Winter Maintenance

After reading the thread about the best way to lay the bike up for the winter, I was wondering if anyone had any advice on keeping the bike in good nick for those of us riding through the winter. I’m just planning on doing the same as I do in the summer, wash the bike, lube the chain and WD40 the engine once a week, but is there anything else I should be doing??

With your polished wheels and other polished parts, Rusty, I’d strongly recommend washing them down with COLD water after every ride, to get the salt off them, which will ruin the polished finish. Warm water will also accelerate the chemical reaction with the salt and metal, so use cold water. Once a week or so, I’d also get the polish out and rebuff them, to ensure they keep their shine.

Salt is the thing that will damage your bike through the winter, so make sure you wash it down with cold water first after each ride (then a warm/soapy wash after it’s dried, if you like), if you can, it’ll really help keep the burring at bay on all the aluminium bolts and other components. You can get around this by replacing the bolts with titanium ones, as I did with my previous 750, it’s far less sensitive to corrosion than aluminium, though obviously Ti parts are costly.

You might also try running your tire pressures a few psi lower at this time of year, to try and get them to generate more heat, which will help with grip. And above all, ride safely mate, the road conditions can have you on your ass in a second if you don’t show due respect for it!

that should be about it mate, if you can get anything to neutralise the salt and **** that gets over the bike then that would also help, but loads of WD is prob ur best bet

id be careful how much you let your tyres down by, if you go to far you run the risk of aqua plaining on standing water…

Thanks for that guys, so far so good the bike is still looking nice and clean

The only other thing i’ve started doing is giving it a quick polish every week after it’s been washed and it seems to help keep some of the dirt from sticking to it!

Would anyone know what polish would be best for the rims, I don’t want to use autosol like someone at work suggested as it seems a bit abrasive to me.

I was recommended Belgom Alu-B as it is specifically less abrasive than Autosol, which is for putting a shine on dull finishes, not polishing already shiny things (oh the shiny things…). It also puts a protective film on the surface, like a wax.

It’s available anywhere really but http://thepolishingshop.co.uk/ are a wealth of info.

My rims are still blinging, although I have tried to avoid riding when I know salt is down. Just watch after you’ve washed it and especially if as Jay suggests you rinse it after every ride, because the water will drip from the rims, spokes and brake discs and collect in a pool on the rim at the lowest point. I always try and go back to the bike 15 mins after finishing the job and soak up this pool with a cloth.

Hope this helps.

We’ll compare rims next year eh?

I am glad to see that I am not the only one who rides when it is cold wet and on the last few days, damned icy! I wash my bike every week and try and lube the chain every few days. Most of my bike is under the fairing but I find jet washing away the accumulated crap from under trays and mud guards difficult.

I would echo the advise of Jay re warm water. I used to do drive a few old bangers and would wash them religously every week with warm water so as to save cold hands during the winter. I actually found that there was less damage being caused to my wrecks by not washing them. This I would attribute to warm water hastening the anodising process, especially if previously you had cleaned up any corrosion!

Any other advise re winter riding would come in handy.

I am sure that you are catering for the bike. Only thing I would suggest is special attention to cleaning the caliper pistons. This usually involves removal of calipers from the bike, remove pads and make sure that inner bit is spotless.

Other than that, make sure that you wear suitable kit. You react slower when cold.

I know what you mean about the calipers, on my Bandit I had a few problems with them sticking during the course of last winter. Half an hour with some brake cleaner and a toothbrush used to sort them out a treat! I’ve not had a chance to look at the ones on the Zed yet, just waiting for a quiet period at work so i can whip them off and give them a clean

As for winter kit, anyone looking for a winter jacket should have a look at the Hein Gericke Cruise jacket. It’s not cheap at £250, but to say it was brilliant would be an understatement!! It’s warm, waterproof, windproof and has so many pockets and vents etc that I don’t know what to do with most of them