic polish but it still seemed to work pretty well.  I have a tube of Autosol coming by mail, though, so I'll have to compare that as I've heard it works wonders.

Before...

And after...