Best corrosion protection

the fluid film is good stuff BUT it does have quit the odor. fluid film also sells another product that is better for undercoating under the name of wool wax.

PS you can also use fluid film on leather goods
 
In the aircraft industry, most rust preventatives contain dichromate. Even a slight trace of hexavalent chrome will stop a lot of corrosion. There are two products for aluminium which are similar - Alodine and Irridite. If you have magnesium parts, there are a couple of commercial treatments which are similar, but you need to go to the aircraft people if you vapour blast your Manx crankcases to get the Castrol R off.
We found one guy in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne who treated magnesium for our aircraft people. His price for treating the crankcases was to see the bike after it had been rebuilt.
 
<Even a slight trace of hexavalent chrome>

...will give you cancer....
outlawed in the states I'm pretty sure.
 
Onder said:
<Even a slight trace of hexavalent chrome>

...will give you cancer....
outlawed in the states I'm pretty sure.
Click to expand...
Rubbish ! Where I worked we had chromium plating baths which had chromic acid at 40 ounces per gallon - nobody got cancer. If you apply a chrome solution to test animals under controlled conditions, you might cause cancer. But a few parts per million in water spilled on your hand is never going to kill you. In any case when you use chemicals, you should always wear gloves and eye protection. There is not one chemical on this planet which does not carry a 'suspected tumorigen' annotation. Most petrol contains benzene.
 
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I once worked in an aircraft factory. They were pumping the solution from a cadmium plating bath with a hose which had a join in it. The hose flew apart and the cyanide solution hit the forman right in his mouth. He picked the clean water hose up off the floor and rinsed his mouth. After that he was never afraid of cyanide or cadmium. If you think chrome is dangerous, you have never been anywhere where there is real danger. When I worked with explosives, I never told my ex what I did.
 
Im sure that the health and safety folks have a far dimmer view of things than you do. And I suspect that you, like myself, are no longer working. Things have changed. I will say that so far MEK hasn't yet got me...I do NOT miss the exposure to the chemicals
aircraft expose you to.
 
Fast Eddie said:
You’re right there! Not quite sure why I didn’t think of checking there first...
Click to expand...

Ready? Fire! Aim? Happens all the time in corporate America. Politicians in this country don't even have sights...

I do commend you on the application of the Scientific Method.

My concern is not so much what protects the best, but how to remove it when the time comes. If you are endeavoring to protect fasteners, aluminum parts or chrome I've found that working the surfaces you want to protect with a clean tooth brush and WD-40 is very relaxing and almost makes you look at everything on the motorcycle...

Leads me to put some spin on an old English story about Lady Godiva's ride through Coventry: If I were to see her on her horse, I would remark about the horse...

Best.
 
RoadScholar said:
Ready? Fire! Aim? Happens all the time in corporate America. Politicians in this country don't even have sights...

I do commend you on the application of the Scientific Method.

My concern is not so much what protects the best, but how to remove it when the time comes. If you are endeavoring to protect fasteners, aluminum parts or chrome I've found that working the surfaces you want to protect with a clean tooth brush and WD-40 is very relaxing and almost makes you look at everything on the motorcycle...

Leads me to put some spin on an old English story about Lady Godiva's ride through Coventry: If I were to see her on her horse, I would remark about the horse...

Best.
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I very much agree, I don’t want anything that’s difficult to remove. I’m not just looking to protect nice big surfaces, I’m wanting to spray liberally into the nooks and crannies. Unless my bike is badly dirty, most cleaning is generallydone with WD40. In my mind it’s cleaning and protecting at the same time. Tests I’ve seen seem to show this does work well, provided its re applied regularly. But, for winter use, I do think something with a longer lasting and generally better level of protection would be wise.

As to your point about making you look at the bike whilst cleaning: that’s why, even in industry, cleaning is seen as the first step in preventative maintenance!
 
Patina adds value. Restorations never bring as much as something which is genuine. The only thing I object to on my bike are the British brake fittings which have rusted. I'm looking for stainless steel ones.
 
