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My wife and I will be moving to our condo in Baja, MX in about 18 months. Im concerned about us being very close to the beach and the salt air causing damage to the bike. Our complex doesnt have garages or any type of covered parking. After previous trips down there, Ive always totally washed the bike down when we got back home to central California and so far I havent seen any signs of rust. A friend of mine had a bad experience keeping his bike in storage down in Rosarito. He went a few years without checking on it and when he did, there was substantial surface rust everywhere. Ive seen ads for these big plastic or fiberglass motorcycle pods that claim to be air tight which allow you to pull your bike inside and allegedly protect it from the elements. Would a dehumidifier running inside the storage unit help? Do any of you deal with similar issues living near the ocean? Id love to hear what some of you do? Thanks!
I lived on the island of Ocean City MD for 2 years, had a cover and under building parking (but was open). Salt spray, and general humidity started to tear up the bike. I polished off all the surface rust I could, chrome polished and touch up painted the frame, and sold for a loss.
If you do have an air tight container, I would definitely recommend some type de humidifier. Otherwise you are just risking it.
lot's of folks live and ride near salt water and they make it work, the chlorine in moist air is the real bad guy
as others have said, if you can keep it in a dry environment you'll mitigate the exposure
I would be curious as to how folks in salty air areas are maintaining their bikes
can you replace fasteners with higher quality more corrosion resistant alternatives?
some guys swear by keeping bikes clean without water, does this matter in a salt environment? would washing with water and such be something you do more often?
Wash with a good dish soap after exposure. It helps stop the salts action unlike normal soaps . Rinse well dry. When dry use Pig spit on black engine and other parts. S100 makes a corrosion protactant that works amazingly well.. I ride year round in Wisconsin salt in heavy amounts is part of life.
I would not go near their bike wash but this product is one they got right.
It's the dust on the bike that absorbs the salt air and holds it. When you see dust, its time to wash and wax. I've got experiance living in Florida 42 years.
I will tell you that when I had my 2012 Heritage I let a friend store his bike in my garage. He had a 13 RK. I used to wash and wax my bike once a month and more often if I'd ridden by the ocean. I rode about 15k a year, he maybe 2000 miles a year. 3 years later when I traded my Heritage my forks looked like new. His 2 year old bike had pitted forks. The funny thing was that he had a mobile car cleaning business.
I use car washing soap and a hose, dry with a leaf blower then a soft towel, then something like Mothers wax on all chrome, metal and paint (obviously don't wax denim paint).
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Staying rust free living at the beach
