Road salt
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Road Master
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 944
Likes: 2
From: Tennessee
Road salt
I rode to work this morning, it's supposed to be partly cloudy and 40 for a high. It's been spitting snow and I'm afraid the DOT guys are going to **** down both legs and start throwing salt everywhere. They'll have this crap 6" deep at intersections. What's the best thing to clean your chrome and the rest of the bike with to prevent corrosion?
Tourer
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 306
Likes: 1
From: St Joseph, Michigan
RE: Road salt
Lots of water! I live in michigan and have faced that problem many times. If you have one of the "Mr. Clean" washing heads for your hose I would use it to get some soapy water up in areas you cant see. ( BTW, if anyone isn't using one of these to wash thier bike they should check them out, they work great to keep the water spots off the bike cut the was time way down!) If you have a bike blow dryer or you can use a leaf blower to help blow the bike dry it would help.
Tourer
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 306
Likes: 1
From: St Joseph, Michigan
RE: Road salt
Sometimes you get caught and cant help it or are forced to ride in what ever ***** Nature hands you. I always have a ride the first weekend in Dec for Toys For Tots my bike club puts on, usually i ride saturday morning and clean saturday afternoon and all day sunday!
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Road Master
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 944
Likes: 2
From: Tennessee
RE: Road salt
ORIGINAL: bountyhunter
Do not ride on roads with salt residue, you will regret it. I ride in winter but only after the salt laced surfaces have been washed clean by rain.
Do not ride on roads with salt residue, you will regret it. I ride in winter but only after the salt laced surfaces have been washed clean by rain.
Intermediate
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 31
Likes: 0
From:
RE: Road salt
I drive my 04 Road King 24 miles a day, the whole trip 150 yards from the ocean (east coast of FL). You can see the salt in the air from the offshore wind. Sometimes the chrome on the bike looks like it has frost on it from the salt build up. I have been doing this trip for 3 years and only have minor corrosion on my mirrors and under floor boards.
I use a boaters product call Salt Away once a week or sometimes twice a week if the east wind is strong. I comes with a jug of concentrate and a mixer/sprayer that threads onto your hose and you can get re-fills of the concentrate. Its not the cheapest stuff but it works great and it does not strip wax like the S100 cleaners do. This is the only thing I have used to clean my bike for the last three years.
You can get Salt Away at any marine store. Sometimes I dilute the concentrate 50/50 with water before filliing the sprayer and it still works great. It works by "chemically" breaking down the salt. Boaters use it to rinse decks or clean out outboard engines before storing them.
I use a boaters product call Salt Away once a week or sometimes twice a week if the east wind is strong. I comes with a jug of concentrate and a mixer/sprayer that threads onto your hose and you can get re-fills of the concentrate. Its not the cheapest stuff but it works great and it does not strip wax like the S100 cleaners do. This is the only thing I have used to clean my bike for the last three years.
You can get Salt Away at any marine store. Sometimes I dilute the concentrate 50/50 with water before filliing the sprayer and it still works great. It works by "chemically" breaking down the salt. Boaters use it to rinse decks or clean out outboard engines before storing them.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 25,962
Likes: 9,727
From: Montana & Arkansas
RE: Road salt
That sounds like a cool product. Killing salt chemically sounds interesting cause otherwise when salt dissolves into water you still have a problem unless you get all the brine flushed out.
Yeah, Detroit was awful when I lived in the area. I remember the city sits on top of huge salt mines and it's free for the city to just go down and scrape it out and dump it straight on the roads. The saying then was, "Detroit builds a lot of cars, and it destroys a lot of cars, too."
Yeah, Detroit was awful when I lived in the area. I remember the city sits on top of huge salt mines and it's free for the city to just go down and scrape it out and dump it straight on the roads. The saying then was, "Detroit builds a lot of cars, and it destroys a lot of cars, too."
ORIGINAL: luckystars5
I drive my 04 Road King 24 miles a day, the whole trip 150 yards from the ocean (east coast of FL). You can see the salt in the air from the offshore wind. Sometimes the chrome on the bike looks like it has frost on it from the salt build up. I have been doing this trip for 3 years and only have minor corrosion on my mirrors and under floor boards.
I use a boaters product call Salt Away once a week or sometimes twice a week if the east wind is strong. I comes with a jug of concentrate and a mixer/sprayer that threads onto your hose and you can get re-fills of the concentrate. Its not the cheapest stuff but it works great and it does not strip wax like the S100 cleaners do. This is the only thing I have used to clean my bike for the last three years.
You can get Salt Away at any marine store. Sometimes I dilute the concentrate 50/50 with water before filliing the sprayer and it still works great. It works by "chemically" breaking down the salt. Boaters use it to rinse decks or clean out outboard engines before storing them.
I drive my 04 Road King 24 miles a day, the whole trip 150 yards from the ocean (east coast of FL). You can see the salt in the air from the offshore wind. Sometimes the chrome on the bike looks like it has frost on it from the salt build up. I have been doing this trip for 3 years and only have minor corrosion on my mirrors and under floor boards.
I use a boaters product call Salt Away once a week or sometimes twice a week if the east wind is strong. I comes with a jug of concentrate and a mixer/sprayer that threads onto your hose and you can get re-fills of the concentrate. Its not the cheapest stuff but it works great and it does not strip wax like the S100 cleaners do. This is the only thing I have used to clean my bike for the last three years.
You can get Salt Away at any marine store. Sometimes I dilute the concentrate 50/50 with water before filliing the sprayer and it still works great. It works by "chemically" breaking down the salt. Boaters use it to rinse decks or clean out outboard engines before storing them.
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 2,144
Likes: 10
From: Mass
RE: Road salt
When you get back from your ride sprinkle pepper over your bike. Now it's "seasoned". Sorry, couldn't help myself, former Chef you see. Seriously, I ride in the winter,(south shore, Mass.) anytime the roads are dry, and say over 40 degrees, but the salt is an issue. If I go out and the bike picks up salt, I just make sure to rinse the ever-livin sh*t out of it before putting her back in the heated garage. Had a 98 Fatboy before this bike and went for a winter putt in 99 one day. Didn't pay attention to the salt as my former bikes were all Shovels and Iron-heads with chrome instead of aluminum wheels. Didn't rinse, destroyed the wheels on the Fatboy. Oh well, had to get crazy custom wheels after that($$$$). New bagger now, U can bet I'm carefull....[sm=patriot.gif]
Road Captain
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 629
Likes: 0
From: Virginia Beach, VA
RE: Road salt
Just wash the crap out of it and flush it all with as much water as you can. You can't help it if it's there when you get off work. I got stuck last year and had to ride through it and just washed the bike really well and had no problems. Make sure to jack it up and spin the wheels and flush the brakes too. The brake pads will rust to the rotors if you are not careful. Good luck and watch out for the black ice.
Road Captain
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 715
Likes: 0
RE: Road salt
Salt is treacherous as hell to ride on, I can testify to that.
Years ago, I had built a 98" Stroker Shovel & was trying to put some breakin miles on it in February in Upstate NY.
I came around a corner just slightly too fast & realized too late there was a monster salt buildup right in the corner.. When I hit that salt, the bike slid out from under me just like I had hit an ice patch..........
~John
Years ago, I had built a 98" Stroker Shovel & was trying to put some breakin miles on it in February in Upstate NY.
I came around a corner just slightly too fast & realized too late there was a monster salt buildup right in the corner.. When I hit that salt, the bike slid out from under me just like I had hit an ice patch..........
~John