At least British rust is quality and lasts.

Never confuse patina with long term neglect. (Or laziness)

#
I generally use CRC 808 / Lanolin spray / Pledge / and worse case Dubbin.
 
acotrel said:
Patina adds value. Restorations never bring as much as something which is genuine. The only thing I object to on my bike are the British brake fittings which have rusted. I'm looking for stainless steel ones.
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Salt ravaged alloy and steel ain’t my idea of patina...
 
I don't know much about Commandos, so a simple question.
My four pre Commando Nortons seems to have an inbuilt oiling feature, spraying engine and primary oil over the bike, thus giving them an adequate rust prevention. Did Norton omit that on the Commando?
 
They cured some of the leaks, you can cure the remaining leaks with a one way reed valve on the breather. The substitute for the loss of leaks was a rear chain oiler fed by the oil tank return pipe via a cotton pad, this can be blocked off ;)
 
The salt ravaged my commando last winter so I'm going to take it off the road this time
A work mate has a Hinckley Bonneville and both the front and rear calipers had corroded so badly that the lip that holds the piston seal was crumbling away!
That's the worse corrosion I have seen , maybe they are using more salt or a different type in the road grit?
 
Mike40M said:
I don't know much about Commandos, so a simple question.
My four pre Commando Nortons seems to have an inbuilt oiling feature, spraying engine and primary oil over the bike, thus giving them an adequate rust prevention. Did Norton omit that on the Commando?
Click to expand...
Yep it's omitted on my commando
 
I used to use ACF but found using it in a spray bottle that you pressurise with a pump handle, it was forever clogging the nozzle causing the desired "fogging" to end up as (expensive) drenching. Warming it didn't help.
I now use XCP in aerosol form, fogs really well (the most effective and economic application) and is cheaper than my experience with ACF but that might be my crap application method . The video link posted above in this thread has it as more expensive, but one aerosol can goes a long way!
It's a British product so might not be available elsewhere?
Here's a very comprehensive 6 month test, if you google "XCP vs ACF" you'll find similar tests with similar results. Yeah it's sticky but don't over apply and comes off with Mr Sheen or supermarket equivalent.

 
i did a similar test several years back when i first started using ACF50.. I had a scrap piece of 50x5x300mm mild steel plate which i covered half with ACF and applied nothing to the other half. it sat outside my garage for a full 12 month one side red rust & the other like a shinny pin... it would still be there but the bloody pickey's had it away
 
olympus said:
i did a similar test several years back when i first started using ACF50.. I had a scrap piece of 50x5x300mm mild steel plate which i covered half with ACF and applied nothing to the other half. it sat outside my garage for a full 12 month one side red rust & the other like a shinny pin... it would still be there but the bloody pickey's had it away
Click to expand...
He was singing, " any old iron, any, any old iron"
 
I had already watched the video wavey-davey posted, I think that guys did a brilliant experiment !

On the back of that I bought some TC200 and XCP corrosion blocker. I also saw that XCP do a specific motorcycle product that’s less sticky and is clear called ‘clear coat’ so I bought some of that too.

I had a large bottle of ACF 50 for use in a pump sprayer, but as already commented on by someone, that was not very user friendly. So... I mixed that in with my gallon of WD40 to create a WD/ACF pump spray hybrid !

So now the total fence hanging dog food tin collection looks like this:

1. Mr Sheen: a household wax based spray furniture polish.
2. Muc-off: a proprietary motorcycle ‘protector’.
3. ACF 50: we all know this one.
4.WD 40: needs no introduction.
5. XCP corrosion blocker: as tested above and the overall winner.
6. XCP clear coat: a motorcycle version of the above, none tacky and clear.
7. TC200: also as tested above, I like this one, feels like WD40 and good as a general cleaner etc.
8. Fast Eddie’s patented ACF50/WD40 hybrid: just cos I had it really.

I’ll update y’all in about 6 months...
 
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