[Guest]

As if you don't already know, Tire Shine and its companion products are quite possibly the worst thing you can put on your bike. I had already learned this lesson by hearing horror stories from other riders and on other message boards, but a buddy of mine didn't believe me. Long story short, we washed our bikes on base last Saturday with plans to ride out to see the St. Patty's Day parade in Columbia, SC. He pulled the Tire Shine out, ignored all of our warnings and protests, and proceeded to apply it to the sidewalls (not the tread) of his tires. Later that night, taking the highway to Columbia, he low-sided his brand new R6 hard on an offramp. He's got some nasty road rash on his left elbow (Joe Rocket Phoenix jacket ripped) and a football sized rash on his right leg (jeans). Other than the abrasions, he's good to go, but his bike ate it. Both sides are trashed, and his subframe is bent from the bike cartwheeling when it hit the grass. But at least his tires are shiny...

 

[dreamse83]

I'm still a newbie, so excuse my ignorance. How the hell did tire shine do that?! I mean holy crap, I'm not going near the stuff now! I've never heard anybody talk about Tire Shine, what exactly does it do?

 

[lrutt]

that stuff are slicker than snot when it meets the pavement.

 

[Doc]

One more warning for the nubies. Everybody uses Armorall (or something like it) on their seat... ONCE. You slide all over the place and it takes a month to wear off. Not as dangerous as doing the tires, but almost.

Doc

 

[test-reg]

i will never understand why people use slippery stuff on tires, seats, and, on cages, steering wheels

 

[threatrockone]

for those who haven't seen this:

http://www.ducatimonster.org/faq/faq_detailing.html

looks very helpful and plan to do it all this week because we're actually gonna have some nice weather in chicago soon

 

[desmoworks]

At least his tires were shinny.... As bad as that situations is, I actually laughed out loud when I read that. I guess I have no sympathy for things that could have been avoided easily.

 

[Guest]

Okay not that I use tire shine or understand why one would, but how does using it on the sidewalls translate to a low-side, what am I missing?

 

[Guest]

My old roommate was obsessed with that stuff and was convinced that just a little on the sidewalls would be okay too... I patiently ignored.

 

[lrutt]

or the painted road stripes, especially the cross walk wide stripes etc.

 

[K_Man]

Riding a motorcycle is when you realize how much traffic paint is out there. At some intersections it's amazing, you really got to tiptoe around the stuff!

I use an aerosol detailer, forget the name, similar to furniture polish. I cover the wheels & discs whenever I use it.

 

[Guest]

Just so it's clear, the tire shine on the sidewalls of his tire didn't make him lowside. It was the rotation of the tires as he was riding that slung all that crap onto the tread, which then made him lowside when he leaned over. What originally started out as a bonheaded idea turned into a massive cluster---- once physics got involved. We checked his tires a few hours after his crash, and there were oily, wet spots of tire shine all over the outer edges of the tread. His insurance estimate is hovering around $4k to replace everything that was damaged. So please, for the love of God and bikes, don't use this stuff, EVER.