NZRalphy
Registered user
Get a small bottle of rust kill and a art paint brush. Coat the rust so it turns black. Touch up with a matching paint if you need. Or leave, I have done this to Torx bolt heads and it transformed the look of the bike
Corrosion - how to stop it getting any worse?
- Thread starter Jon P
- Start date
Spectre
Registered user
ACF 50 Lash it on and forget what's going on underneath! Corrosion has to fight it's way through all the road crap before it gets that far!
OK - my ACF-50 has turned up. How do I use it? (I know stupid question - but wait....). I have to trailer the bike to another location about 60 miles away in the Highlands and put it into storage for three months. The bike will probably get covered in shite during the trip and I won't be able to wash it down as where I am going the water is turned off - though the storage is heated and I can plug the bike into my charger.
So - before making this trip do I just cover the bike in the stuff? Will that keep corrosion at bay? Should I use it on the body panels or just the 'metalwork'? Does it remain tacky or does it dry? Do I then wash it off in March (what do you wash it off with?)
So many questions!
So - before making this trip do I just cover the bike in the stuff? Will that keep corrosion at bay? Should I use it on the body panels or just the 'metalwork'? Does it remain tacky or does it dry? Do I then wash it off in March (what do you wash it off with?)
So many questions!
It won't do anything good for any plastic panels but won't harm them either. I would just spray the metalwork/engine etc everywhere you can keeping it off the brake pads and tyres. If you get it on the stands be careful as they will be slippery in use. You need to do this before getting it mucky. To clean I use SD100 gel as I've found this to be very effective although ACF50 is very stubborn and if you like your bikes immaculate it may take a few goes if the ACF has gone on thickly. It really only needs a minimal covering - less is best, otherwise the mud sticks to it like glue and it then becomes a major operation to clean it all off. Before its ridden again make sure the brake discs have been cleaned - I use petrol soaked rags to do that.
Gossy
Registered user
Assuming you've got some cans of ACF50....don't spray on cold - warm them up first in a bowl of warm water, better for spraying.
If the roads are covered in salt when you move it I'd use a van or covered trailer if you can , I made the mistake a couple of years ago with the sons motocross bike of taking it out on dry but very salty roads on a rack on the back of the car. We normally wash the bike after every use but the circuit was frozen solid and closed that day so we just turned around and went home and put the bike away, we didn't use it for another month and the amount of corrosion on it was unbelievable :-( the salt had got every where but wasn't noticable when we unloaded it .
(RIP) AlCapone
Registered user
This may help put your mind at rest!
http://www.learchem.com/industry/motorcycle-8.html
its good stuff.
http://www.learchem.com/industry/motorcycle-8.html
its good stuff.
If you cover the whole of the bike you are making a problem for yourself when it comes to cleaning it off. The bits you need to cover are those with bare ally or those where there is an edge to the pain - for example bolt and screw holes. Plus any ferrous components like bolt heads. Painted surfaces wont corrode. Neither will the stainless exhaust or the seat or grips. The major problem, and its the same with all bikes, is where the edhge of the paint and bare ally meet.
My trailer is uncovered and I won't be able to clean the bike when I put it away and I then won't be able to see it until March - hence my interest in what to use. At the moment the bike has a light coating of WD40, which is what I have always wiped over the metal work of my bikes after cleaning them.
Chrome over stainless for the exhaust is an option.
Bendy toy
Registered user
If its trailered on salty roads then stored normally, the bike WILL BE CORRODED when you get back to it. Salt wont cause corrosion when its 100% dry, but is that possible even with one of those bike coccoon things?
You could Use ACF-50 on all metal then fully wrap the bike with some some polythene dust sheets. It might look like a present from Santa but its got to be easier to keep the salt off than trying to clean a contaminated bike. Tape them down well so the plastic wont flap and tear.
You could Use ACF-50 on all metal then fully wrap the bike with some some polythene dust sheets. It might look like a present from Santa but its got to be easier to keep the salt off than trying to clean a contaminated bike. Tape them down well so the plastic wont flap and tear.
It'll be a shed by March, with no treatment
Best treatment after any salt encounter is to wash it immediately
ACF 50 may give protection if you don't
Personally I would hire a Van instead
Bendy toy
Registered user
I should add to my last post - Dont leave it stored and cocooned as it will sweat underneath and rot even faster. It will need to be ACF-50 treated anyway so for all the hassle hire a van as @JohnnyBoxer suggests.
Deleted account 190920002
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Just washed and used turtle wax shampoo then dried finished off with wd40. Done this over last 11years with the bikes I've owned and ridden through winters no corrosion well not that I could discern. But unlike a neighbour who minutely exams every core I don't or didn't do that surly more important things to do. Been out this week in pouring rain muddy roads guess what washed off the bike tonight and not a trace of the dreaded lurgy rust just did my washing etc.
Where I live there are no van rentals, besides I need to take the trailer as that's going into storage as well. It is going to be in a heated garage - The garage unfurtunately is about 65 miles away - I could turn the water supply on at the garage to enable me to clean the bike but chances are the weather will be pretty horrible. I certainly intend to cover the important bits with ACF. But.....how about covering the bike in that industrial shipping cling film? It's about 10 quid for 200m roll.
We live a mobile life (not pikeys) and move home and work location every few months, I would take the bike with me but it'll be in the way for three the 3 months we are away so it has to go away.
We live a mobile life (not pikeys) and move home and work location every few months, I would take the bike with me but it'll be in the way for three the 3 months we are away so it has to go away.
If you need to open trailer it I would give it a very good clean then dry it off totally then cover as much of the metalwork possible with Acf50 then cover it while on the trailer just in case there is salt on the road. Anything that will keep the salt off it will do (outdoor cover / clingfilm / polythene) . Then when tucked up in garage leave it uncovered or under a breathable dust cover. Other things to do if leaving for three months would possibly be to put on centrestand and make sure BOTH wheels are clear of ground to save the tyres and either connect an optimate type charger or take the battery home with you to look after it. The way petrol goes off now it may also help to put some fuel stabiliser in it as well ;-).
The plan worked - I drove the 60 miles in -3oC temp with horrible salty roads up in the highlands and the bike arrived bone dry, because............................200m of cling film. I covered all the sticky out bits of the bike with black bin liners, first coat of cling film, then bike cover and then more cling film. Of course the trailer (my new trailer) got covered in crap but I was alble to turn the water on at my destination and hose it down. The bike was unwrapped (took abot 40 mins) and was given a WD40 bath over all the metal work. BMW charger plugged in and garage turned heater turned on.
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Glad you got it there salt free 
