ACF50 - is that it for the winter now?

[eifion]

So I just gave my bike a good clean and treated with ACF50.

Is that really it now for the winter, bar chain cleaning, lubing cables etc?

I read that you can just let the dirt accumulate and then come spring once they stop putting salt on the roads you wash all the crap off and it's magically like new.

Sounds good if true, but am sceptical. Maybe give it an interim wash around January time and reapply ACF50?

Is used 200 miles a week for commuting.
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SR125 -> 6 year gap -> SV650 -> Deauville -> NC750X -> Vstrom 650

[Old Git Racing]

Dunno, don't ride it in winter much, then wash it every time I do.
My mate rides his Beemer year round, treats it every year with AC50 then washes it off in spring. His bike is a rusty shitheap.

OGR.
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2022 Tiger Sport 660 2019 Street Twin 2003 K3 gixxer 1000 1998 Srad 600 track hack

[smallfrowne]

Acf50 is just a vaguely sticky oil innit? One with good corrosion inhibitions, but it's not magic. Salt is bad for any exposed steel so you should prob wash it off sooner rather than later but pfft i don't wash noffink unless I'm rebuilding it. Anything nicely coated in paint should be fine though.
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'90 VFR750; '89 NC30; '95 DR650; '89 CD250U; ~'82 CG125; ~C90

[Barnoe]

If your doing high mileage as you say then i would wash and reapply as you see fit.

As for the salt, use cold water on a fine spray to rinse when very dirty.
unless you use soap or detergents the AC50 should stay in place.
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You know you are old when you're told to slow down by your doctor and not the police.

[wr6133]

I pull off all the plastics, deep clean and then apply ACF to everything (bar seat/disks/etc).

Occasionally through winter I will then give the plastics a wipe and exposed metal areas get wiped and lightly reapplied with ACF (stanchions, etc).

Once salt is no longer an issue plastics come off again deep clean and it'll all be nice and shiny still.

I did the above to my ZZR, when sold it was 25 years old, about to go round the clocks, ridden in all weather and kept outside..... there was less corrosion on it than bikes 1/5th of it's age.

[eifion]

So why isn't there a stand selling ACF-50 at bike dealerships? Surely everybody's bikes would last longer if they sold it...

....Oh.
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SR125 -> 6 year gap -> SV650 -> Deauville -> NC750X -> Vstrom 650

[Commuter_Tim]

[Nobby the Bastard]

As my bike is 26 years old, anything that could rust from usual use will have developed rust.

So I just ride it
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050

[ScaredyCat]

Wash it down every so often, but don't use any detergent.

When the council starts putting salt on the roads, when you're getting to freezing weather, make sure you wash it down when you get home.

Don't wait a couple of days, do it straight away. get as much of that salt off as possible. Again, don't use detergent, just water.

Then a quick wipe with a cloth damp with ACF50 and all is good again.
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Honda CBF125 ➝ NC700X
Honda CBF125 ↳ Speed Triple

[NJD]

Depends how anal you want to be and how much you care. I've said before I ride in most weathers and therefore accept that my bike will look like horse poop because of it, after that I give up caring, slapped some ACF-50 on and see what it looks like after another winter.. all fun and games.

Downpipes burn the ACF-50 of, so I believe, because they reach high temps so maybe play more attention to those than any other area. Other than that I wouldn't worry too much about the physical condition. Maybe a light hose down to remove the road salt if you wish, play it by ear and see what conditions you end up riding in.

Other things would be to expect gummed up brakes if you're going to ride in snow / on gritted roads and other than that just keep on top of tyre pressure by topping them up before you ride each time. Do your pre ride checks, ensure it warms up and runs smoothly, idol speed is correct etc. The more you look after your bike the easier it will be to get from a to b in the cold weather when you want nothing more than to be home and dry. It's getting cold in the mornings to the point car windscreens are frosting up so maybe just ensure all your battery and fluid levels are correct etc now before it gets any worse, weather wise.
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The do it all, T̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶r̶o̶k̶e̶n̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶,̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶i̶g̶ ̶l̶u̶m̶p̶,̶ ̶C̶h̶o̶n̶g̶ ̶N̶o̶o̶d̶l̶e̶

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

[Dave70]

I used to give my R125 a thorough coating with ACF50 come late Autumn time and used to live close to the sea, so had plenty of salt in the air ready to attack it.

