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urgent! help! removing oil from tire, and a caution

1K views 24 replies 12 participants last post by  arcrz 
#1 · (Edited)
*** PSA FOR THE DAY*** CHECK YOUR OIL FILTER.....***********

We had a major occurence yesterday that could have been deadly. My BF and I went for a ride to test the running after a carb tune/synch. We WERE doing a loop around our residential area that was going to include going down the highway for a few kms before coming home. After leaving the house we stopped twice to adjust the f/a ratio slightly.

Right after the second time, he took off before me and I had to walk back to my bike and get it started. As I got on I saw a huge GUSH of oil spew out of the back of his bike, and he was being followed too close by a minivan, fast. He did not see the oil now pumping right out of the bike as fast as it could. I was so far back, on the side of the road...He went to take the corner, I could only watch as I knew what was going to happen from about 100 ft away.....I started the bike and started riding up...avoiding the huge trail of oil all down two blocks....

He took the corner in second gear, a little faster than normal since he was being tailgated and the bike just went sliding with no change of speed, around the corner, bike slid all the way on its side...rider tumbled ass over tea kettle away from it....

The van kept going, swerving around.

I got up to him seconds later, he was already up wtih the bike up. Amazingly he had only crunched his knee, and the right peg of the bike was slightly bent as it took ALL the impact and gouged the pavement for about 15 ft. NO other damage to bike, $2000 custom paint or most importantly to my guy.

And an import car full of kids rides by, laughing and clapping and cheering...and my bf has to be restrained from punching their window in...


We look under the bike I tell him what happened from behind him... and there is no oil left in the bike. Thank GOD we had stopped twice before going to the highway or we would have been SAILING down the highway when this happened. We could not immediately see any lines off...so he walks the bike home which is about 3 big city blocks. I ride my bike home, scared, and run back to walk back with him.

Now this is the stupid part. Second stupid thing to happen to us this year. but this one could easily have been deadly. (first loose kickstand bolt)

The mechanic who had his bike early this season...removed his oil filter when tinkering...and did not torque it back on right when he refilled the oil. It has only been ridden twice since we got it back...Whe we checked it at home after the crash/push...it was HANGING by only ONE thread - hence all the oil spewed/pumped out within two blocks when it got too loose.

Had I been behind him, in front, or had we been at high speed or an intersection with ongoing traffic...this would have been very very bad. Someone was watching for us yesterday I believe, no damage to bike or rider and for it to happen on a slow corner so close to home...with me so far behind....

My BF has not called the mechanic because he is a personal friend....but I think he should still tell him what happened. He could have had several lives on his conscience.


Since he pushed it home and first ran through all the oil the rear tire is entirely covered in oil. I think if we coat it in degreaser, scrub and rinse it with a good dry in between each time, followed by some alcohol baths we should be able to save it(?). But I don't have much of an idea about these things. Can anyone out there let me know exactly how to get the oil out, we are just worried about any major penetration to the rubber that will stay long term....
 
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#2 ·
We had a major occurence yesterday that could have been deadly. My BF and I went for a ride to test the running after a carb tune/synch. We WERE doing a loop around our residential area that was going to include going down the highway for a few kms before coming home. After leaving the house we stopped twice to adjust the f/a ratio slightly.

Right after the second time, he took off before me and I had to walk back to my bike and get it started. As I got on I saw a huge GUSH of oil spew out of theback of his bike, and he was being followed too close by a minivan, fast. He did not see the oil now pumping right out of the bike as fast as it could. I was so far back, on the side of the road...He went to take the corner, I could only watch as I knew what was going to happen from about 100 ft away.....I started the bike and started riding up...avoiding the huge trail of oil all down two blocks....

He took the corner in second gear, a little faster than normal since he was being tailgated and the bike just went sliding with no change of speed, around the corner, bike slid all the way on its side...rider tumbled ass over tea kettle away from it....

The van kept going, swerving around.

