brown white wall
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 14,731
Likes: 2,536
From: Mountain Top, Alabama
Many years of whitewall cleaning here.
Note new whitewalls, how SMOOTH and SLICK they are. The slick surface helps in keeping them clean. Wesleys and a type of nylon bristle brush if needed will usually do the trick.
Scratch 'em up real good with metal bristles and it leads to more work to clean in the future. Oh, it cleans 'em all right, it's your wheels, do as you wish folks.
I have known folks that swore by brake fluid and a wire brush to clean 'em. (Ugh!)
The longer you keep that "Shiney Smooth" feel on them, they are much less work to keep white. When they get lots of surface scratches, they will look nasty much sooner. I don't use the Wesley's every time I wash my bike and wheels, don't need to. Hey, sometimes less is more.
This applies to classic cars as well, of course.
Note new whitewalls, how SMOOTH and SLICK they are. The slick surface helps in keeping them clean. Wesleys and a type of nylon bristle brush if needed will usually do the trick.
Scratch 'em up real good with metal bristles and it leads to more work to clean in the future. Oh, it cleans 'em all right, it's your wheels, do as you wish folks.
I have known folks that swore by brake fluid and a wire brush to clean 'em. (Ugh!)
The longer you keep that "Shiney Smooth" feel on them, they are much less work to keep white. When they get lots of surface scratches, they will look nasty much sooner. I don't use the Wesley's every time I wash my bike and wheels, don't need to. Hey, sometimes less is more.
This applies to classic cars as well, of course.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 8,907
Likes: 69
From: Wesley Chapel Fl.
Yep!!.....If I remember right , I started using Westley's in the 1970's. JR
6th Gear
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
From: phoenix
Mine are also brown
I'm with the OP, my D402 rear tire started turning brown just a few weeks after being on the bike. I've had it for two months and 2k miles and I have a dark 1inch wide brown bathtub type strip on both sides of the rear tire. It will not clean off with any known to man chemical or technique. The dealership told me it is normal and to just deal with it. Problem is, the last set (identical) while old and worn did not discolor. I've contacted Dunlop and they want me to take it back to the dealer and start a warranty claim. Will be doing that this week and I'll see how it turns out.
Road Warrior
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 1,521
Likes: 185
From: Ft Myers FL
I think you're fortunate they gave you a new tire. I've started using a super course scrubbie pad and Dawn dish detergent on mine. They come clean.
My new rear tire (about 2000 miles) looked like *** after returning from Laconia. Jacked it up and scrubbed the hell out if it for about ten minutes with a course Scrubbie I bought in the paint isle, looks near new.
My new rear tire (about 2000 miles) looked like *** after returning from Laconia. Jacked it up and scrubbed the hell out if it for about ten minutes with a course Scrubbie I bought in the paint isle, looks near new.
Road Warrior
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,953
Likes: 28
From: Houston, TX
My new rear Metzeler (well, about a year old now) has done the same thing, so now it doesn't match the front. I have tried Bleach White, Tide and a scrub brush, Dawn and a scrub brush, Magic Eraser, Simple Green and a scrub brush. I've even gone so far as to pull the wheel and set bleach saturated rags on the tire hoping that just the soaking will help. You name it, I've tried it. Nothing has worked and it still looks like ***. The indy I bought it from and Metzeler wouldn't do anything about it. All I can say is I'm glad its the rear tire, that my bike is lowered, and I have CVO bags to help hide the tire as much as I can. It sucks because I still know it's jacked up and it sets off my ADD every time I look at my bike from a distance. If anyone has anything else that may work, throw it out. I'm with the OP.....it bites.
PS: The sig pic is of my OLD tire....nice and white!!
PS: The sig pic is of my OLD tire....nice and white!!
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