question for the frosty northerners

[dwfranke1]

i live in georgia and went riding yesterday, did the cherohala skyway, deals gap and the surronding area, i rode through alot of road salt, and after it dried on the bike the thing had alot of trouble down shifting, after i cleaned everything off it started to function okay, is this something that is common in salt treated areas? and should i do anything speacial to clean it off or is just washing it normally okay, it was not my GS but it was a Suzuki
thanks

[drhach]

Make sure you wash the bike thoroughly. Salt is corrosive and leads to rust. A good flushing with water should do the job. Just make sure you get all of the nooks and crannies.

[bwringer]

You may have had some ice and slush buildup causing the shifting problem, or perhaps a pivot point had some ice inside of it. Since we don't know what kind of bike you were riding, that's the best guess.

I've found that with some of the really nasty road salts, like calcium chloride and magnesium chloride, a simple rinsing doesn't do the job. You definitely want to rinse the bike thoroughly ASAP, but to get all that crap out you have to physically scrub and use a cleaner or soap.

On any bare metal (that's not painted, coated, or chromed), you just have to resign yourself to the fact that it's going to etch the surface.

They also put down a de-icer fluid around here in certain spots. I don't know what's in it or what it does to motorcycles -- what with all the other crap on the road when it gets that cold, I can't tell if the de-icer is doing anything.

My VX800 is my "salt bike", since the engine is painted and I already crashed it a couple of years ago. It gets most winter duty. My GS850's cases are polished, and they corrode in minutes if I get caught out with the salt trucks.

In the south, there's a chance that they still use plain old table salt (sodium chloride) which is a lot less harmful to metal, and can be rinsed off. They also put down plain sand, or sand mixed with salt. Sand is mainly just dirty and slippery, but it can cause some pitting and dulling through the "sand blasting" effect.

[dwfranke1]

i was on my 08 vstrom 650 and i did not ride through ice, it was high 50's but the raod was stained white and the stuff was caked on to the bottom of the bike and around the shift shaft and linkage, a good rinsing seems to have gotton all of it off and the shifting has returned to normal
thanks

[82Shafty]

http://www.saltawayproducts.com/CarTruckPage.htm

Or find a marina near you with a similar product.

I used this on my vehicles this winter and it does work very well. I would have otherwised believed this to be a gimmick if I hadn't of tried it first hand.

Be sure to lube up any moveable points with some chain lube once you are done.

[bonanzadave]

perhaps a pivot point had some ice inside of it

shift shaft and linkage

Yep, the shift shaft may have a c-clip on the end to hold on the shifter arm. Take it off and grease the shaft.

[Steven Conlan]

Salt

Every couple of weeks, in the winter, I take my bike to the quarter car wash. Blast the underside of engine area, and wheels and chain. Go home and lube everything.
Even with doing this I find a bunch of salt when doing a propper cleaning in the spring. It gets into EVERY pivot point. Some disassembly required.
Detroit sits on top of possibly the largest salt mine.
Before money got tight, they used to used a ton of salt everywhere. They use less now - but it still finds its way into every nook and cranny on my bike.

[lurch12_2000]

Up here (NH), I would be cautious about washing the bike after using during the winter rides. Unless you have a way to dry it off (taking it for another ride and getting dirty again doesn't work, but if you're lucky enough to have a heated garage.....) our temps stay pretty close to freezing or much lower and cause other problems when the rinse water "sets up". When it freezes in all the cracks and crevices of the bike after sitting awhile things may not work, especially locks and the ignition!!!!!

[waterman]

Up here (NH), I would be cautious about washing the bike after using during the winter rides. Unless you have a way to dry it off (taking it for another ride and getting dirty again doesn't work, but if you're lucky enough to have a heated garage.....) our temps stay pretty close to freezing or much lower and cause other problems when the rinse water "sets up". When it freezes in all the cracks and crevices of the bike after sitting awhile things may not work, especially locks and the ignition!!!!!

+1 on the drying. Years ago I parked my dual sport KLX outside on a cold, rainy night. Later that evening it got below freezing out. Next day I hop on bike after it had warmed to mid 30s and off I go to work. My rode dead ends onto a busy state highway with stop light. As I approach light and start to apply front brake, the brake lever goes to the grip, no braking. Gently get on rear brakes, again pedal to limit, no stopping. Frantically, I am now starting to panic and shifting down through the gears but know there is not nearly enough space to shed speed (I was still doing around 50 mph). By reflex I grabbed front lever again and get a little braking. Pump it some more and it comes back. After I sit through the red light I really questioned whom I had ****ed off enough to want to kill me. Finally it dawns on me that the water may have frozen in the ventilated rotors and physically pushed the brake pistons back into caliper. Quite a fun experience. Winter isn't for the meek.