Categories
Gear Reviews Maintenance

Tru-Tension Leather Cleaner & Protect Conditioner Review

Motorcycle leathers don’t half get mucky, invariable covered in flies, splashed up crud, dust, split ice cream and other grime. And that’s just after one ride! Yet, we infrequently clean and maintain our protective motorcycle gear. So when Tru-Tension asked if I’d like to test out some of their best motorcycle leather cleaner and conditioner products, I was like ‘hell yeah, I need some of that, my motorcycle leathers are filthy!’

Leather Motorcycle Jacket Maintenance Time!

Tru-Tension cleaner & protect for leather motorcycle jacket maintenanceThe Tru-Tension leather cleaner and conditioner products come as a two-step set; first the cleaner to remove dirt and grime, then second the protector/conditioner to keep your leather supple, strong and water-resistant. Both come in 400ml bottles and typically sell for £10 each. Not the cheapest but let’s see how they perform, but then if you want your leathers to protect your skin, you should protect your leathers well.

To really test these Tru-Tension products, I dug out my black and white Alpinestars GP-Pro motorbike jacket, the white panels of which were looking pretty grimey and not that white anymore!

Have you been putting off your leather motorcycle jacket maintenance? Read on to see how the Tru-Tension products perform.

Categories
News

Spring Cleaning

Life in the Beginner Biker Adventures family has been very quiet, with only essential local travel allowed, there’s not a lot of motorcycle action occurring. I’m still stuck working from home, kids are back at school and Mary’s is still between nursing jobs with her new position taking stupidly long to start – you’d think there wasn’t a shortage of nurses in the NHS!

The bikes still need regular TLC to keep them in good shape. Keeping batteries charged, periodic running of fuel through the engines and keeping on top of any surface corrosion from the bikes being parked outside.

Bigger spring clean plans are underway on the house however, full-on declutter in progress, shabby paintwork is being repainted and other preliminaries prior to selling up. It’s surprising how much clutter you collect, needless spares from bikes, computer kit, DIY projects and other assorted junk. Even more surprising is how much some of it sells for on eBay and other marketplaces!

Now that restrictions gave eased from the 29th, we’ll be back out the bikes whenever we can.

Categories
Gear Reviews

Clean your Lid with the Muc-Off Helmet Care Kit Review

Muc-Off Helmet Care Kit
Muc-Off Helmet Care Kit Unpacked

So, when was the last time you gave the inside of your motorcycle helmet a clean? Sure, I bet you keep the visor clean of bugs, but what about all that padding on the inside that’s soaked up months or years of sweat and grime? It’s probably a bit stinky by now, but you still keep shoving your head in it without a second thought – yuck!  Here’s where Muc-off comes to the rescue, well known for bike care products, they also have a number of solutions for your helmet too. I recently spotted this Helmet Care Kit box in one of the Halfords sale bins, half price at £15 – bargain! Even better, upon checking the receipt later the kit had rung through the till at £5 – super bargain! But how does the kit stack up in practice? Read on to see if it managed to de-skank my lid.

Edit: This kit is currently heavily discounted over at Demon-Tweeks

Categories
Gear Reviews Maintenance

Downpipe Polish Review: OptiGlanz vs Autosol

Downpipe Cleaner Face Off - OptiGlanz vs AutoSol
OptiGlanz vs AutoSol

The lovely people at LDMotorcycles recently approached me to review some OptiGlanz metal downpipe polish. I took one look at my dirty, discoloured and pretty rough stainless downpipes and said “Yeah, alright then!”

My Fazer has some Motad stainless steel pipes I put on about 1.5 years ago, however my daily commute in all weathers has taken it’s toll. They’re still structurally sound, but cosmetically looking  a bit shabby. Discoloured, covered with ingrained crud and are splattered with spots of solid burnt on crap. Definitely in need of some TLC.

Categories
Maintenance

Polishing Clear Motorcycle Screen

Before
Before

The clear screen on Mary’s ZZR400 was really showing its age when we bought it. It was incredibly misty, scuffed and well, just not very clear. Ideally, we’d like to swap it for a nice new screen, But in the meantime, I went at it with some Meguiars PlastX polish. This is a fancy plastic/acrylic polish with microscopic abrasive particles, designed specifically for all kinds of plastics. Perfect for lights, screens, indicators, I even used it to good effect on my turntable lid!

After
After

It’s no good against deep scratches, but it will sort out tiny scuffs and get plastic looking shiny, glossy and transparent again.

As you can see from these before-after shots, it has made quite a difference. I’m sure if I removed the screen and polished up some more it would look even better.

Categories
Clothing/Protection

Take Care of Your Leather

imageWith the crappy weather and roads covered in salt and grit, it’s not just your bike that needs plenty of washing and TLC. Leather clothing can also damaged by the salt. So give it a good wash, apply some leather conditioner and waterproofing. It will cost you a lot less in the long run.