Sun is awesome! It’s what allows us to have a great day on the trails and enjoy the awesome views. Sun is also one of the worst enemies of your power sports equipment. Even if you’re lucky enough to be able to store your equipment indoors, it still spends a lot of time outside in the sun while you are having fun.
Sun fading happens to many of the materials on your motorcycle, ATV or UTV. While the sun can’t hurt metal, it will slowly destroy plastic, vinyl, leather, rubber, and wood. The first step of the destruction comes by dulling the colors. Light from the sun comes in lots of wavelengths and one of the more harmful ones is UV light. Besides giving you a sunburn, UV light can breakdown the chemical bonds in the colors used in the decals and pigments on your vehicle. As the dyes breakdown, colors fade and your beautiful new toy looks like a beach chair from the 80s.
Once the sun has destroyed the color it goes to work on the actual materials themselves. Plastics become brittle, rubber crumbles with a gentle touch and vinyl and leather start to crack. These materials all breakdown under sunlight both from the UV rays and the constant heat cycling from day to night.
Besides light, the elements bring a beating! Moisture from morning due combined with dryness from daytime heat causes its own stress on materials. So can wind carrying sand and even smog and ozone are a detriment to the non-metal materials.
Now that we’re on the same page that you need some protection. It’s important to know that HELPING can sometimes HURT when it comes to fighting sun fading.
Have you ever ridden on a seat that was freshly treated with the leading leather conditioner and slide right off when you hit the gas? Besides being a safety issue, some protectants can help your equipment look great today but actually accelerate future wear!
One of the most commonly used ingredients in some protectants is alcohol. Alcohols do provide quick-drying properties and help reduce that greasy feeling but they will eventually dry out whatever you put them on causing cracking much more quickly. Similarly, petroleum distillates can cause the same issue. Many plastic and vinyl protectants also will include some sort of solvent or cleaner to make sure you’re happy with the end result. While cleaners are a good thing trapping them on the surface you’re cleaning by including them with a protectant will also accelerate wear.
If you’re ready to protect your investment, use PJ1 ReNew & Protect. PJ1 ReNew and Protect does not contain any damaging plasticizers or petroleum products but it does penetrate to protect your plastic, rubber, wood, vinyl or leather to keep it looking new for years to come!
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