Do You ride your GS in the salt?
- Thread starter oly
- Start date
My experiment has progressed PDQ:
Last time I left a sheet of metal with half coated in ACF50 for four weeks, with a reapplication of ACF after a fortnight:
Clearly the coated half won, this bracket was taken to bare metal and the test re-run this time with a large pile of salt on top, a second bracket was added with the upper half coated in WD40 and the lower half in ACF50.
After one week the results are quite amazing, the salt seems to have speeded up corrosion by a factor of ten or more, in fact it is not yet a week and the completely unprotected area has completely rusted.
We have had quite a lot of rain this washed the salt of the top bracket which had one half unprotected and one half with a light coating of ACF (topped up mid-week)
The lower bracket is still covered in an oily / salty mix, I poured water over to see what looks to remain of the oil, the ACF is still causing water to bead, and more so than the WD40 side that appears to have had more of the oil wash away - the experiment goes on.
My conclusions so far is that if you are going to rinse after each ride then re-applying some ACF is probably necessary, also the leave a layer of cak approach may work as well but I am unable to accurately simulate this with my garden test as I do not know how to build up such a layer of cak in my controlled environment.
What is very clear is that salt is bad - very bad!
Last time I left a sheet of metal with half coated in ACF50 for four weeks, with a reapplication of ACF after a fortnight:
Clearly the coated half won, this bracket was taken to bare metal and the test re-run this time with a large pile of salt on top, a second bracket was added with the upper half coated in WD40 and the lower half in ACF50.
After one week the results are quite amazing, the salt seems to have speeded up corrosion by a factor of ten or more, in fact it is not yet a week and the completely unprotected area has completely rusted.
We have had quite a lot of rain this washed the salt of the top bracket which had one half unprotected and one half with a light coating of ACF (topped up mid-week)
The lower bracket is still covered in an oily / salty mix, I poured water over to see what looks to remain of the oil, the ACF is still causing water to bead, and more so than the WD40 side that appears to have had more of the oil wash away - the experiment goes on.
My conclusions so far is that if you are going to rinse after each ride then re-applying some ACF is probably necessary, also the leave a layer of cak approach may work as well but I am unable to accurately simulate this with my garden test as I do not know how to build up such a layer of cak in my controlled environment.
What is very clear is that salt is bad - very bad!
Anthony Cooper
Registered user
R850R Classic
Lots of Chrome ride it every day and will with the GS if i ever find one
Lots of Chrome ride it every day and will with the GS if i ever find one
pistonbrokescooby
Registered user
salt?????????????????
hi all
i have used the acf ,good gear,i use my bikes all winter, never even wash them ,odd occasion when they look real bad ,i will hose off when they have been ridden home in the rain and all the muck is wet anyway, my old gs1150 had 3 winters of crap all over it and 20000 miles cleaned of with petrol on rags ,hot water oven cleaner grease remover type, not good to use .followed by a good spray of that pink bike cleaner left for 10 mins and a good jetwash. the results were outstanding , one stone chip found ,front fork,one little bit of deterioration on the cylinder fin , probably from a stone again.
i then traded in and they said , never seen rain ?..
IF THEY ONLY KNEW.
ok this is what i used
wax oil with a paint brush everywhere ,the clear one .
every few weeks i would get the brush out and add a bit more ,the rain will at speed remove some from the lower frame and anything facing forward,
anything near the top of the bike ,motor oil on a rag , forget wd and those other weak sprays . spray grease is another for all linkage under bike , favorite is wurth , now and again i would spray the bike with motor oil
with a little paraffin in so it would spray. careful not to get on brakes and tyres. the switch gear i did use acf , did have a problem with that the starter stuck on . they have rubber seals in the switch gear , they rot quite quick .
i do live few yard from edge of coast and it will take its toll on anything metal
i must admit the bike looked nice the day i got it and the day i sold .
no rust at all .
piston.
hi all
i have used the acf ,good gear,i use my bikes all winter, never even wash them ,odd occasion when they look real bad ,i will hose off when they have been ridden home in the rain and all the muck is wet anyway, my old gs1150 had 3 winters of crap all over it and 20000 miles cleaned of with petrol on rags ,hot water oven cleaner grease remover type, not good to use .followed by a good spray of that pink bike cleaner left for 10 mins and a good jetwash. the results were outstanding , one stone chip found ,front fork,one little bit of deterioration on the cylinder fin , probably from a stone again.
i then traded in and they said , never seen rain ?..
