Every winter, we all want an answer to the same question: Do modern motorcycles corrode? There will be numerous discussions about which motorcycle anti-corrosion treatment is the best. Some say the tried and tested ACF-50 is the way to go. Other tests suggest XCP rust blocker. MDS Lubricants, the makers of Bulldog BDX, have released AlphaLan, a concentrated lanolin spray, and others like me use Scottoiler FS365.
The tests magazines and websites run are usually static. Coat a piece of metal in the protection fluid, immerse it in a weak acid solution, and see what happens. It is a great concept, but there is no substitute for riding through winter to see what will happen to a motorcycle that is made from an array of different components and materials.
In a world where some motorcycle manufacturers consider 500 miles the maximum for a road test, and others get very sniffy with us if we say anything other than positive things about their motorcycles, we did wonder where we would find a manufacturer with enough confidence in their product to allow us to test it through winter.
After all, the question we are asking is – “Will your motorcycle rot?”
Seventeen Minutes
Not expecting much enthusiasm for the question, we asked a few manufacturers anyway, and as suspected, not all of them thought it was a good idea.
Suzuki were up for it but didn’t have a motorcycle they could lend us for three months as they rotate their press fleet over winter.
Meanwhile, Honda took just 17 minutes to jump at the idea. “Sounds brilliant – would you like an XL750 Transalp?”
That is an impressive level of faith.
Like My Own
Whereas the idea is to test how well a modern motorcycle stands up to the ravages of winter and the salt the UK uses on the roads, we can’t simply cover the Transalp in road grime and park it under a tarpaulin for the next three months, to see what happens.
we need to treat it like our own motorcycle, which means weekly cleaning, including drying the bike with a Bruhl air dryer, followed by liberal amounts of FS365.
But before any of that happened, I took a good look around the Transalp and photographed the places where I think corrosion might form.
Scottoiler FS365
FS365 works by chemically reversing the harmful effects of winter road grime. There is nowhere to hide from corrosion; even distilled water will eventually absorb enough carbon dioxide from the air to become acidic.
In the UK, we don’t bother waiting for such things and cover the roads in salt every time the temperature drops. The passing traffic grinds up the salt, which mixes with the rainwater, which is then sprayed all over our motorcycles.
The heat of the motorcycle dissolves the rainwater, resulting in an acidic crust of road grime and salt that eats away at our bikes.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, the heat acts as a catalyst to speed up the corrosion process, which is one of the reasons brake callipers can often look so scabby on an unloved motorcycle.
Although I try to keep FS365 off my brake discs and tyres, it is biodegradable, and any overspray washes off with a mild solution of clean water and a pH-neutral bike cleaner.
The Chain
For those of us who don’t have shaft-drive motorcycles, maintaining a chain in winter is one of those dirty jobs that needs to be done. The ground-up salt and road grime mixes with sticky chain lube and grinds its way into the seals.
Modern chains are tough and well-made, but I’ve never been a fan of chain lube, preferring to use a Scottoiler.
My Multistrada is the exception to that rule. I’ve yet to discover an effective way of mounting the Scottoiler feed on a single-sided swinging arm. So, I bought myself an old-fashioned oil can and use it to administer (fresh) leftover engine oil to the chain.
I have the latest version of the Scottoiler X System for the Transalp. As it is Honda’s motorcycle, I can’t start cutting into pipes to install a V System Scottoiler, so the X System that only requires connecting to the battery is perfect.
The latest edition of the Scottoiler X System is an update to the version I’ve been running on my Tracer 9GT for the last 18,000 miles.
Scottoilers do exactly what they claim: help to keep the chain clean and well lubricated by applying formulated oil to the chain as we ride, rather than have us use sticky goop for the road grime to cling to.
The other advantage of using oil to keep the chain lubricated comes when cleaning the bike. Most Ph-neutral motorcycle cleaners will remove the oil from the chain as part of the wash, reducing the amount of chain scrubbing required.
Motorcycle Corrosion
Yet, as usual, I’ve strayed away from the main point of the test: Do modern motorcycles corrode through winter?
The protective coatings used in the 1980s are now banned due to environmental considerations. Oil and lead-based paints, which gave better protection, are now outlawed.
Gone are steel tube frames, replaced with aluminium, which oxidises more easily. Although strangely, only the surface of aluminium oxidises, unlike steel, which expands and flakes, exposing a new layer beneath.
I can carry on hypothesising about this all through winter, or we can ride Honda’s XL750 Transalp and find out.
Remind me again why I keep volunteering to ride in crap weather.
