vee-fourtune
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Posts posted by vee-fourtune
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Keeping the old stuff around is actually really, really expensive. For the price of restoring my RC30 I could have bought a really nice track bike, or a new dirt bike. And the older the stuff is the more you need to know about engineering and machining. My bike was a great education in welding, fabricating and CNC machining. It was a lot of -fun but now I don't dare ride it due to a complete lack of spares.
I'm looking forward to completing the coach training. I'm really excited about riding with students all over the country. And you're right, the smiles make it all worthwhile.
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It can take all day for the suit to dry out. And its important to let the suit dry in the shade - drying it in the sun will cause it to fade.
Once its dry the leather is very stiff, but thats where the Lexol comes in. It restores all the natural oils and also cleans off dirt and bugs.
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Hey Guys,
I am finally getting a full kit of gear.I wanted to ask you all how you maintain it.Anything specific you do to your Helmet, Leathers, Gloves or Boots to keep them in good shape?
I was thinking of some kind of leather conditioner and waterproof for the leathers, gloves and boots to start with.Any suggestions?
Anything else i should know of? I ride in a hot climate, quite dusty also.Any deodorizing agents or something you guys use? Please advice as i am in the dark regarding this.
I do a lot of track days here in Texas, usually in temps over 100 degrees. I wash my Dainese suit after every use. I soak the suit in clean water then drain repeatedly until there is no smell of sweat. Then I set it on a towel in front of a blower until its dry enough (light enough) to hang up without stretching the shoulders then I leave the fan running until the suit is completely dry. At this point its stiff as a board so I then wipe it down with as much Lexol as it can take. As a result the suit still feels like new after 10-15 track days a year for 6 years, and looks like it could easily last another 6. And most importantly, it doesn't stink!
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Thanks Hotfoot,
I know what you mean about expert guidance - I got mine when I was a kid working on tractors and trucks on the farm. It was good training. Learning to work on bikes was a lot easier - less mud!
Here's a magazine article on my last project:
I like your attitude Cobie. There's nothing that can't be done with sufficiently large hammers!
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Hi All,
Time to stop lurking!
I did my first class with Cobie and the crew last September and I'm extremely proud to have been brought on board as a trainee coach for CSS.I started riding dirtbikes when I was 10, started road racing 2-strokes when I was 22 and started coaching for MSF ten years later.
I've been teaching for a track school here in Texas since 2010 and I'll be starting my coach training with Cobie in a few months - as soon as the injuries from a recent supermoto 'incident' heal up!
I currently ride an RSV4 on the track, along with the supermoto - a converted KTM 520SX that is a blast to ride on dirt and short asphalt tracks. I also ride dirt with my kids every chance I get.
My hobby is restoring classic race bikes. My RC30 superbike is finished so my next resto project is a late model RGV250 almost identical to the bikes I raced back in the 90s. Between projects I teach riders how to repair and upgrade their own bikes and usually manage to get out to the track 10-20 times a year.
I'm looking forward to coaching for CSS and meeting students all over the country.
How Do You Maintain Your Leathers And Boots?
in School Questions/General Discussion
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no soap at all.
The purpose of the rinse is to remove all the salt and ammonia that soaks into the leather. Soap has too many chemicals that do as much damage as the salt over the long term.
Once the suit rinses often enough there will be no smell of sweat which indicates that the leather substrate is about as clean as it can get. We're not concerned about the surface of the leather at this point, the lexol will take care of that during the wipedown.
After rinsing the leather is stiff and coarse but that all changes with enough lexol. As I said above, add lexol until the leather stops soaking it in. The result is the leather gets all the oils and preservatives that are normally broken down by sweat and soap.
(FYI i worked in a furniture restoration shop in college and my job was repairing and restoring leather furniture. It was this experience that allowed me to change the color of my suit and then keep it in good condition for so long despite heavy use and a crash)