The thing that kills me is little spots of rust formations. My bike stays outside under a cover during riding season and I get little spots of rust on parts of the kick stand, on the bolt covers, on the alan screws to the oil filter cover, and around the bottom of the necks to the mirrors. But I suppose the only way to avoid that is garaging! Does this bother anyone else?

The oil leak used to cause a BIG mess. A few small drops of oil would go a long way in making a big mess once the wind blew it off the cooling fins. Hoping to end this annoyance by fixing the oil leak before riding season arrives here.

monkey see monkey do

now you do

Stop rust, no sanding necessary, just get some Ospho ( not the gel) from Kelly Moore. Last I gt was about 12 bux a quart. I keep that stuff around, cuz something I own needs a dab every month or so. It turns ion oxide to iron phosphate. It wont work thru thick rust, but stain, yea, its gd to the metal below. Wipe it off a bit, protect your paint & such, then, a dab of oil is better than rust.

Here is what I do. I wait for it to start raining then I go out and ride real fast.

I borrowed my mom small steam cleaner she bought at Wal_Mart. Its about the size of a tea pot. Cost somewhere around $25. I use it all the tie to clean my bike. It shoots a pretty powerful blast of steam that cleans off all the oil, road grime etc. without removing any paint. Works great! Gets in all the small areas that a brush or rag can't get to. It comes with all kinds of attachments. Even brass brushes that won't scratch chrome.