Obsessive Cleaning Help

[Dashwood 151]

Could someone tell me what I can use to clean up the discolouration on my suspension linkage (at the bottom near the bolt) please? I've tried various metal polishes, and even some fine wire wool, but nothing seems to work...

 

[horobags 905]

its only tarnish, Im a fussy man myself when it comes to my bike, but there is no way this can be avoided ( unless you never ride it). You could polish it with a dremel and some paste, but it would only come back. I'd give it a coat of acf-50 or corrosion block grease and forget about it.

.that auction site.co.uk/itm/ACF50-Anti-Corrosion-Block-Grease-50g-

Edited February 10, 2017 by horobags
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[Dashwood 151]

Many thanks, I'll give it a go with a Dremel and put some corrosion block on it.

 

Much appreciated.

[Guest bonekicker]

Paul it looks more of a stain than corrosion -- keep your bike well oiled all over--and it will not rust and wash any salt off asap.  

[Mike5100 2,061]

AFIK those dogbones are not stainless steel.  So they must be coated mild steel.  Surely if you take wire wool or a dremel to them you are going to remove the coating and it could be disastrous?

autosol might be a mild enough abrasive but if not, I have found the waterless washnwax from The Range to be amazing at dissolving most things (but hopefully not the coating).  If you do go there make sure you get the one with Carnauba wax in it.

Mike

[embee 7,288]

As Mike says above. They are zinc plated steel (probably with some sort of passivation). If you go at them with any sort of abrasive you'll be removing the protection and then they will definitely rust. I'm with the other comments, clean them with a suitable solvent, WD40 or similar is good for this type of cleaning, then protect with a grease or wax type product (Waxoyl or the mentioned ACF50 grease or similar). They only really need particular attention during the winter when salt is around, the rest of the year an occasional wipe with ACF50 will do the job.

 

The plating is not particularly good quality, they tend to be a bit patchy. It's clearly not intended to be cosmetically attractive, being where it is.

 

You could alternatively remove them, clean, prepare the surface and use an etch primer then a suitable paint top coat. Bear in mind the surfaces under the bolt heads and at the bearing sleeves will be under high clamp loads so will damage a painted surface, but it will work on the rest (I've done it before on dogbones which have looked particularly scabby).

 

You could probably get them re-plated at a suitable plating shop if you really want to posh them up, zinc+gold passivate would be the way to go for that, but salt will still attack it.

[horobags 905]

I meant to dremmel off the existing corrosion, with a light polishing paste , then protect with grease to stop further corrosion.

[Guest machinman]

3 hours ago, Dashwood said:

Could someone tell me what I can use to clean up the discolouration on my suspension linkage (at the bottom near the bolt) please? I've tried various metal polishes, and even some fine wire wool, but nothing seems to work...

 

Yours are in significantly better condition than mine😊

[MikeBike 5,006]

4 hours ago, horobags said:

I'd give it a coat of acf-50 or corrosion block grease and forget about it.

What I did in 2015.

 

If you scour things with wire wool not only do you risk removing coatings as mentioned but you can also leave minute traces of steel on the surface so can actually cause rust marks on surfaces where there wasn't any before.

[Guest Mac750]

Lag them in corrosion inhibitor or grease. Leave it until summer. Too cold to lay on the floor .

[Dashwood 151]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Much appreciated. ACF 50 inhibitor ordered...

[djsb 493]

Before I regreased mine I gave everything a good scrub with a stainless wire brush and then coated it in Jenolite for a couple of days until rust free. Then I coated everything in the same Moly grease that I greased the bearings with. Will probably give them another greasing when I put my Wilbers shock on in the spring.

[PoppetM 16,875]

So if we already have rust (sorry, first bike) at 7000 miles I have rust on clutch pedal and  top of the forks....how do we get rid and prevent it....

 

hubby has OcD...I try to stop him flooding the bike with water but if I am not home to stop him.....

Edited February 18, 2017 by PoppetM

[Guest Hati]

19 minutes ago, PoppetM said:

at 7000 miles I have rust on clutch pedal and  top of the forks....

 

 

???

[PoppetM 16,875]

12 minutes ago, Hati said:

 

???

 

Ok, clutch lever... on the left in front of your foot peg... I don't know what it's called! I have a manual version...but there are parts of it that are orange with rust. 

Edited February 18, 2017 by PoppetM

[Rev Ken 6,345]

You won't see it if you don't wash off the mud....

[Guest Hati]

8 minutes ago, PoppetM said:

 

Ok, clutch lever... on the left in front of your foot peg... I don't know what it's called! I have a manual version...but there are parts of it that are orange with rust. 

 

That would be the gear shift lever.

 

On chrome surfaces like the fork upper (in the case of an NC) tubes, rust is usually from grit stuck to the surface. The grit is the bit rusting, not the chrome. It can be removed with some steel wool, but carefully not to polish off the chrome layer.

[DMB 1,341]

This is a well-known problem and with no solution.  I note that you are a fairly recent visitor to this site, with only 39 posts to date.  You will find that most members replace the offending part every three or four weeks.  Some replace it weekly.  The Honda parts number is MC-BROCH- NC750X0216.

[Callisidrin 447]

1 hour ago, PoppetM said:

So if we already have rust (sorry, first bike) at 7000 miles I have rust on clutch pedal and  top of the forks....how do we get rid and prevent it....

