Rubber Restoration

Oh, man, almost forgot about this thing. It's been what, 5 days?

The soup turned a bit darker.
RubberSoftening03.jpg

Took it out, wiped it down. Towel shows some rubber rot.
RubberSoftening04.jpg

WOW!
A lot softer, even the previously hard spots. The superglue areas are fine, unaffected. Could almost tie it into a knot. Will let it dry for awhile.

My barn smells minty fresh again...
 
It’s amazing just how pliable some of those rock hard rubber parts can become. Even if the effect doesn’t last forever, if you’re trying to reassemble something that you’re restoring, it will at least allow you to handle, bend,and flex it back into place.
 
5twins said:
Every rubber bit me and my buddy have tried from them in the past hasn't been very good and didn't last long. Basically, we've learned not to buy their rubber stuff anymore, lol.
Click to expand...
Maybe exterior parts, I don't know, but I find it's the best or only place to get good oil seals, and their upper and lower brake kits have lasted 8 or 9 years for me so far.
 
I've been using the Isoprobal alchohol and wintergreen oil for years with great success, I've found to quicken the effect lightly heat the soulution while soaking parts. I put the jar in front the heating vents of my house during colder months and in my green house during the summer. I never struggle with hard tight carb holders since I've started using this. I get my wintergreen oil from Bulk Apothocary.com, get the comercial grade much cheaper works just as well.
 
A lil' update.
My tach mount rubber is still soft & supple.
Time for the speedo mount rubber. Same procedure.
XS1B-Speedo.jpg

It was also hard. The wintergreen softened it right up.

This time I painted it with a thin coat of silicone. The thinking is that the silicone will seal the rubber, keep it from drying out and hardening.

The Traxxis silicone grease is used by R/C hobbyists as a tranny grease. It's not so much a grease, as it's more like 90wt gear lube. Paints on easily...
 
I'm heading to the US on the weekend for a little shopping - I'm going to try to find that stuff!

Thanks 2M!

Pete
 
Been using straight food grade wintergreen oil, definitely softens rubber, so far without causing the rubber to grow, then coat with sil-glyde before install. Side note I find Tungsten disulfide bonds instantly to rubber, turns it silver, I'm trying it in places where the rubber has to slide to seal. petcock handle o-ring and that 4 hole rubber valve, clutch pushrod seal, fork oil and water seals. Should have hit the caliper seal I just redid.
I also coated a really crusty cracked diaphragm a couple times over a week, made it pliable, but didn't repair the cracks, :confused:
 
Another lil' update.

TwoManyXS1Bs said:
...My tach mount rubber is still soft & supple.
Time for the speedo mount rubber. Same procedure.

It was also hard. The wintergreen softened it right up...
Click to expand...

My speedo mount rubber had softened up fine, just a slight swelling to make it a bit tighter. Now, after 5 months, the rubber is still soft, but shrank a bit, allowing the speedo to wiggle somewhat while riding. I'll have to add thin shims to the mount posts to stop that...
 
Hey guys, I just wanted to add a little update regarding my different approach to rubber resto. As described here in my XS2 resto thread.

http://www.xs650.com/threads/mailman’s-xs2-a-full-on-restoration.51520/page-18#post-545180

I just wanted to say, that I DO NOT recommend the method I used. I had some initial success, but some things I did not realize until I went to reassemble my bike was , that my technique caused some parts to swell and change dimensions , to the point that they became unusable. Very soft and flexible and look nice, but now junk.

I wanted to post it here because this is the first thing that comes up when you search rubber restoration and I think it’s the definitive thread on the subject.
 
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I think that some of these swelling/distortion stories may have been different if the treatments/cleaning was done just before assembling the parts and not allowed to sit for a while, or longer, before assembly. I know that has worked for me before. Swelling and distortion happened more often when I waited before assembly.

Scott
 
MTW, this could then become a safety issue.........The rubber has to have lost its molecular compound or it has changed so that it is not as it was. In a case like the riser rubber if it has changed, the question is will it disintegrate.........????.

For the cost of a replacement is it really worth it..............I think most of these solutions are going to be short term before the rubber deteriorates again
 
Skull
For something safety related you have a very good point. I do think there are times a "rubber restoration" makes sense. When I pulled the rubbers of off my air boxes to clean and paint them they both had a hard plastic feel to them. I didn't think I could even get them back on to try and reuse them when the time came. The only replacements I could find are a bit pricey.

upload_2019-3-5_16-52-14.png

I had read the threads on Wintergreen oil so I thought what the heck, worth a try. I cleaned them for 5 min in my ultrasonic and then soaked them in a 50-50 mixture on wintergreen oil and alcohol.
 

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