MO Maintenance: Restore Your Plastic Reservoirs

Personally, I call it patina and embrace the aging process. But if you’re the kind of person who’s driven crazy by things like brake and clutch reservoirs that have gone all discolored and yellow over the last 20 years, there is a cure that doesn’t involve buying new ones.

I have not tried this myself, but according to our new best friends over at Iconic Motorbikes, all you need is a bottle of “creme developer” from your local beauty supply, a Ziploc baggy and a couple of nice sunny days. Creme developer is used to produce 48% of the blondes you see walking around on the street; the secret ingredient is peroxide.

Supposedly it’s as simple as placing your reservoirs in the Ziploc with a nice coating of the hair treatment and leaving them there for a couple days. Nattering about your exes while you wait for the chemical to take effect and reading Glamour and People is entirely optional.

Also while you’re waiting for the chemical miracle to occur, changing your brake fluid is just what the stylist ordered. Since you don’t need to break the seal, so to speak, to change the reservoir, you can just pour in fresh fluid when you’re done, which you should be able to easily pump through the caliper down below since you haven’t introduced any air into the system.

In fact, that’s why we get our hair done in the first place, isn’t it? Knowing you look fabulous on the outside makes you feel good on the inside too. And having fresh brake fluid ensures your binders are working as well as the factory intended. My R1 manual actually specs new brake hoses every four years. Good thing I found some nice Galfer stainless lines a few years ago, a permanent repair.

For all the startling anal-retentive details on how to restore your clear plastic parts (and the black ones, too), and feel pretty, head over here to Iconic Motorbikes Department of Blog. They’re smart people over there.