Well, I have finally ridden the bike in rain. After a short journey home of about 15 minutes in moderate rain, I parked her up in the garage and had a good look to see where all the water had worked its way to. Not too bad really, to say it has an elevated front mud guard exposing all the engine to the elements.
At least the engine dries most of the water away instantly, so not a great deal of mopping up. Once the rainwater had finally dried, I got the old WD40 out to wipe all the metal work down with. Cleaned the fins on the block and gave the rest of the engine casing a good wipe over. Also worth while wiping all the crud of the exhaust with a bit of WD40, but only when it's cold - don't want no flash-point do we?!! Wiping the exhaust with WD will help hold the rust at bay for as long as physically possible. Looking at a few YB's I've seen online, rust seems to be attracted to the rear suspension arms, so a good wipe over the black powder-coated arms will keep rust at bay too.
Finally, a blob of grease over the chrome nuts, a wipe over the spokes and wheels with - you guessed it - WD40, then lubed the chain with IPONE SPRAY CHAIN. A PTFE based lubricant, this sprays on a white grease which is treated to resist corrosion, is insoluble in water and has high penetration properties. It's reinforced viscosity means that it sticks well allowing long lasting maintenance of chains, with or without O rings.
Now all I have to do is dry my trousers off!
At least the engine dries most of the water away instantly, so not a great deal of mopping up. Once the rainwater had finally dried, I got the old WD40 out to wipe all the metal work down with. Cleaned the fins on the block and gave the rest of the engine casing a good wipe over. Also worth while wiping all the crud of the exhaust with a bit of WD40, but only when it's cold - don't want no flash-point do we?!! Wiping the exhaust with WD will help hold the rust at bay for as long as physically possible. Looking at a few YB's I've seen online, rust seems to be attracted to the rear suspension arms, so a good wipe over the black powder-coated arms will keep rust at bay too.
Finally, a blob of grease over the chrome nuts, a wipe over the spokes and wheels with - you guessed it - WD40, then lubed the chain with IPONE SPRAY CHAIN. A PTFE based lubricant, this sprays on a white grease which is treated to resist corrosion, is insoluble in water and has high penetration properties. It's reinforced viscosity means that it sticks well allowing long lasting maintenance of chains, with or without O rings.
Now all I have to do is dry my trousers off!