Things you really should get round to doing....

[Bixxer Bob]

Aluminium forms a layer of oxide which then protects it, but if that layer is damaged, the process repeats and so it ends up as white powder.  At least that's my understanding.....

Boats made of aluminium have a protective layer such as anodising or etch primer and paint.

[JayDub]

And land rovers. The only bit that seems to persist is the aluminium body. 

I reckon Sin can fill us in on that one... I know the use of aluminium decks was re-thought after the Navy frigate went up in flames during the falklands war... helped by a missile of course, but still, they weren't expecting aluminium to burn.

[nickjtc]

It's been said before, but I will throw this in.... A thing that I see all the time that is neglected, but possibly one of the easiest maintenance tasks, is changing that treacle coloured stuff in the brake fluid reservoirs (aka old scungy brake fluid).

[Sin_Tiger]

I feel master cylinders are a particularly neglected asset. You rarely hear people talk about cleaning them out and replacing the internals, my theory is that the kits seem quite expensive compared to a set of caliper seals. If you think about it, the number and length of strokes of the piston is a lot higher than a caliper piston and yet the cylinder is normally just aluminium. Most I have opened have looked OK initially but have released gunge when given a really good clean.

I've learned to treat master cylinders with the same care as I would a carb.

[nickjtc]

I feel master cylinders are a particularly neglected asset.

Having just had to clean out the accumulated mung of 30+ years from the master cylinders on the '77 Suzuki, I think a 'spring clean' every couple of years is a good idea.

[Timbox2]

Triumph Maintenance schedule for the Girly states both Caliper & Master Cyl seals to be replaced every 2 years along with the fluid, wonder how many stick to that, even dealers.

[nickjtc]

Triumph Maintenance schedule for the Girly states both Caliper & Master Cyl seals to be replaced every 2 years along with the fluid, wonder how many stick to that, even dealers.

  Candidates regularly show up for their motorcycle parking lot or road tests with reservoirs that look like they are full of liquid poo. And when quizzed most of them admit that they did not know it was a regular maintenance item..."because that's what it looks like in my car."

[CoolHandLuke]

Recently, I had cause to remove the sump. Whilst down there, I decided to give the old girl a thorough cleaning before putting back together....

Now, I am fairly sure I didn't contribute to this crud, so this was done in the first 35k miles. From what I can tell, this black gunk is formed of gasket bits and possibly silicon.