My brand new RG3 came home from the dealership with a tire marking like this on both rear tires:



I am just guessing, but it looks as though the factory marked these tires this way to ensure that the trike got the correct model of tires during assembly.

The problem is that my first wash and wax yesterday was unable to remove the markings with ordinary car wash soap.

How can I remove these marking SAFELY (i.e. without using a chemical that MIGHT harm the tire rubber and make the tires unsafe)?

I've got mineral spirits, 90% Isopropyl alcohol, Acetone, and laquer thinner, but wonder if any of those could attack the rubber compound.

Jim G

 

I clean whitewalls with lacquer thinner. I’d try that. Plus it evaporates fast.

 

My first choice:
Simple Green and a dish scrubber pad.
Not steel wool.

 

Have you tried a gasoline soaked rag?

 

It seems this is going to be harder than I knew! I have been Googling this question since my poting above, and have gone through lirerally dozens of website answers. Most say that ANY petroleum base dcleaner will degrade the rubber, period. So, none of the chemicals I have in my shop are safe to use. Even Vinegar will damage the rubber. Dawn dish detergent is apaprently ok, but requires a lot of abrasive rubbing with somehting that again won't hurt the rubber via abrasion!

No website has a simple answer to this one. Sigh . . .

Jim G

 

A: Let the dealer take care of it.
B: Have the tire dismounted and put that to the inside.
C: Just ride it, you can’t see it from behind the handle bars.

 

since the dealer techs might simply use a petroleum solvent, and since tire dismounting and remounting would cost money, it sounds like "C" might be the best option.

Pisses me off though as everything else on the trike looks REALLY good with the 2 coats of a new very reflective (and very durable) Japanese "Soft99 King of Gloss" wax :






That wax is absolutely incredible. Detailers say that it outperforms many ceranic coatings in terms of durable protection. In one online video test, a pro detailer needed to spray a hood coated with one coat of it FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY times with water before it finally lost its ability to have water flow right off it. I applied it to make the trike "slipperier" because I find LOTS of dead bugs on it after every ride here in our framland prairie environment. Hopefully, the bugs will come off easier, or mayube even not stick to the paint after commiting suicide!

 

What does a black permanent marker do to that white coating? What about tire cleaner or tire black product since it's on a trike.

 

Most of us only worry about Texting Soccer-Moms, Left-Turners failing to Yield, Drunk Drivers, Deer, and Aggressive speed control measures.

 

Use a scotch bright pad and any cleaner degreaser
I really believe you are over thinking rubber degradation and nothing suggested in this thread will damage your tire.