hi all as the title says really! im going to use my bike through the winter but dont really know what to use as protection against the salt/grit do you coat the bike once for the winter or weekly? also what parts of the bike do/can you cover? obviously tyres/wheels not included any help in which products to useand how would be appreciated cheers
FS365 after the cold water, does work and keeps the salt at bay - also thin spray of GT85 (avoilding disks / tyres) used by some
yeah gt85 is ok but it stinks. I'd use acf50 its bloody amazing like tephlon for the bike repels water conducts, anti corrosion. Used on planes so its damn expensive but a little goes a long way, spray everywhere bar disks and tyres then wipe off excess with cloth (I use a soft paint brush to get into all nooks and crannies) will smoke a bit on exhausts but repeated heat cycles and washing plus reapplication gives a long lasting build up. Its top swag.
Plenty of cold water everywhere.pay attention to rad, exhaust /headers, forks, rear shock and its mounts.That salt damages hose clips too. You may need to strip your brakes, clean up the pad holding pins and copperease them, this stops them seizing up. Lots of gt85 everywhere except tyres and discs. I'm buying another bike to ride through winter and use as a track bike.Salt is nasty.
thanks for replys/info everyone looks like a day in the garage with the acf 50 this saturday for me cheers
Another vote for ACF from me! Just before the salt goes down I give the bike a proper deep clean. Fairing are removed (do this when it is slightly warmer as the tabs are really brittle in the cold) Use S DOC to really get all surfaces squeaky clean and allow to dry. Because the bike is clean the ACF adheres really well, spread it nice and thin. And It will spread, so using too much risks it spreading to bits you don’t want it eg discs. Like Sideways, I also strip down the brakes and silver grease the backs of pads and pins and red grease the pistons. This year I might repeat this a few times over the winter season. When washing ,unless you want to reapply the ACF avoid using SDOC or similar strong detergents. This obviously will strip the protective film and unless you reapply your bike is again exposed to the elements. As others have said just use loads of cold water. This year I have a Karcher foamer , so if the bike needs a wash I will use snow foam and lots of water as this will not remove the protective stuff but will still clean well. If after a ride and not being able to wash, I use FS365, it stops the corrosive effect of salt and water. – its kinda greasy though, so the bike will look filthy but ultimately is protected under that filth. I might give GT85 a go and see how that fairs. A no-no is warm water, OK in the summer but in the winter it will dissolve the salt, spread it everywhere, make the water more conductive and if not completely removed it will melt your bike! I rode through the salt and snow last winter and only suffered corrosion on my calliper pistons (caused my ABS light to flash). – this was due to me over cleaning with strong detergents(Castrol green tec/ Sdoc) washing away the protective layers allowing the salt and water do their nasty thing. Late Feb/ March when all the salts are washed away into our delicate eco system, fairings come off again for the deep clean…
NOT WARM WATER! hangs head in shame after last winters cock up! must get some of that ACF50 for myself too, got the FS365 and its ok but quite watery.
My mate ..... yes I do have one ..... uses FS365 weekly and rides all through the winter without washing Come the spring he gives it a really good wash and comes up like new
Used to use FS365 until I found ACF50 which is the dogs Simples Still have half a gallon in the garage that i don't touch as I only use ACF50
As the weather was gash yesterday locked myself in the garage and prepped mine up for the winter. Probably a bit premature but the bike is now covered in ACF. Brake pads changed and everything regreased. All fluid levels checked and brake fluid bled. Bike looks like it was just wheeled out the show room, - I expect the same come spring!
thanks again for the useful/helpful posts got some pr3's fitted yesterday spent most of the day degreasing and washing the bike before coating everything in acf 50 and like slick also re greased everything and changed the brakes and fluid the only problem is it looks so nice now i dont want to use it in the crap weather haha
Know how you feel! My hard work is gonna look like sh1te within seconds as soon as I hit the road tomorrow. Haven't started her up yet but expect a load of looks as it will smoke so much peeps are gonna think shes on fire.! Remember the aim of the game is to keep that layer intact and maintained where necessary. Keep away from the strong detergents and rinse down as regular as you can. Be liberal with FS365 as this will help neutralize the bad stuff. As I said I will try to only use snow foam and non contact cleaning methods. The bike will look hanging (enough even to make lambeth longshanks blush!) but when the spring come around my Blade will still look like new!
Handy tip for ACF50 use. Its pretty viscous so best to buy a bottle with a hand pump bottle attatched. The aerosol cans are a buugger for clogging up. The hand pump bottles can also be put on the radiator prior to use and this gives a nice fine attomised spray( it tends to splurge out in a blob is its been left in a cold shed or garage
Get mine from here, cheapest I found last time I looked! Airpart Supply View Lear Chemical Research Corporation 10004
