Little Tricks

Glasses.

Not the safety kind.
But the reading kind. Keep 'em handy. I usually do.......but got lazy and:

I grabbed the white chain-lube, instead of the spray polish, and proceeded to lube my seat and stff. What a mess!

At least it won't rust.

I learned many many moons ago to not ArmorAll the seat. First time I cracked the throttle after a nice cleaning job my bike almost went for a ghost ride. I laughed about it for a while, but never did it again

"The 130$ can of chain lube".....

Tip:

Put yer chain lube in a zip-lok bag, and load it last.

Obv reason why? - when someone tosses it back in your GEAR bag after using it you may be suprised to find your helmet is fulla spooge after the drive home.

No, it wasnt funny- AT ALL!

Only when it's yer helmet, Kel.

lol

Kickstand help

http://www.cafehusky.com/forums/showthread.php?t=692

I use 50ml diesel, to 50ml kero 20 ml light oil for a penetrator. Also on some bound(?) nuts/bolts, spray it with a butane gas, lpg..to make it really cold in a hurry, hit it with a bit of hot water for sudden temp drop and they sometimes "pop". I sec. the grease wiped on the airbox area's. also,a thin bead on the surface the airfilter mates too. R3 alvania is awesome water proof stuff. ( shell). this stuff doesnt get pushed around by water in any hurry. When younger and the parents paid for things..hehe, i used to keep a master link and spare clutch cable on the bike.Duct tape the ends up and clip inplace ready to use.

Run a spare set of parallel cables next to the ones installed and zip tie them in place. One set fails second set is run and all you have to do is switch ends. A dab of grease on ends seals them up until ready.

The tube inside the handle bars makes a great place for a siphon hose.

Stash on your bike, zip ties, safety wire and duct tape. A little bit in a pinch of any of those can get you home.

Silicone spray your fenders -all around and underneath- frame and motor. It keeps the mud from sticking.

WD-40 makes a great cleaner and you can fog your entire bike for winter storage..clean it off when ready to ride.

A friend who is a really good A enduro rider, showed me this trick, when he pitted for me during the AM race at Unadilla GNCC in '06. It was very wet and rained hard just off the start. I forgot to pack extra gloves in my fanny pack or with my gas can. When I stopped for gas, my gloves were soaked. He wrapped my grips with blue paper shop towels and they wicked the moisure right out of my gloves. I was amazed. I now always carry some blue paper shop towels in my bag. I used the trick at an enduro last year when my gloves were soaked and I could feel a blister coming on. It really works!
Norman

On cold winter rides I carry a pair of polar fleece type gloves inside my jacket next to my body. When we stop for a break I put my riding gloves in my jacket and wear the belly gloves that are warm and toasty. When the break is over my riding gloves (Tour Master Polar-Tek) are warm and toasty. Wearing one pair of gloves all day long on a winter ride will leave the phalanges cold and almost useless. Cold toes is one thing, but cold phalanges I can't handle.

Found out about ACF-50. Aviation inspired. Its like wd40 but stronger and has rust inhibitors. Advertises it will get underneath the rust and stop corrosion on aluminum. About the consistency of 10w motor oil. Purple in color, I use it in a spray bottle or a rag.

Used it on a bare chromoly frame at the pismo beach race 1&2. Frame still has the surface finish it came with and no rust. Of course you will need to reapply time to time. A buddy I told about it uses it on his concrete finishing equipment floats etc.. he was pretty enthused about it, keeps asking me for more

Flat tire

If you seam to get flat tires in the middle of no where...carry zip ties with you. Put the zip ties in between the lugs and zip it up. I rode with a guy that finished an enduro like that. He was even faster than me lol.

On really muddy wet races/rides make a front fender extension on the sides and some in the front with Duct tape. You tape under your fender and on top building about a two inch extension. This prevents the mud from hitting your goggles and face. It really does improve vision when one set of roll offs won't do for a 2/3 hour race. The Blue Shop towel trick works excellent as Norm pointed out. When already wet you can wrap some around your grip and this way when you fall in the mud you use it for a bit to get the mud off your glove then peel a layer off and you have a fresh grip again.