Do You ride your GS in the salt?

dadster said:
do you wash ACF off every time you've been out? :nenau
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Yes, but I don't go out that often in the depths of winter so it is not a huge problem for me.

I have a science experiment in the back garden, an old shelft bracket I rubbed down and applied a thin film of ACF to one half and none to the other and put jammed it in plant pot outside, after a couple of weeks with some rain even the ACF half has started to rust, the non ACF half is MUCH worse though, but it made me think perhaps spray from the road will blast ACF off over time.

Went with the cold hose down, apply cleaning product, second cold hose rinse then dried off most of bike with a cloth and put back in garage, will just put some ACF on a cloth and rub around areas that spray will hit - behind front wheel (Engine / Exhausts) underside of bike (Swingarm, Bash Plate etc)

Going to run a new experiment next using ACF on one half of my metal bracket and WD40 on the other half and throw some salt on to see how they compare - gotta pass the winter weekends somehow.
 
Do not ride on salty roads with those ally boxes on.
 
Regarding the acf, I was told that once you have it applied to your bike you should then not wash it till winter is over.

Is this true as I commute throughout the winter and I've not hosed it down or nowt. I thought the idea was that the acf coated the bike and the muck just sat on top of the film, away from the bike?
 
your right of course but in the real world,

i rinse the salt of with cold water(hose pipe and squirter thingy),and reapply acf50 to the most exposed areas.
 
For the paranoid, half way through Winter SDOC the ACF off with a good scrub and apply a final (2nd) coating of ACF to get you through the final stages of Winter until Spring.

Did this with mine last Winter and not one spec of rust.
 
dakarDude said:
For the paranoid, half way through Winter SDOC the ACF off with a good scrub and apply a final (2nd) coating of ACF to get you through the final stages of Winter until Spring.

Did this with mine last Winter and not one spec of rust.
Click to expand...

Oh, just so happens I'm doing this now on an RT12 which is used daily unless roads are really icey (or like now with 1" compacted snow).
Although I'm using Muc-off as the cleaner.
Just washed the bike properly for the 1st time in 3 months or so, came all sparklily, no corrosion.
ACF-50 still present on the wheels I notice as it's beading up.

I run the engine for a bit to get it all hot and evaporate a lot of water, while drying the plastics and wheels. Turn off, then once cooled a little, pop a cheapo Chineese bike cover on which has two vents up near the top. Small safe heater under the sump, leave overnight, bike bone dry in the morning,
Re-apply the ACF-50, everywhere (including the lower black plastic, try it, works good), coat of polish on the plastics. Bike ready for the 2nd half of the winter. I may occasionaly top up the front end, forks etc with ACF if I think it needs it.

I do make a point of hosing down with cold water after every ride, and I use FS-365 applied while bike is still wet, just to be sure (I buy 5 liters when it's on special in the summer). The FS365 is water soluble so when the water drys it leaves a film behind. It's not a patch on the ACF IMO, but I like to be sure.

I make sure my hose reels are removed and live in the garage. I also have one at work which I keep in the workshop so doesn't freeze.

Jobs a goodum ACF-50 best thing since sliced bread IMO.
\v/
 
I have a garden the size of a postage stamp,but my mother in law must think I live in a national park as she always buys me hedge trimmers and other gardening gizmos. The most useful thing she ever got me was one of those garden vacum contraptions. Its like a giant hairdryer and drys the bike off a treat after its shampoo and set. It blows the water out of all the nooks and crannies and drys it out for a good dosing of ACF-50. Well recommended
 
My ACF experiment has been running for a month and I can confirm it works better than no protection!

This was a shelf bracket rubbed down to bare metal, one half coated in a very thin layer of ACF and the other untreated, after two weeks (with lots of rain) the ACF side had a small rust spot, possibly due to being washed off by rain, or maybe this bit got missed - a potential risk of trying to apply very thinly.

I re-applied and left for another two weeks, this time there was little rain just one big snowfall followed by freezing temps.


ACF1Month.jpg


A bit of a one sided fight, but I wanted to see how fast bare untreated metal would rust by comparison, this is not a refelction of an ACF Vs Non ACF bike as all the metal bits on your bike should be either painted or coated, but shows how much extra protection the stuff offers.

I have now put another bracket in the "lab", this time I applied ACF very thickly to one side and a thick layer of WD40 to the other, I will not reapply at all and see how they compare in about a months time.

I have also covered all the brackets in salt and last night they had a heavy rainfall, the ACF sides are still causing water to bead nicely, I re-applied some more salt to make the stuff work harder.

Will update in a month, or when significant rust shows up.
 
STUBBS said:
just helps it splash back up onto your bike
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For the first few times I agree, but each time it rains more of the salt will dissolve in the rain water and get carried away in the run-off, so each rainy day reduces the time the salt remains a problem.

Do you know if the 2-3 months you quited assumed wet or dry weather ?
Peter
 
PeterSX said:
For the first few times I agree, but each time it rains more of the salt will dissolve in the rain water and get carried away in the run-off, so each rainy day reduces the time the salt remains a problem.

Do you know if the 2-3 months you quited assumed wet or dry weather ?
Peter
Click to expand...

normal average weather for the uk
its designed not to wash awayjust slowly dilute down
 
Luckily I live in Oxfordshire where the council are skint and ran out of Salt years ago, whenever I cross into another county I hear the tinkle of salt on the underside of my car, when returning back into the county the sound dissapears.

I had always assumed after 2-3 really good downpours the salt would get dissolved / washed away.

So if it can hang around for 3 months we could be looking at June before it is all gone (in other counties that is)
 
Winter riding,oh yes:) it make you really appreciate the three days of summer we have :D
It's a damned sight more fun than it used to be on my GSXR:augie:D
 
Rasher said:
So if it can hang around for 3 months we could be looking at June before it is all gone (in other counties that is)
Click to expand...

In consecutively bad winters it probably never goes away and I can imagine there still being salt residue, although watered down, throughout that part of the year that we call summer :augie

Now that I am the proud owner of a German bike :blast and reading some of the posts on here, I have dscided I will be treating my GS with corrosion preventitives throughout the year including the summer months :thumb2

Best regards Stretch :)
 
First off, Rasher, cheers for taking the time to do your experiment and share the results with us all. Nice one! :thumb2

I took the KTM 525 EXC out today for the first time since the 23rd.

It was a bit wet but felt bloody good to get out the house on a bike. Dunno about everyone else, but those fecking DSF sofa adverts are doing my head in. :eek

I have had it coated in ACF50 since late November and have been commuting on it all Winter so far except when it was 6" of snow.

Today, in daylight, I had a good look around it. So far so good. The ACF is doing its bit. The bike looks like s**t, as all the dirt and crud has built up over the ACF (was already prepared for that, but hey, its a "dirt bike").

The only bit that has taken a pounding is the downpipe - it has got a bit of rust on it - but this area I cannot put ACF on as it gets hot and burns it off.

Its my second Winter using ACF and I like it. :thumb2
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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