I got up to him seconds later, he was already up wtih the bike up. Amazingly he had only crunched his knee, and the right peg of the bike was slightly bent as it took ALL the impact and gouged the pavement for about 15 ft. NO other damage to bike, $2000 custom paint or most importantly to my guy.

And an import car full of kids rides by, laughing and clapping and cheering...and my bf has to be restrained from punching their window in...


We look under the bike I tell him what happened from behind him... and there is no oil left in the bike. Thank GOD we had stopped twice before going to the highway or we would have been SAILING down the highway when this happened. We could not immediately see any lines off...so he walks the bike home which is about 3 big city blocks. I ride my bike home, scared, and run back to walk back with him.

Now this is the stupid part. Second stupid thing to happen to us this year. but this one could easily have been deadly. (first loose kickstand bolt)

The mechanic who had his bike early this season...removed his oil filter when tinkering...and did not torque it back on right when he refilled the oil. It has only been ridding twice since we got it back...Whe we checked it at home after the crash/push...it was HANGING by only ONE thread - hence all the oil spewed/pumped out within two blocks when it got too loose.

Had I been behind him, in front, or had we been at high speed or an intersection with ongoing traffic...this would have been very very bad. Someone was watching for use yesterday I believe, no damage to bike or rider and for it to happen on a slow corner so close to home...with me so far behind....

My BF has not called the mechanic because he is a personal friend....but I think he should still tell him what happened. He could have had several lives on his conscience.


Since he pushed it home and first ran through all the oil the rear tire is entirely covered in oil. I think if we coat it in degreaser, scrub and rinse it with a good dry in between each time, followed by some alcohol baths we should be able to save it. But I don't have much of an idea about these things. Can anyone out there let me know exactly how to get the oil out, we are just worried about any major penetration to the rubber that will stay long term....

Wow that sucks fawn, sorry to hear it.

having said that, when you say things like "adjust the fuel air ratio" it makes my heart do the loop-de-loop :)

funnily enough I had a spill from an oil leak getting on my tire (mind, not a whole engine full) but it happened quite a few times (didnt fix the leak right awy .. kept happening) and I found degreaser worked just fine. apply, rinse, apply, rinse. I rode the tire through its full life and beyond after that, too. your experience may vary.

the far more dangerous part was that I was paranoid for a long after that because I couldnt really trust the bike and/or the tire and that screwed up my riding style..

anyways my 2c for what its worth

Cory
 
#4 · (Edited)
hehe thanks Cory. Sux that he was sooo pissed he could barely speak last night, until he realized how much worse it could have been. So it did not get cleaned off last night....:eek I am also worried about its handling even when clean...and its a new tire...but maybe a new tire is the best solution...
 
#5 ·
I remember reading in one of the UK bike mags that replacing the tire is pretty much the only way to go. Personally, i'd rather spend the 200 bucks on a new tire, than risk writing off my entire bike ...
 
#6 · (Edited)
#8 · (Edited)
Been there... done that :(

I had my oil filter come loose after using the dyno up at sport bike west. I had a massive streak of oil to the gas station before i noticed it was leaking bad :( Luckly i didnt go far and there was still oil in there.

Glad to hear you were not on the highway I had that happen once and the back end went allover but I was able to pull over before anything serious happened.

The first time it happend I did a burnout to try to get the oil off. The second time (highway, it got everywhere) I just went to a local road and took it easy and gradually wore off the oil on the tires until i had no strips left.

The tire is fine now.

I guess using a degreaser would be good on the tire (if it works, im not sure), but I remember someone crashing after getting degreaser on there tire.
 
#9 ·
Simple Green works good as does Gunk engine degreaser. had an oil line on the back of my old oil pumper Gixxer go and spewed oil all over the rear tire. i was riding from McBride onto 10th heading for BK when it stepped waaaaaaaaay like dirt tracker style and i rode it out and pulled over to find what the deelio was. fixed the line and degreased the tire and all was fine. glad no one was seriously hurt.
 
G
#10 ·
Hey Fawn,
If your guys bike is a sport bike and he rides "quick" trying to save a few bucks buy not replacing the tire is not worth riding on it....

