Ok it's that time of year when our state starts putting down liquid salt as pre treatment. (waste of money) so how do I deal with that nasty stuff. I ride until they start putting sand and salt down. Whats the best way to neutralize this crap. I feel just washing it off might make it worst, I will wash it but is there a better way to deal with it??
Thanks.

 

I avoid rock salt and liquid deicer by not riding at all once it's put down. I wait until there is a good rain to wash it off the road. It's the best way I know.

 

You can deal with salt/chlorides the same way we deal with it on aircraft....frequent rinsing....

 

I would spray the underside of the bike with a good protectant like ACF50, and keep all the shiny bits heavily waxed. Rinse after riding on that corrosive stuff.

 

Same here. Even with rinsing, salt and de-icer can find its way into places you don't clean, such as wiring connections. This leads to intermittent electrical issues.

Another reason I don't ride in cold weather is black ice. A friend went down on some last winter. He wasn't hurt, but the damage to his bike was costly.

 

Move to a warmer climate?

 

Lot's of wax and frequent washing. That's how I approach it. I bought my bike to ride it and I'll be damned if I'm gonna park it for 5 months just because of some salt on the roads.

Wax it, ride it, wash it, and then ride it again!

 

There are lots of negatives associated with liquid salts for de-icing, corrosion is just the most negative to us. It just happens to be a cheap solution so is used heavily. In Washington state they use different solutions depending on the conditions and altitude. The best way is to avoid it, but I cannot as I like to ride year round, especially over the passes to the relative sun of Eastern Washington. Therefore, here is what I do. I am a layman and offer this as my solution, not as an expert.

You need to use a surfactant to break the surface tension created by the salt molecules, especially upon drying in cracks and crevices on you bike.

Most detergents include a surfactant, some are better at removing salt than others. Salt X or Salt Away found one that worked well and market it as such. Lots of water helps, But water alone will not remove all the salt. You need a surfactant. It does not take a lot, but you need to break the surface tension if you plan to remove all the salt residue.

Most laundry detergents include a surfactant. The best way to remove liquid road salt, ie magnesium chloride, calcium cholide, potassium chloride, and even sodium chloides, usually mixed with sodium or calcium magnesium acetate and calcium hydroxide is to dilute your detergent brand that has a surfactant and spray it in all the hard to reach places. A one gallon hand pump sprayer from the local garden store makes a great applicator. You can dilute the detergent 10 or 20 to one. Then plenty of water to rinse the loosened salt away.

While the salt is very soluble, unless you break the surface tension with a surfactant it will remain on your bike. Same for your vehicles, water alone only removes the visible salt, not the hidden salt.

Anyway, thats my story and I'll stick to it until I change it. It is how I clean my Road King after I ride in the awful, greasy liquid road salt just to enjoy a rare wonderful ride over the mountain passes in the winter.

How does posting that you don't ride in it help the original poster?

 

Some don't realize that many of the construction zones that you ride through in the summer also have calcium Chloride applied to keep dust down as well. Lots of folks with newer bikes have discovered the damaging effects the hard way!

 

Salt down. Bike up. No riding until it's gone. That stuff ate the INSIDE of a friends carb just trailering it to Daytona from here. And they stopped in southern PA to wash it off. I can't justify riding it when there's any kind of salt on the road and I'll start watching construction zones now in the summer......