 

hubby has OcD...I try to stop him flooding the bike with water but if I am not home to stop him.....

Hmmm, common problem here i'm afraid. If you have rust, I suggest spraying some WD40 onto a microfibre cloth (or similar) and carefully wiping it over the affected area for removing rust from the fork tubes, Don't spray it onto the forks directly, you don't want it running into the fork seals. It may be better to take the weight off the front wheel so that the forks extend to show more of the fork tube, this should make the rust marks more accessible and further away form the rubber seals. WD40 is a rust releasing agent it usually takes a little time to release the rust but it will. Be Careful on the chrome fork legs, you don't want to scratch them or pit them, that can cause damage to the seals over time and then the fork oil can leak out or water can get in, so best not to use anything abrasive unless you know what you're doing.

On foot pegs or brake levers, just spray the rust with WD and leave for a bit for it to do its work, then wipe away (may take a couple of goes). Watch where you spray the WD though, it can tend to displace any grease and that means you will need to strip clean and re-grease pivot points etc. Do Not use it on the Chain.

 

Prevention is really what you need, specially in winter. When the roads are wet and have been treated with salt and grit, the combination of all these speeds up the development of rust and corrosion, more so when it's left on the bike after a run. At the very least, hose the bike down with water. Preferably wash it, rinse and then Dry it. If you spot some rust starting to form, WD it before it gets worse.

The other problem is where water is allowed to pool up, foot pegs, swing arm, fork rubbers, brake levers. If the water, which is never clean to start with, is allowed to collect it will react over time and start rusting. So always try to keep on top of drying the bike off, specially in these critical areas.

Some will say it's better to keep the metalwork wiped down with oil, others will argue that a treatment spray (ACF50 correct me if i'm wrong everyone) works, whichever works for you. 

[Mike5100 2,061]

I know this seems expensive but it's well worth the money. Not only does it cut the drying time of the bike down to a few minutes it also dries places you cannot reach with a cloth

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/product-reviews/parts-accessories/2011/sep0811-airforce-blaster-sidekick-motorcycle-dryer/

 

(however I should also say that I am far from convinced that rinsing with plain water removes much of the crud at all)

mike

[PoppetM 16,875]

Excellent, thanks for that Callisidirin, will get the cloths and WD40 out later and rub it down, have different stuff for the chain 🤗

 

Mike5100 at the moment even a jet wash doesn't remove it. Twice now I have done a jetwash (bike is cold) then bought it home and still had to go over it with bucket of soap and hose to remove the white salt marks.

 

To be fair on one occasion the roads were still wet so it was crazy how dirty she got going half mile from jet wash to the driveway!

 

 

 

[Mike5100 2,061]

10 minutes ago, PoppetM said:

Excellent, thanks for that Callisidirin, will get the cloths and WD40 out later and rub it down, have different stuff for the chain 🤗

 

Mike5100 at the moment even a jet wash doesn't remove it. Twice now I have done a jetwash (bike is cold) then bought it home and still had to go over it with bucket of soap and hose to remove the white salt marks.

 

To be fair on one occasion the roads were still wet so it was crazy how dirty she got going half mile from jet wash to the driveway!

 

 

 

Yes one of the advantages of having a karcher power washer and the sidekick airblaster is that I can put the bike away without exposing it to more salt

i have come to the conclusion that the layer you rightly say cannot be removed is ok if it's on good lacquered paintwork but it's not ok if it's on bare metal or metal with any other kind of coating such as chrome or zinc or anodised or paint that looks like it has no lacquer on top (small black brackets and the stands and the swing arm). These need the crud layer removing with an aggressive cleaner and a radiator brush then rinsing and drying then painting with acf50. And on mine in winter I need to do it every two or three weeks 4 or 5 rides. After April it only needs doing once until the salt next goes down

mike

[Dashwood 151]

Never let it be said that I don't follow the collective wisdom of fellow NC Owners (apart from DMB, nice idea, not sure I can replace the NC yet having just bought a BMW).

 

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[Guest Mac750]

Hi Poppet

You are one of the few in recent motorcycle times who actually uses a motorbike to get to work on daily. The very nature of the NC range means we have a high proportion of riders on this forum who commute daily also.

Go on other forums and you see questions like what tyre polish can I use, followed by my bike keeps losing grip in corners. 

Today we have ACF 50 which in all honesty I have never used yet, but everyone tells me it's good stuff so I must get some, but at ££££££ my small arms cannot reach into my pocket. 

When I needed to ride to work daily and through Yorkshire winters I lagged my bike in corrosion inhibitor from any steel engineers suppliers .  It comes in a large spray can and costs £3.99. It is a thin almost liquid grease which leaves a thin yellowish residue on metal and chrome.

 

Proberbly not everyone's idea of a metal steed gleaming in the winter sun but it stops the bike getting rusty when used daily.  Come springtime it washes off with hot soapy water, hence the term "oily rag condition".    At £3.99 a large can you can spray as often as you wish or following a deluge of a ride home once dry a quick spray over and good to go again. The industrial rust inhibitor spray always kept the bike protected ready for a good cleaning fettle in spring when everything came up gleaming .

 

[Callisidrin 447]

6 minutes ago, Mac750 said:

 

Go on other forums and you see questions like what tyre polish can I use, followed by my bike keeps losing grip in corners. 

 

Had to giggle at this.

Thats what I like about this forum, advice, experience, more advice and some laughs.