The rubber will absorb the oil and the cleaner will do damage to the tire since tires are made from a petroleum product. While cleaning it may "look" ok there will always be oil in the pores of the tire...like the roads are fine when they are dry until the rain comes and the oils rise to the surface the same will happen to the tire....when you start to ride on a hot day and build heat into the tire the oil will start to release

if you had just spilt oil on the tire and quickly cleaned it off there would be no issue. But time had passed and given the tire time to absorb the oil.

Best thing is to talk with the mechanic and at the very least depending on how much life is left on the tire ask if he will pay either for the whole thing or a portion.

Bottom line is if $200.00 buck will prevent a fall is it worth spending it???
 
#12 · (Edited)
Hey Fawn,
If your guys bike is a sport bike and he rides "quick" trying to save a few bucks buy not replacing the tire is not worth riding on it....
Ok don't shoot...his bike is a very old school chopper - hand built (see digital illustration I did below). He does not ride it fast (well as fast as a sportbike, we share and he rides all my bikes fast but he is a super cautious rider) because it is very unfun to ride that way. She is fun off the line and is crazy fast, but slow cornering etc - narrow tires too. I'd mostly be worried about him at fast stops, it has drum brakes.... (He is getting pretty sick of the chopper idea they are so unreliable and no fun on a long ride. I am trying to convince him to sell our boat and get another sportbike, we never use the boat.)

I'm going to try to clean it, and take all your advice. We'll have to see how the cleaning goes..if there is any question the tire is going to the dump....

PS I also road through his track of oil just a little at the end to get to him, but I burned it off on the ride home.
 
#11 ·
^^ unfortunately there is no limit to the above argument, .. where does it stop?

I've degreased one tire MANY times and been pretty liberal with waiting before rinsing. and then I rode the crap out of it down to the cords and it was fine.

as far as .. does the oil soak in and then come out later .. probably, but I can't speak to that. I'd clean it, dry it, have a look and just see how I felt about it. then maybe take it for a little spin, and/or throw it out in the sun for a while and see if anything "sweats".

be a shame to waste a tire that you didn't have to. but by all means, if you're concerned about it, change it.

Cory
 
#13 · (Edited)
I would think that anything strong enugh to remove oil would also compromise the tire. Id say get a new one. You only have two on a bike. Your life is probably worth more than $200 bucks.

Also should add this - tires are like big sponges and are porous so that they can flex. The next time the tire gets wet the oil will weep out of these pores again, much like roads do on the first rainy day. Even if you scrub that thing to a shine, you also have to worry about the tread depth housing surface grease that can run down onto the surface. If it was as bad an oil spill as you say, get a new one. I wouldnt recommend this on a car, bu only because carshave four tires and sliding does not equal a skin graft. Thats my words!
 
#16 ·
Well we did the simple green, three times! with a couple hours scrubbing and rinsing, you would not believe how well it worked to get it out. After we wiped a problem area with kerosene for awhile, and rewashed again. Seems ok but we are going to give te tire a little 'scuffing' and a test...see how that does before trusting it. I was able to dig up quite a bit of useful info, and thanks to you all for yours too. I can always count on getting useful stuff here:rockon Ride Safe!
 
#17 ·
Make sure the de-greaser is well rinsed away, if theres still some on there and it rains.....thats even more slick than the oil.

Make sure he takes extra care the first rain he rides in :thumbup
 
#19 · (Edited)
Sorry to hear that his nice chopper went down. At least he's OK. The paint and stuff is just some money after all. Although he may question my sense of values.... :D

Rubber tires do NOT soak up oil. All you need to do is clean it up with some good laundry detergent in a fairly strong water to detergent ratio that's about twice what you'd have in your washing machine and a scrub brush. Scrub it all real good, hose off and it's as good as before. Repeat one more time if it doesn't look properly "dull" as it should and that's it. If it's really oily then blot off the worst of it with paper towel first.

