Scared of Salt?
#31
01-06-2012, 06:19 AM
I guess it really depends on your ride...
if your ride a $50,000 investment hoping to re-sell someday, then don't do it. If you ride a $4000 commuter as long as you wash & maintain it, it will stay mechanically sound. Personally, I fall in the latter category.
if your ride a $50,000 investment hoping to re-sell someday, then don't do it. If you ride a $4000 commuter as long as you wash & maintain it, it will stay mechanically sound. Personally, I fall in the latter category.
#33
01-06-2012, 07:40 AM
+1 and if you got money comming out of you azz and can afford a new 20-50k bike enjoy.
#34
01-06-2012, 08:04 AM
I am more nervous about riding under an overpass or an area that hasn't been exposed to any sun & there be a strip of ice across the road.
IMO once the salt is down my ride is in the garage until Spring
IMO once the salt is down my ride is in the garage until Spring
#35
01-06-2012, 08:09 AM
If you look at the under body of a car from the north that has seen salt u can't make the statement that salt doesn't do anything to a vehicle, just saying!
To the OP.......if u drive it in the salt I would wash it right away but not with a pressure washer bad idea! Hose with a powerful stream and soap and water. Be sure to spray down everything.
I personnel would not do it but it is your bike. Salt from the ocean winds in Florida can play havoc with a bike let alone road salt!!!
To the OP.......if u drive it in the salt I would wash it right away but not with a pressure washer bad idea! Hose with a powerful stream and soap and water. Be sure to spray down everything.
I personnel would not do it but it is your bike. Salt from the ocean winds in Florida can play havoc with a bike let alone road salt!!!
Last year we were shopping for a Delyxe for the Mrs. and came across this bike
It belonged to the Dealership owner's wife . It sat in their seaside garage where the salt air proceded to pit every bit of chrome on the bike. The pits were just in the beginning phase and my wife really wanted the bike but all we could picture was those pits growing into full blown rust and all the work it was going to take to try and keep it at bay.
#36
01-06-2012, 08:09 AM
Resist the temptation and don't ride until the salt is gone.
#37
01-06-2012, 08:28 AM
I've worked on some used bikes that obviously got in some salt here in MN; locked up swing arm bearings, rusty hardware where it's hard to reach to clean, and pitted aluminum everywhere. If you can dunk the bike in a clean lake you might actually get rid of all the salt...
MN pours the damn stuff at intersections, and I've even had cars slide on it. Can't imagine riding on it; it's like fine gravel when there's too much for all of it to melt. Haven't seen the liquid stuff used up here yet, judging from the crystals I already see on our roads, they're still using the hard stuff.
What's your baby worth? What's it worth if you do get rusty spots? How much does a laydown cost? We have disadvantages in the North we just have to live with sometimes. I hate it, too.
MN pours the damn stuff at intersections, and I've even had cars slide on it. Can't imagine riding on it; it's like fine gravel when there's too much for all of it to melt. Haven't seen the liquid stuff used up here yet, judging from the crystals I already see on our roads, they're still using the hard stuff.
What's your baby worth? What's it worth if you do get rusty spots? How much does a laydown cost? We have disadvantages in the North we just have to live with sometimes. I hate it, too.
#38
01-06-2012, 08:37 AM
Ultimate HDF Member
The idiots in the road departments in Texas [txdot] and some municipalities/ counties have started using salt solutions here. Bunch of dumb asses. Now my tax dollars are going towards applying a substance to the roads that is destructive to my vehicles. As few days of ice and snow we get here they could just put the same old sand down and tell the dumb asses to stay home.
#39
01-06-2012, 08:42 AM
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My Sportie is my mud bike; by mud I mean rock salt -- and rock salt is just as bad as you have heard. I don't power wash it every trip but since today is twice this week doing so just isn't an option. I wipe down the obvious places and figure to hit the rest come spring with a little paint or polish. Got some speckles on my side cases and the crash bars and lights got to the point where I just flat-out powder coated it all. Salt dust and brine looks to eat chrome and aluminum the worst and that is something your scoot has lots more of than your car. And unlike your car you can see every piece of your bike. So if some rust and dust bother you, keep it parked. If pretty really concerns you, leave yourself a week and some bucks in the Spring to get it back to pretty. If you're like me get one you can call your "jeep" and just have fun any day you can.
#40
01-06-2012, 08:44 AM
Wow almost like talking about oil.
I lived most of my life up north and rode in the winter when I could.
You can greatly minimize the salt effects by waiting until the road
is completely dry. Also much easier to cleanup because it doesn't
spray all over everything.
Of course salt will cause some pitting/rust. But you will get some pitting
even if you never ride in the winter. You will also get pitting for those
that store their bikes in a non-heated garage due to moisture. Those
that ride or get caught in the rain. Those that wash their bikes.
Folks on the coast deal with pitting just from the sea breeze.
If you clean it up afterward imo the bike is not going to self destruct.
Granted the more you ride it, in any conditions, the less perfect it
will look.
As others pointed out the bigger problem is sliding on salt.
I lived most of my life up north and rode in the winter when I could.
You can greatly minimize the salt effects by waiting until the road
is completely dry. Also much easier to cleanup because it doesn't
spray all over everything.
Of course salt will cause some pitting/rust. But you will get some pitting
even if you never ride in the winter. You will also get pitting for those
that store their bikes in a non-heated garage due to moisture. Those
that ride or get caught in the rain. Those that wash their bikes.
Folks on the coast deal with pitting just from the sea breeze.
If you clean it up afterward imo the bike is not going to self destruct.
Granted the more you ride it, in any conditions, the less perfect it
will look.
As others pointed out the bigger problem is sliding on salt.