I'd give it a rough going over again mid winter and come spring time it'd look absolutely filthy. Then after a good clean down with some muc-off it would look as good as new, with zero corrosion to be seen anywhere.

IMO it's worth it, especially as a lot of modern bikes seem to be made of inferior metals than that of the past.
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There ain't no devil, there's just god when he's drunk.

2012: R125 killed by white van. 2016 R125 killed by 30,000 miles of redline. Current: 2016 Kawasaki ER6f.

[Pigeon]

Previous years I've washed my bike weekly or every other week. Cleaned it with WD40, sprayed with FS365 and ACF50.


Last year, I washed it at the start of November, ACF50 and left it. Road through until March.

Mud and crud stuck to the ACF50. Salt did not seem to penetrate much.

Took a long time to get the bike clean, but what was underneath was pretty much as it had been.


So same again this year. Will ACF50 once, or twice and wont bother washing it until spring.

[iooi]

Do not wash the bike...... You can give the plastics a wipe over, but leave the metal stuff well alone.

The layer of crap that builds up helps to stop the salt getting to the metal.

I just left mine till march/april and gave it a good clean then.
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Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

[pompousporcup...]

agree on not washing/rinsing the bike down AFTER acf has been applied. If applied generously enough it should stick and protect whatever is underneath..

one thing you MUST do, ideally after every journey, is rinse the salt off the calipers front and rear. Dont put acf anywhere near your brake system... just rinse off the caliper/disc with water

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

I always think it looks thin and insubstantial and I don't quite get what the mystery ingredient is in acf50 that makes it more effective than, say, a thin layer of grease/vaseline or even thick EP90 type gear oil painted on. As I understand it, the main preventative quality of any such treatment is to prevent surfaces from outside air/moisture. What in acf50 is better at doing that than trad grease or wax-oil products?
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[tom_e]

https://www.600rr.net/vb/15-general-discussion/358633-wonders-acf50.html

Some interesting testing pictures in that thread.

[MCN]

Washing a Bike will not EVER get all the salt off it. The salt creeps into places then weeps out as it pleases.

So the thing with ACF50 is it follows the salt and kills it.

Then it hangs around to stop any other saltyness getting in.

Wash and re-apply as often as you like more often is good.

At £26 odds a litre it is not really bad value if it saves hundreds in flacked paint and shit.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[tom_e]

Don't forget a little goes a long way as well. You don't need to give the bike a full on bath in it.

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[MCN]

[ADSrox0r]

Seem to post this every year but what the 'eck.

Invest in a compressor, doesn't have to be a monster or anything flash you can get them for a good deal under a ton. Buy an HVLP 'fine' spraygun to go with it. Heat up your ACF50 in a bath of hot water and pour into your spraygun and give 'er a good coating. It goes waaaay further this way and is more effective than any other application method. ACF50 is at it's best when it's applied very thinly and evenly, almost invisibly.

You can pay a geezah to come round and do it for you with his super-duper 'valet and protect' service for 70quid or whatever but he's just a squire that went and bought....you guessed it, a compressor and HVLP spraygun kit. Granted the 'pros' have a special attachment or two that uses a bendy tube to easily get into nooks and crannies and even do an application on bikes with fairings but you can actually just make that shit easy enough.
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Current bikes: '08 VFR 800 VTEC(yo) , '07 ZZR1400 Winter hack: '95 Aprilia 650 Pegaso Currently lusting after: RC30

[ScaredyCat]

[Lord Percy]

This is going to be my first full winter of pretty much daily usage. And given that my last bike failed its MOT due to rust... I think it's time to go for the ACF50.

Just wondering... what's best - the stuff in a big plastic bottle or the stuff that seems to come in a pressurised spray canister?

[Pigeon]