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Cleaning up /5 Tank Badges?

jbf

New member
Hey all,

Looking to clean up my bike a bit. The badges and their rubber gaskets/etc havnt been removed in a while and was planning on doing that this weekend and replacing the old gasket pieces. The metal on my badges looks to be a bit corroded, but Im not sure how to clean that up without hurting the actual enamel/cloisonne?


Any tips for cleaning/polishing/etc?


(p.s. dont worry I know not to tighten them too tight or they will crack, etc. :) )
 
+1 Brasso

Bon Ami (non abrasive).

bon_ami_powder_cleaner_1_1.jpg
 
Brasso is all to well known to the ex military out there as a metal polish-it has very fine abrasives mixed with chemicals that dissolve oxidation on metals like brass & silver-use of any polish designed for silverware would also polish your cloisonne emblem. I suppose the roundels are brass, plated with copper then nickel. The Chinese need to get interested in copying them so we can go on ebay & redo them! :thumb Things like Brasso will possibly leave behind a residue in the cracks-if there are cracks. Toothpaste would be a much handier choice that I suspect you have some around? Bon Ami is not a lot different than say Ajax or Comet cleansers , it just doesn't have some of the chemicals in it and they are all pumice ground up to my knowledge?
 
Chinese Rondels

BMW has had a Chinese company making the /5 Rondels for a few years now. STAY AWAY. The curvature ot the emblem is too convex. The screw holes don't line up correctly. This leaves you with screws that protrude from the emblem and a much higher chance of cracking the porcelin.
 
Learned something today. Wiki on feldspar tells me much of the earths surface is comprised of clays formed from weathered feldspar.
Bon Ami = finer polish than Ajax or Comet. :wave
 
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