Is the pitting on the fins something to worry about and is it fixable? This bike is a 06 Heritage and spent it's life at the beach. Only 6800 miles but corrosion has me concerned. I was seriously thinking of buying it.

 

I bought an 09 street bob in 2013 that was stores outside in a shore town. I cleaned it like my life depended on it. Now it's stored indoors away from the shore and the corrosion has not returned. My only Cleaning is no different than anyone else's now (no recurring problems from bike previously in salt air. )

 

Those fins being aluminum would become damaged with that sort of prolonged exposure. The degree and amount of damage, and if the bike would be removed from that environment permanently, would determine if the cylinders are no longer reliable for cooling purposes. `Can`t tell much from that photo; maybe a closeup?

 

this is the one year 2006 Heritage and unfortunately the fins were not chrome but seems to be just aluminum....Correct me please if I am wrong. The pitting....getting rid of it concerns me a lot. That and what else is corroded. The price is awesome....but I would spend a lot in upgrades for sure.

 

It's a non issue....Clean it up and ride it!
That kind of thing happens to bikes that are exposed to salt air for prolonged periods, it has no effect on cooling.


If the price is right, buy it!

 

here is another pic of the whole bike. hope it works. I am thinking about this and a RK. But this one has my eye the most.

 

not sure there is anyway to dress up that Alum motor. Looks like new forks in order too.

 

+1

The corrosion on the aluminum cooling fins will not impede the cooling - they merely transfer the heat from the bore to the large surface area of the fins for effective air cooling.

It's cosmetic, so just use that to bargain down the price.

The area that does concern me when I see a bike that has this external corrosion, is if it was left in this corrosive envoroment for long periods without use then the internal surface of the bores could be pitted and cause premature ring wear.

 

I doubt that, that's gonna be an issue....I wouldn't worry about it much, if at all.


The forks could easily be removed and sanded and polished and the other cosmetic stuff is easily addressed.

 

A light hand sanding with some medium to fine grit sandpaper will clean up most of the dimples. Just don't expect it to be concourse quality because to do that you'd need to oversand or use filler and either of those would impact cooling. Just make some light passes to bring down the rough edges and then clean the snot out of it and think about hitting it with a coat of clear to prevent further corrosion.

I'd be more concerned about the front forks. The first time the suspension compresses the rough surface will tear the seals as it slides past. That's true of any shock type system from front forks to car shocks to the shock that holds your screen door open. It may only take one pass or it may take twenty, but the seals will end up leaking.