keeping free from rust

hi, i leave my bike in my back garden as i have no garage, nd i ride in all weathers.
i have a cover for my bike to stop so much rain getting on it.
when i ride in the rain, i generally dry it the best i can and put the cover over it.
i was just wondering, what are the most important areas to make sure are dry before i put the cover on????
i.e. where is prone to rusting???


any advice here appreciated, cos i wanna keep my bike in good nic.

cheers.

[admin]

Nic

The short answer is... depends. Each bike is different and the new models seem a bit better made than the MK1.

Winter is the worst time, and salt is your enemy. My friend Kev used to cover most of his bike in wd40 during the winter and it did seem to make a big difference. Scottoiler make a similar product called 365 which although more expensive doesn't seem to bake itself on to the engine like wd40.

Hope this helps

John

I must admit to neglecting my last bike last year because I was in a bad mood with it (RS125 ) - I stuck it in the garage around November, didn't wash it or nothing and didn't even have it back out 'til March. Salt deposits had built up all over the swing arm and it left marks I couldn't even shift with Autosol...so take heed!

I have found that mine started going around the tops of the front suspension near the bars although cleaned it off with WD40 and no damage was seen to the metal. Around the inner edge of the front brake is bit dodgy and also keep an eye on the rear spring other than that its been good.

A tip for having ridden in the rain (and for after washing) is to get on the bike and tip it to the left and right as much as you're happy with, as this can drain water that's collected inside. Personally I've not noticed that much come out of the SV but it helps a bit.

A waterproof and *breathable* cover is a good investment, as it allows water to get out after the cover is on. I just rely in my old cover having lots of holes and rips to let the moisture out... though most of the week the cover is off and the bike is open to the air. Better to leave a wet bike out in the air if you'll be riding it again the next morning, rather than cover up a wet, warm bike (fast rusting guaranteed) IMHO.

WD40/FS365 are good... grease/oil moving parts once a week as per the manual, rub grease into the heads of bolts/parts of the bike that are starting to show faint traces of corrosion... parts of my SV are looking better now than they were when I bought her (2nd hand) as I do this regularly... and it's good to check over the bike for corrosion and loose bolts anyway.

Plus give her a clean with paraffin and bike/car shampoo as often as she needs it, to get rid of the worst muck/salt - especially underneath the bike, which gets filthy but cos you never look underneath you never see it's that bad... the more junk that builds up on there, the more chance something nasty will be happening underneath it all...

... and it's an SV/Suzuki, it's ALL prone to rusting...

Originally Posted by SVeeedy Gonzales

... and it's an SV/Suzuki, it's ALL prone to rusting...

Which always shocks me, since so much of it is aluminium ;p

Originally Posted by Carsick

Which always shocks me, since so much of it is aluminium ;p

Even Aluminium rusts... in fact, it rusts so bad and fast that's why it's so useful... rusts fast and then can't easily rust anymore due to the first layer of rust. Just that the rust is clear and very hard and so not as unsightly as, say, dirty brown steel rust.

Sorry, not sure what came over me there

/engineering mode off

Doesn't rust only occur on steel? Isn't everything else classed as corrosion? Vaguely remeber something along that line from college / uni

Originally Posted by Carl

Doesn't rust only occur on steel? Isn't everything else classed as corrosion? Vaguely remeber something along that line from college / uni

Yup, rust is iron oxide.
Aluminium does also oxidize, of course, it's that horrible white layer that forms so bloody quickly.

Originally Posted by Carsick

Yup, rust is iron oxide.
Aluminium does also oxidize, of course, it's that horrible white layer that forms so bloody quickly.

Isnt "rust" just a term for oxidisation?? So they both rust just in different colours.