I'm at my local rider watering hole this afternoon. The food is good, as is the coffee so I'm told. Mostly older riders "50 plus" gather there in the afternoon and swap lies.

Today the topic turned to spring cleaning, mods, and general prep for the 14 riding season which we have great hope will arrive one day soon :-)

The topic turned to tires. A few of the gathered think tank members was sharing a theory of how "Armor-All" should never been used on tires. It supposedly causes the break down of the tires rubber. Of coarse there was great disagreement, and tails of years of application without problems.

If this is true I'm in trouble. I clean the hell out of my tires with the stuff!
Any thoughts? Anybody else have any thoughts or knowledge about this?

 

Don't know about it causing breakdown. Always been afraid to put that slippery stuff on my bike's tires.

 

Totally agree with Roomer. I put some cleaner on my tires once, and when it was raining, I just about lost it. No more tire stuff for me!!

 

If you think it's a good idea to use something slippery on your tires, have at it.

 

Yes, it degrades rubber and plastic. I've seen it many times as an auto tech. Slippery stuff on a motorcycle tire? I'm definitely gonna pass on that. I think rubber and plastic will last longer unprotected than with armor all on it. Jmho....

 

Not a good idea to put armor all on tires. Tends to get slippery as the others have said.

On that note...

It's a good idea be cautious when you first ride a set if new tires for the same reason. I've seen a couple guys take bikes down because they didn't realize new tires need to be scuffed...

 

I am in complete agreement with all the above posts. Regardless if it degrades ANYTHING, you don't put Amror-All bike tires because it would make the tires slippery. Never, ever, ever!

 

new tires are manufactured with anti aging compounds in them. some say that Armor all attacks these compounds. Ozone checking or cracking and a brown haze on the tire is a good sign you need to do something!

 

If you DO use Armor All on anything on your bike, NEVER spray it around anything that you would consider repainting in the future. Armor All is largely, perhaps all, I don't know, silicone. When it gets on your paint, it penetrates all the way to the metal and will cause 'fisheyes' in the new paint, even if you strip it all the way down and clean it as well as you can! Just a word to the wise. It was banned in the shop I worked in for years for this reason!

 

dont need it. just clean them with a nylon brush and a good all purpose cleaner and rinse and dry. have a nice ride.