keeping clean

[maff]

a couple of weeks ago i acf50'd the sv. all over everywhere. get him ready for the winter.

today i went over it with a sponge and luke warm water to make him look a bit more presentable, question is... have i just taken the acf50 off? and am i going to have to do it all again?

ive read that you can put on the acf and leave it for the winter but it looked like id been grasstracking on him so had to rinse off the dirt. so ny answers would be gratefull :)

[phil24_7]

It shouldn't have come off after just 1 clean. It is reallly good at sticking to the bike so you should be fine for a little while yet.

[ejohnh]

a couple of weeks ago i acf50'd the sv. all over everywhere. get him ready for the winter.

today i went over it with a sponge and luke warm water to make him look a bit more presentable, question is... have i just taken the acf50 off? and am i going to have to do it all again?

ive read that you can put on the acf and leave it for the winter but it looked like id been grasstracking on him so had to rinse off the dirt. so ny answers would be gratefull :)

You probably washed a lot off, I do not believe that acf50 chemically or physically binds with metal - or anything else probably. I got a load of the stuff too. Wondering just how good it is...

[neio79]

Is it that good then?? i was thinking of buying some and covering my bike in it as i break in the engine this winter. Take of the farings and cove the engine?? do you literaly cover everything?

[northwind]

It's very good. Mainly because it doesn't come off easily, water doesn't shift it much but scrubbing and chemical cleaners/detergents does. I spray basically everything that isn't plastic, brakes, tyres and exhaust- and only because it's a waste of money to do the exhaust, it just burns off.

It's no better than WD40/FS365/oil and paraffin if you wash it regularily IMO, ACF50 is more for the terminally slack. Like me. I ride every day in winter, and I wash it twice, once at the start and once in january. Well, I do the discs fairly often but just a 2-second squirt, otherwise the non-braking surfaces rust.

[maultin]

in my experience, these very thinly applied coatings dont ususally last when you use water on then (especially soapy water) it tends to take the coating off - much like using washing up liquid on a greasy plate.

as a rule of thumb, if you cant see it, it isnt there, so re-apply it.

Alan

[northwind]

Not the case with this stuff, soapy water takes it off but regular water doesn't dent it unless under pressure.

[New Leaf]

If you just used water you'll be fine - no need to re-apply. If you used any kind of detergent then you'd be best off adding more acf-50 to be safe side.

I'm doing an experiment at the moment with 3 identical nails. They are getting a daily rinse in salty water and a weekly spray with autoglym motocycle cleaner.

The untreated nail rusted over night after its first dip in salty water.

The wd-40 nail survived 7 days of daily salt water baths, but began to rust after its first exposure to motorcycle cleaner.

The acf-50 nail is still mint after 2 weeks of daily salty water baths and 1 autoglym motorcycle cleaner treatment. Its due another squirt with the autoglym today.

I'll let u know how it gets on.

[Biker Biggles]

Fascinating results there,but I cant help feeling you really need to get out more.;)
Try having a few beers,and dont be tempted to drop a nail in the glass to see if it rusts.:)

[maultin]

if u wanna know if its still there get a piece of loo roll & wipe over where it used to be - if it gets oily its still thee - if not, u have washed it off

[metalmonkey]

Yeah I coated my bike today everywhere, but the disk and breaks.....

So do I just rinse my bike with the hose and leather off, will that take the acf-50 off, or will that be okay?

I want to stop bike rusting in any way if thats possibale, I don't ride everyday but most days!

[maultin]

i think these type of products are all p**s and wind.
oil & grease does not dry & if you take a leather or cloth to it you will take most if not all of it off.

if you wash ur bike regularly then bes thing is to re-apply regularly.

Alan

[northwind]

Don't take a cloth to it, it'll rub off. Just hose it and let it dry. Or alternatively, don't hose it at all, it'll end up looking like a sea monster but the metal parts will come through the winter beteter than if you washed the bike daily but didn't protect it. If you're going to wash it frequently you'll want to reapply more often, but I've no direct experience of that since I use it as an alternative to washing.

maultin, feel free to ignore the experience of those who've used it if you like, but it does work, and it's been widely used in the aerospace industry and at Bonnevile for years.

