[JustABill]

My engine bars came with a set of plastic caps to cover the bolt that fixes them above the engine. Well, these turned out not to be heat resistant material.

Last night, I noticed a smell after a short ride and found that they were melting. They've been on since august and it's odd that they would do this after so long and a short evening ride.

would love tips on how to get this gunk off the engine....

Also, curious if other Puig Bar users had similar issues. That engine bolt is M12, but not quite as robust as the OEM bolt. I am also now concerned about the amount of heat it seems to have generated, but will look into that separately.

 

[Chris.]

Is it just me; or is the bar touching on picture 1?

U sure u got the right bars for ur bike?

 

[JustABill]

Is it just me; or is the bar touching on picture 1?

U sure u got the right bars for ur bike?

that's more the photo angle. It's not touching, but the Puig bars are close on the left side. A few of us with them noted the same.

 

[Chris.]

Tbf; if Puig supplied the nut to be mounted there.. They are responsible for the mess on ur engine.. big design flaw if you ask me. Every person with common knowledge knows the engine of an R nine T gets hot as hell on that point.

Try scraping it off with some plastic tool perhaps? I would not dare touching it with a screwdriver; you probably end up scraping off the paint.

 

[JustABill]

Yeah. I have sent them photos as well. Not hopeful for much more than an apology though. I will experiment with various plastic and wooden spudgers for now.

 

[Captain]

Also warming the plastic first might help?

 

[David37]

I would try using a hair dryer or a heat gun on low to soften the plastic and make it easier to wipe of the plastic residue.

 

[Chris.]

I can imagine it formed some kind of solid mass.. it wont get soft again untill it melts again.
Try to pull it off in one go? With minimal heat?

 

[Foxster]

There's a few things to try depending on what the plastic is and how hard its stuck.

First use a plastic/wooden tool to get the big bits off. Then soak the area in WD40, which you should leave to soak in for an hour. Then wash well with warm soapy water.

Oven cleaner e.g. Easy Off. This is designed for this kind of thing. It might leave a stain depending on the brand. I'd experiment with a spot out of sight under the cylinder head first. Soak a small rag in the stuff and lay it on the area, cover with baking foil and fasten in place with wire. Go for a ride for 30 mins. Remove and wash well.

Brillo / SOS pad (the fine wire wool pads with detergent built in) plus warm water. Alternatively, try copper wool if you can find it as its less hard. This is likely to remove paint, so be prepared to touch-up with black engine paint after.

 

[Juice]

Get any type of freezing agent you like and freeze the melted plastic down. If you use ice keep it on there for a good while. Get a 1/4 inch wooden dowel and cut it into 8 inch sections. Or whatever size works for you. Get a chisel point on one end of the dowel piece. Whittle, sand, or saw it to a chisel point. In a pinch I have used chopsticks, soft but worked for me. Try chipping it off with easy taps from a hammer. As mentioned previously it depends on the plastic composition.

 

[Vectorbug]

I'd also keep an eye on the crash bars welds. Mine failed after about 5 months, thankfully not before the return-period was up with Revzilla. Not uncommon. Heat cycles + vibrations, welds love that.

 

[JustABill]

Ok. Mostly sorted. I got a good bit off using a heat gun and tweezers. Also picked up some cheap scrapers. Used some of them to pick off the bits that were left after a short ride. I'll need to do more when the Sun is up, but it's close to clean now.

 

[giddyup69]

Ok. Mostly sorted. I got a good bit off using a heat gun and tweezers. Also picked up some cheap scrapers. Used some of them to pick off the bits that were left after a short ride. I'll need to do more when the Sun is up, but it's close to clean now.

Good you got that off. Brings back bad memories for me. Was riding on the road 2 years ago and an empty floating plastic bag landed on one of my front headers and melted on. It was a complete mess to get off. I had to use scotchbrite to completely remove it now the the shiny chrome is gone off the header. 😫

 

[Anthonie]

Those plastic nut caps are rubbish on a motorcycle, and stupid to use so close to anything that heats up, as an engine does - the supplier/manufacturer of the bars surely should have seen this when doing their r&d.