To this day I don't think I have found the perfect solution to eliminate this undesirable admirer. I have tried almost everything. Rust is one of those things that everyone knows their own foolproof technique to remove. It's like hiccups, they can scare you, drink backwards, count to a hundred, stop breathing ... but surely you will continue to have hiccups until you forget you have them.
Remove rust with Coca Cola
Who hasn't heard that Coca-Cola is the best rust removal remedy? Indeed, Coca-Cola, by containing phosphoric acid , removes part of the rust from metal parts, but it is by no means a panacea against rust. Partly because of trying such a miraculous remedy and partly because of the curiosity that this urban legend aroused in me, the truth is that it was the first thing I did. I bought two bottles because it had rust to bore… But I ended up drinking half.
This was the result with Coca-Cola : although you can see that some pieces have recovered their color, there was still a lot of rust to remove.
Remove rust with vinegar
Investigating a little more I discovered and found that vinegar , containing acetic acid , also removed rust, and did so more effectively than Coca-Cola. Vinegar has another peculiarity that makes it a good remedy: in a mother's pantry it can always be found at a more than affordable price.
Remove rust with chemicals
For larger pieces I used more abrasive industrial products with surprising results. The problem was that when left in the open, in a few days they would rust again. I suppose that the product, in addition to removing rust, also removed the protective layer of the metal and made it rust faster. However, we can fix this with a coat of colorless varnish after the process. One of the most effective products I tried was oxalic acid .
Remove rust with a scouring pad
Finally I discovered that one of the most effective and least harmful ways to remove rust from a motorcycle was to use the typical stainless steel “ nanas ” type scourer , and if we want a much finer and scratch-free result, the 000 steel wool .
Previously, the piece is greased with oil (3 in 1 or the miraculous WD-40 , or polish ), to help the oxide to better remove scale from the piece and create a layer that prevents scratches, let it rest and then rub with the steel wool. Far from scratching the part, it removes rust quite well and gives it a shine. To advance faster I attached the scourer to a drill.
My greatest acquisition and inseparable companion in restorations in general, and to remove rust from a motorcycle in particular, was the Dremel , a small drill to which a multitude of components for cutting, drilling, polishing, etc. can be attached. To remove rust there are brushes, which, added to the high speed of the machine, make rust jump into the air! In my case I have a Dremel - 3000, and it is going great, although they have already released several more modern models.
It was a shame to discover this method when I had spent days and days leaving my hands with abrasive products. To this day I wake up every night with the big toe of my right hand asleep, every night, and always the same finger. Surely this has a more accurate medical explanation, but I attribute it to the amount of product that my hands absorbed those days. Some consequence had to have ...
If after having removed the rust from your motorcycle you want to polish the metal parts , head over to this other entry .
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