Another tip for easily mounting fresh hoods is to place them in a bowl in your kitchen sink and run very hot faucet water over them for a minute or two. I find that the water from the faucet is hot enough to make them very soft and pliable but not hot enough to deform them in any way. I also use dishsoap as Herb recommends. I've been doing this since the mid-70's and have never had any of the trouble or grief that others have. This works equally well soft gum hoods or on the hard rubber Weinmann/Carlton white hoods.
Lastly, Herb's mention of Griots Garage for there rubber preservative is recommended by me also. I have used many of their products for about 6 years now and although expensive, they are truly superior to anything else. The rubber preservative lasts much, much longer than does Armour All or an equivalent brand and they have many detailing tools which are great for those of us that spend as much time tinkering/restoring as we do riding.
Happy & Healthy Holidays to all,
Eric Elman
Somers, CT
> Chuck;
>
> Doesn't rubbing alcohol dissolve and evaporate oils, like those used in
> manufacturing rubber? I've used small amounts of liquid dishsoap with a
lot
> of success to remove and replace rubber grips on bicycles and motorcycles,
> as well as a few rubber brake hoods. Another rubber-friendly temporary
> lubricant is Armourall, available at any auto store or at any Walgreens in
> the auto care aisle. And, if you want to spend the money, you can use
> Griot's Rubber Preservative (www.griotsgarage.com) to slide on those
hoods,
> and then rub some of that stuff onto the hoods every few months to keep
> them fresh for a long, long time.
>
> Herb Langston
> Evanston, IL
> 1979 Benotto - 1977 Motobecane - 1956 BMW R50
>
> >With Super Record / Nuovo Record "world logo" gum hoods going for
> >upwards of $89, you don't want to tear them putting them on. Here's my
> >method:
> >
> >-Take brake levers off of bars after removing cables.
> >-Remove remains of rotted gum hoods.
> >-Disassemble levers from the bodies.
> >-Slide new hood over front end of body with liberal application of
> >rubbing alcohol.
> >-Slide hood partially off back of body to uncover pivot hole.
> >-Reassemble lever onto body and insert pivot.
> >-Push hood forward to final position.
> >-Bolt brake levers back onto bars and reattach cables.
> >
> >Chuck Schmidt
> >South Pasadena, Southern California