IF THEY ONLY KNEW.
ok this is what i used
wax oil with a paint brush everywhere ,the clear one .
every few weeks i would get the brush out and add a bit more ,the rain will at speed remove some from the lower frame and anything facing forward,
anything near the top of the bike ,motor oil on a rag , forget wd and those other weak sprays . spray grease is another for all linkage under bike , favorite is wurth , now and again i would spray the bike with motor oil
with a little paraffin in so it would spray. careful not to get on brakes and tyres. the switch gear i did use acf , did have a problem with that the starter stuck on . they have rubber seals in the switch gear , they rot quite quick .
i do live few yard from edge of coast and it will take its toll on anything metal
i must admit the bike looked nice the day i got it and the day i sold .
no rust at all .
piston.
STUBBS
undead
mines parked next to 50 tons of the stuff at the moment
I have a winter and summer bike, however
I still look after both bikes, after a deep clean, i use acf50 on electrical stuff but also use quick silver marine corrosion protector £15 a tin but a tin will do two bikes. I spray it on in some areas, but around the brakes spray it in the cap and use a small brush. It drys out and make the brake calipers look better than normal because they shine. I used to use this on boats that were in salt water and works very well. Its a once a winter event to apply this.
In the summer i use GT85 after a wash down, no corrosion.
I still look after both bikes, after a deep clean, i use acf50 on electrical stuff but also use quick silver marine corrosion protector £15 a tin but a tin will do two bikes. I spray it on in some areas, but around the brakes spray it in the cap and use a small brush. It drys out and make the brake calipers look better than normal because they shine. I used to use this on boats that were in salt water and works very well. Its a once a winter event to apply this.
In the summer i use GT85 after a wash down, no corrosion.
Mine is full of salt after using it this week. No use today as working from home, so hope it is still in one piece when I come to use it tomorrow and not dissolved into a pile metal and plastic on the garage floor.
ACF 50 - Does exactly what is ays on the tin
I commute everyday on mine. In the past I've been really anal about keepinh the bike cleaned in winter, but this year have used acf50.
I gave the bike a good all-round covering back in August (don't get it on your disks - it screws your brakes and is a bitch to get really clean again) - and I hadn't cleaned it since - not so much as a splash of water.
This week, with salt crystals forming all over the poor thing, I folded and cleaned it..... I was very pleasantly surprised to find just about everything had been perfectly preserved under all that crud.
The lower centre screw for the alt belt cover had rusted ( I suppose it gets grid and water blasted right onto it) and the exhuast downpipes were a bit sorry (cos the ACF50 gets burned off - as someone has already commented)
Overall I'm very impressed. No more winter cleaning for me!
I commute everyday on mine. In the past I've been really anal about keepinh the bike cleaned in winter, but this year have used acf50.
I gave the bike a good all-round covering back in August (don't get it on your disks - it screws your brakes and is a bitch to get really clean again) - and I hadn't cleaned it since - not so much as a splash of water.
This week, with salt crystals forming all over the poor thing, I folded and cleaned it..... I was very pleasantly surprised to find just about everything had been perfectly preserved under all that crud.
The lower centre screw for the alt belt cover had rusted ( I suppose it gets grid and water blasted right onto it) and the exhuast downpipes were a bit sorry (cos the ACF50 gets burned off - as someone has already commented)
Overall I'm very impressed. No more winter cleaning for me!
CPL
Registered user
Don't forget to make any cosmetic repairs involving paint BEFORE covering it in ACF.. Coz salt ain't the only thing that won't bond to it afterwards!
I use S100, sold in HD shops, spray it in October & leave it until April without touching or cleaning, looks like a rat bike but works great.
Roadcaptain
Registered user
does anyone know the name or have a link to the guy who cleans and then acf's your bike ready for winter?
Try this one: http://www.allyearbiker.co.uk/
Bendy toy
Registered user
Just found this. ACF 50 gets 
from aerospace to the navy so its clearly good stuff, but the aerosol shelf life is only 2 years. Quart bottles probably wont last that long.
http://bac-online.com/default.aspx?page=item+detail&itemcode=ACF50-13OZ
from aerospace to the navy so its clearly good stuff, but the aerosol shelf life is only 2 years. Quart bottles probably wont last that long.http://bac-online.com/default.aspx?page=item+detail&itemcode=ACF50-13OZ
Bendy toy
Registered user
Just found this. ACF 50 gets from aerospace to the navy so its clearly good stuff, but the aerosol shelf life is only 2 years. Quart bottles probably wont last that long.
http://bac-online.com/default.aspx?page=item+detail&itemcode=ACF50-13OZ
from aerospace to the navy so its clearly good stuff, but the aerosol shelf life is only 2 years. Quart bottles probably wont last that long.http://bac-online.com/default.aspx?page=item+detail&itemcode=ACF50-13OZ
Dave Ett
Registered user
Why don't people who ask a yes/no question add a poll to their post?
Delboy777
Registered user
Just found this. ACF 50 gets
http://bac-online.com/default.aspx?page=item+detail&itemcode=ACF50-13OZ
I believe it was made for the US Navy to use on their planes on carriers to keep them from corroding with the salty air.
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