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What To Do After Riding In The Rain


N2v

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Hi all

Last I got caught in the rain for the 1st time.

What do I do when it's back in the garage ? Do I wash it down to get rid of the loose sand mud

away or blow it off with a air pump?

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Dry it out as much as you can ASAP to keep corrosion at bay. A shop vac with the hose on the exhaust outlet is good enough to blow of most of the water from the nooks and crannies. But you can also buy one of those bike blower dryers for a more powerful air stream.

WD40 is good to displaced water/moisture in the harder to reach areas....

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If you're the kind of owner that's fastidious about keeping your machine spotless, a low-pressure air system would be ideal to dry out the hard-to-reach spots and get any debris out.

Personally, I wouldn't sweat it. They are made to be ridden. Do the due diligence of course, and every couple years go through everything and clean away grime, grit and what-not when you change all your fluids and do every 2 year maintenance. When you've got the bike pulled apart is the perfect time to REALLY clean it up.

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wd40 helps speed up the ROTTING of the wire harness and rubber parts. its doesnt get anywhere NEAR my bike or the bikes i work on.. unless its for something metal on metal.

You sure you're not thinking about Armor All???

Never had a problem with WD 40 for the many years I've been using it on many things electrical and mechanical.......

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wd40 helps speed up the ROTTING of the wire harness and rubber parts. its doesnt get anywhere NEAR my bike or the bikes i work on.. unless its for something metal on metal.

You sure you're not thinking about Armor All???

Never had a problem with WD 40 for the many years I've been using it on many things electrical and mechanical.......

WD 40

water displacement 40th attempt

it does increase the drying out of paint and plastics that includes wire sheathing

wd40 CLAIMS to be paint safe.. but i have seen more than a few paint jobs get splotchy after being sprayed.

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I've watched my younger brother literally bathe a lot of his "toys" in WD40 for many years without consequences. I was also nervous about doing so, especially the paint on his bicycles and motorcycles, but I continue to be proven wrong by him every year as I never saw it harm any of his or my stuff, electrical, paint or mechanical.

You want something that really harms finishes, it would be S100 bike wash spray fluid. That stuff attacks clear anodizing like nothing else. If you just leave it for just a little while on an anodized part, it will turn it blotchy and milky white before you can rinse it off. and the damage would be permanent. I remember doing that to parts of my Honda Hawk's frame some years ago and after that, I swore never to use S100 again. Sure it cleans the bikes really well, but they never really tell us about how it can affect anodized aluminum parts.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Spent a bit of time on boats and fishing... found the best stuff to use that is paint/uncoated metal safe is Inox

Lanolin based (sheeps wool oil :-p) so non mineral oil based, and I don't use aerosol's... they just add fast drying hydrcarbon propellants/solvents that dry off quickly and can remove protective coatings - we don't use 'em on the boats cos they CAUSE corrosion - or speed up the start of it!

Just my 2c worth...

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  • 4 weeks later...

If you're the kind of owner that's fastidious about keeping your machine spotless, a low-pressure air system would be ideal to dry out the hard-to-reach spots and get any debris out.

Personally, I wouldn't sweat it. They are made to be ridden. Do the due diligence of course, and every couple years go through everything and clean away grime, grit and what-not when you change all your fluids and do every 2 year maintenance. When you've got the bike pulled apart is the perfect time to REALLY clean it up.

+1 Well said. :biggrin:

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In reference to the Lanolin based stuff - I just discovered Fluid Film. Lanolin, non toxic, non drying, totally organic. I just undercoated my truck with it as the other stuff I've used like rust converting paints just hardens and chips off. I had a bike with a very dried out paint job, McGuires polishing compound and wax had little effect on the fine spider cracking you could see. Decided to try the Fluid Film and it looked great. Fine on plastic and rubber too. On the can they say it is a chain lube as well, but I didn't go there as I have chain wax already.

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