Do NOT use any sort of brake cleaner, degreaser or any other solvent on it. Those sorts of things WILL damage the rubber.

Edit- if Bill has used brake cleaner on tires with no problem then I stand corrected. But any kerosene or other solvents that are petrochemically based will damage the rubber. And really the soap and scrub is all it needs.

Edit to the edit- OK,I see that you used kerosene. You probably noticed that the rags or other stuff came away quite black? That would be the kero dissolving some of the rubber. The good news is that the damage is only skin deep and likely you washed it away with the other stuff just fine. But tell him to go easy for the first few days in the turns and be ready for a bit of slip n' slide here and there maybe.
 
#20 ·
Edit to the edit- OK,I see that you used kerosene. You probably noticed that the rags or other stuff came away quite black? That would be the kero dissolving some of the rubber. The good news is that the damage is only skin deep and likely you washed it away with the other stuff just fine. But tell him to go easy for the first few days in the turns and be ready for a bit of slip n' slide here and there maybe.
hi Tee Tee, I actually used only simple green and water (it is supposed to be tire safe, its not 'real' solvent degreaser), and a stiff brush with LOTS of water, many bucketsful. ALOT of oil came off, that you could not see with the eye. You could really see the difference and you are right it went from shiny to nice and flat and fresh. Rinsed and scrubbed and rinsed until totally clear and clean.

Then we hosed it like mad and repeated. And let dry in the sun. Then we just took a little bit of kerosene and wiped at a really stubborn patch about a quarter size (I did this on the advice of a racer who uses it on stubborn patches - supposedly safeso long as you get it right off after???), it came off pretty much instantly too. The rag was slightly black, then rewashed again very well with the simple green and water again right away.

We are going to rewash again tomorrow and try another thing advised to me, a little sandpaper by hand for a quick scuff. Then we will just try it close to home again for awhile. We were joking as we were doing it we should have taken some pics of the process...it took soooo long.

Thanks again!
 
#21 ·
After all that it sounds like you should be totally fine.

Once the two of you are out riding again it'll be fine after a few miles and a few turns. To be safe perhaps treat it like a new tire for the first little while. You know, leave a little extra braking room and don't corner as agressively or add power as aggresively while leaned. Especially since those choppers put so much of the load on the back tire thanks to their layout. A 100 kms of riding with a little extra in reserve and then he can get right back to his hooligan rat racer ways.... :D

And friend or not this sounds like it was "strike 2". I'd be quietly looking for a new guy to work on my bike if I was him. Or at least learn enough about wrenching to go over the bike and double check his buddy's work if he really doesn't want to hurt his feelings. And if anything serious needs to be done inside I'd DEFINETLY suggest he go to someone more attentive. This doesn't mean his buddy doesn't know what he's doing. But it sure is obvious that he's not checking his work.
 
#22 ·
I forgot something. After spraying with brake clean , LIGHT THE REAR TIRE UP ! just giver !!!

You don't need a 2 block smoke out just a good quick spin and all will be well.

Or you can scrub away with miracle soaps for hours. It's rubber for god's sakes you know that stuff under every lid of every container in your house ? It doesn't absorb things , this is why we seal stuff up with it. Now go lay some black marks.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Y'know you are probably right about hte patch being tar. It was like a skin, like dried ketchup. And unlike the rest of the oil, it did not turn into 'rootbeer' when we used the simple green. It stayed, even as I scratched at it. But oh well the kerosene took it off, isn't WD mostly kerosene - side note?

Haven't had a chance to scuff n buff the tire off or on road yet, I really think its going to be fine, most of the oil was on the left outer edge since it got ground off in the crash. I totally agree about the virtues of simple green tho - I used it on my own rims at the same time since I can never get them clean and it worked great.


Thanks guys!

PS he is going to chat with the mechanic about this, I kinda insisted. But it was his first error. As loose as it was we think he just finger tightened it and forgot to wrench it after.
The other was on my bike and actually probably just long term vibration as the pivot bolt's nut backed off. This time it is red locktited!
 
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