[sv-robo]

maultin, feel free to ignore the experience of those who've used it if you like, but it does work, and it's been widely used in the aerospace industry and at Bonnevile for years.


think yourself told:);)

[northwind]

Ach, that was really arsey sounding, sorry Maultin. I edited it around a bit before I posted it, it didn't start out that way.

[maultin]

northwind,

i am not meaning to sound like i am ignoring those who use it, sorry, :oops:

but i maintain that they do not stay where you put them if you wash the parts.

the aeroospace industry is exactly where i have seen it used on many occasions.

i supply paint into the aerospace industry (BAE/AIRBUS etc) & acf50 is almost always used on internal, but 'perrishable' parts - not designed to be subsequantly coated or cleaned, or alternatively as a holding coat, to be washed off & then coated.

if you coat then clean, without meaning to sound flippant, you may as well use cooking oil.
its thicker & therefore more likely to stay where it is applied.

Alan

[maff]

thanks for the input :cool:

didnt exactly scrub the bike. just squeezed a soaked sponge enough to wipe away the dirt and make it more of a pleasure to the eye

used a hefty amount when i applied the acf, went in everywhere with a brush and the water off the sponge today was beading as it was running off

think ill leave it now and see what its like after the winter

cheers guys

[northwind]

i supply paint into the aerospace industry (BAE/AIRBUS etc) & acf50 is almost always used on internal, but 'perrishable' parts - not designed to be subsequantly coated or cleaned, or alternatively as a holding coat, to be washed off & then coated.

if you coat then clean, without meaning to sound flippant, you may as well use cooking oil.
its thicker & therefore more likely to stay where it is applied.


I think it just depends on what you mean by clean, maybe we're missing each other because of a definition thing? You can ride in the rain for months and still have a layer present- it's 2 months since I did mine and it does still have an oily film- so the same applies to gentle hosing. But if you want it look clean, rather than just knocking off the worst, you're going to take the coating off since anything that'll shift proper winter muck is probably going to take the coating with it.

I reckon it's at its best if you're lazy and don't clean it regularily, if you clean regularily then something like FS365 would probably be better as it's much cheaper- the longevity doesn't matter if you wash once a week.

[neio79]

I am using and have used the clean after every couple of rides and apply duck oil/GT85 & FS365 .

but i might give this ACF50 a go where can i get it from??

[Matt Prince]

I would put another lot on. I've just applied F365 to my bike - I ride on occasion but also to protect it when standing in the garage. Had a mate who rode his bike through the winter last year with it applied and no washing. Bike came up immaculate at the end of the winter. He did occasionally add another spray after a particularly wet ride which is what I'm going to do.
Good luck!

[neio79]

I would put another lot on. I've just applied F365 to my bike - I ride on occasion but also to protect it when standing in the garage. Had a mate who rode his bike through the winter last year with it applied and no washing. Bike came up immaculate at the end of the winter. He did occasionally add another spray after a particularly wet ride which is what I'm going to do.
Good luck!


I do after the rides in winter if its wet or salty i rinse it off clean with bike cleaner, cover all exposed bolts with duck oil and then cover everything other than plastic and brakes in FS365.

[metalmonkey]

Hey I don't intend to clean the bike too much over the winter but I want to make sure its doesn't rot and rust!

If it gets really dirty or salt on it, I just want make sure its comes off! To keep my bike looking good! I guess I will just hose the lose dirt and salt off and put more if I need to give the bike a good clean.

What can be used on the brakes and disk to keep then good? I have the muck off brake cleaner is that also good to stop it rusting as well?

I got my acf-50 off ebay just do a search and you will find it.

[neio79]

Just bought a 1l Bottle, pump spray and grease of it for £36 delivered of ebay. So lest see how good it really is then.

[metalmonkey]

Long as my bike is shiny at the end of the winter is all I care about lets hope what we put on our bikes works!