Rust, That was quick
 

This weekend my new brake pedal came and i set about fitting it, Unfortunately when i got to my bike i discovered that the chain and rear sprocket had begun to rust. I've left her outside (no garage) for 3 weeks and it's already rusting (really didn't think it would happen so quickly).

Anyway, I cleaned the chain and sprocket with some chain cleaner and some tooth brushes and it came up pretty well, there was still some small amounts of rust, but i couldn't remove these (i thought about wire wool but decided the scratches wouldn't be a good idea). I also found the brake disks had begun to rust so i cleaned these as well.

I bought a cover and have now decided to spend some time every week fixing her up, however I wondered if there's anything else I should really do? Is it worth wire-wooling all of the rust off? (I have re-oiled the chain if your wondering).

I've taken the decision that over the next few months I'm going to get to really know my bike by doing some maintenance on her, I've always fancied learning how to fix bikes and this seems like a good opportunity.

Steve

my chain started rusting last year....i got a scottoiler and the rust had gone within a week and hasn't come back....

reckon its worth the £60 odd quid for that alone, then when you add a mimumum of double the chain life.....

the scottoiler does a great job but i cant get on with it flinging it everywhere i'd rarther change my chain and sprocks twice as often.

I'd like a scottoiler but I'm not riding my bike often enough to make that a solution. Having said that I'm encouraged by the fact that riding+scottoiler seemed to get rid of your rust.

Btw. If I'm not using a bike and it's covered is there any need to oil the chain (wax lube) every week?

Steve

but then, you do have some unhealthy OCD when it comes to your bike & dirt....!

buy a can of acf50. its brill stuff. spray it everywhere that might rust and u can relax all year round. (probably best not to use it on yer brake discs though!!)

Steve,

No doubt that many parts of the SV will rust quickly if left outside - especially this time of year. It's a relatively low cost bike and with that comes poor corrosion resistance. Having said that, if you take care to protect it it should be fine.

Clean the rust off the chain with paraffin and give it a good oiling, before any of the links have a chance to start seizing up. If the bike's not going to be on the road for a while at least push it up around a few yards as doing so will flex the chain when it goes round the front sprocket and help to keep the links mobile.

** edit - see you've already cleaned and oiled it, but also move it a bit ** :roll:

as for the other areas, if you can't get hold of ACF50, WD40 is good, but not as durable so you'll need to re-coat more often. I use WD40, have ridden through winters and as long as it gets a clean fairly regularly (especially when there's salt around) I've not had problems. One of these days I'll invest in ACF50 I guess.

WD40 ain't good for chains as it's solvent based and will dissolve some of the lubricant out of the links.

hope that helps

Keith

The sv's cheap, but the standard chain's pretty good. If it's lubed enough not to wear out, it shouldn't really rust, but remember a spot of surface rust is no problem at all. I use a Scottoiler, which makes it all dead simple, but if i didn't I'd want to use a decent wax type lube- should protect the chain from rust and from accelerated wear, and they tend to last better and fling less than liquid lubes.

Cool, I've cleaned and lubed the chain and I have already used some GT85 (got confused between this and ACF50 when I was buying it but it does the same job), although I was concerned about where / where not to put it so i steered away from anywhere I was unsure of (engine, brakes, chain).

My plan is to fire her up every week and go on a short ride, unfortunately at the moment she doesn't sound very healthy. But I'm planning on slowly (over a couple of months) servicing her until she is sorted. Engine cleaner, fuel cleaner, oil change, oil filter, air filter anything and everything that I can do on my own really.

Steve

Best place to get acf50 is?

JohnH