How to soften the winter blow
 

Hey chaps and chapesses,

I am a bonifide new SVer. I just bought a new Red SV650sK5 last week and am having a blast! I wanted to get a black one (2006 doesn't come in black, just red, light blue and silver) but the deal was so good i couldn't refuse £4050 with a scottoiler fitted for free. One of the last two 2005 bikes my local dealer had, they may still have one if anyone is interested (lamba motorcycles, carshalton)

Anyway down to the point. I have only just passed my big bike go faster test in october and have been riding around on a 125 for over a year. I have to say my maintenance of my first bike a Hyosung GT125 (looks and sounds great for a 125) was not really up to scratch and i am still learning all the ins and outs of keeping a bike in good trim all though the winter. I wondered if i could pick your brains about the best solution to making winter hassle free. I am planning to fit a pyramid fender extender and hugger thanks to the info you guys have provided on this forum, but what is the best thing to do the prevent corrosion. I notice that there was a discussion about ACH-50 but i also know that scottoiler make a corrosion retardant, which is better?

Any help with winter would be appreciated.

Cheers

Jools

wash it!!

others will give advice which stuff is best for protection, but one basic rule.

Do NOT use washing-up liquid to wash the bike, we've discussed it before but basically it contains salts and stuff that just make corrosion worse.

Use a decent car body shampoo from your favourite accessory store. My preference is for Autoglym Bodywork Shampoo, but most are fine.

Also the Autoglym Vinyl&Rubber Care stuff is good for plastics and spraying onto just washed engines etc (it recommends it on the bottle).

If you want heavy duty protection :shock: then Waxoyl does the trick, but it looks grubby. It's quite easily cleaned off in Spring with a spray of WD40 and a rag.

Hose it down everytime you ride it on gritted roads, but allow the engine to cool for at least 5 minutes before, so as not to risk cracking the castings (thermal shock). Especially the underside, brakes and any steel parts.
ACF-50 acts as a first line of defense and even works on existing corrosion and the scottoiler will protect the chain. If you do it every time its easier to keep up with and does n't take as long as doing it once in a blue moon.


PS
Enjoy the bike and aim to spend more time riding than cleaning it, but don't neglect the later, unkless you like furry looking bikes.

check the oil! :D

Last year I used the Scottoiler FS 365 Protector Spray on my bike and wasn't impressed to be honest (the chain oiler is perfect though!!). Reason being it washed off too easily, I seemed to be applying it every night when I got home if there had been a little bit of rain. The smell of the stuff burning when the engine got hot was horrible too.

This year I'm using the ACF-50 spray and even though I've only had it on a week I'm more than imressed, ok in an earlier post I mention that I'm getting little bits of crap sticking to it but who cares, as long as the bike isn't corroding !!! It's a little bit more expensive but you've got to remember, this stuff was designed for the aviation industry... it's gonna work !!!

I bought a can off ebay which was about 12 quid delivered.... anybody know anywhere cheaper ?

the scottoiler stuff is water soluble i believe which means whenevr it gets damp (every day in winter really) it gets washed off. I used it last year and found it made no difference at all and rust spots were happening during the time my bike was parked at work.

My advice is wash it with COLD water after every ride, apply wd40 to bolts etc, definitely strip the brakes down after winter and grease up the pins etc or you'll never be able to change the pads again. I tend to use chain lube on areas prone to rust, looks horrible but stays put and can be cleaned of easily enough when the weather improves. 8)

Enjoy the bike dude

fender exstender easy to fit 4bolts hole the fender on

wana really look after it get a rear hugger aswell to protect the rear shock

also get a duble buble screen make your ride easyer less wind over 60mph

use wheel clener get some engine cleaner and a wash stuf for a bike/car warm watter use a brush to clean the wheels and engine auto glim have a good one

and rember after washin the bike to shamy it then ride it round the block and shamy again and to lube everythink with wd40 brake lever anythink that moves and need lubin so it works better.

and have fun and invest in some R&Gs trust me you thank me when u use them as i found out last Wed

What happened?

In my experience washing a bike then failing to protect it afterwards in winter is worse than just leaving it dirty. What you're doing there is providing a nice clean surface for tomorrow's road filth to get plastered on, and also ensuring that the bike gets thoroughly wet constantly.

I totally stand by ACF50 on all the metal bits (bar the exhaust and brakes of course), some sort of hard wax for all the painted bits (I use a really cheap one from Halfords, no gloss at all but it keeps the cack off the paint. I wash mine maybe once a month through winter, and it's in better condition than almost any 5-year-old SV I've ever seen despite getting ridden daily through winter.

There's a lot you can do for preventative maintenance- you need to stay on top pof the brakes or they'll gum up something rotten. Chewy's stainless bolt kit is excellent too. When I has the standard front end on I powdercoated the fork lowers to prevent them bubbling up as they tend to.