Gothmog Welcome to the family. Sorry to hear your woes. Sad advert for Triumph and their reputation. Strangely my 900 has some marks to the casings and has not been out in the winter weather. I will be polishing min soon as i like the mirror finish anyway. Joe.
Sorry to hear of your troubles. I just bought a new, leftover, 2018 Speedmaster. I hope this is not what I have to look forward to. When I saw all the exposed aluminum I treated it with Master Formula Sealer Gloss in anticipation of what you've experienced. I haven't had her out in really bad weather yet, so we'll see if the Master Formula performs as advertised. I will report on its effectiveness.
When I was a kid a lot of working blokes on the housing estate where I lived had bikes, exclusively old British stuff, they didn't have the luxury of garages and many bikes were just left on the sides of the roads outside their houses all year round, uncovered. Apart from the obligatory oil slick left on the tarmac, it really didn't seem to matter, it didn't have to, there were no alternatives. I agree that owner riders didn't bother with polishing and pleasure rides, these were strictly work horses, but it seems as though the latest offerings simply wouldn't stand the rigours. Progress?
Some useful info here mate https://legalbeagles.info/forums/fo...il-rights/1502274-rejection-of-new-motorcycle
Totally understand your disappointment .I found the same problem though caught it early on. Am fortunate enough to have the time to clean it regularly. I remember the dealer saying make sure you ACF it ! Taking the bike in for a service tomorrow and it will be in over the weekend ,maybe a bit longer (apparently snow coming), so probably ask if the dealer he will wash it before the service rather than after. I like the bike so am just hopeful that I can deal with the issue .
Gotta agree.f My first legal bike was a C15 at the end of ‘59, as far as I know it didn’t have lacquer or other preservative on the engine casings. I did wash it pretty regular (Like a kid with new toy) at first. Used it through 2 winters and the casings would still polish up when I felt like it. Same with all my Brits. through the ‘60s. Really no idea why today’s bikes should be any different, unless they do use inferior mats. Ken.
Wash with cold water and out of strong sunlight. Those clever Germans designed ditch pumps specifically for the UK.
I absolutely feel your pain, OP, because I've had precisely the same issue with my Thruxton (which was bought pre-loved so no warranty comeback for me). In my experience it doesn't make any difference whether or not it's had an ACF-50 treatment, and it seems that the only way it can be prevented is to thoroughly clean the bike after each ride. Knowing that scenario was more than a little unlikely, and after giving it much thought, I've bitten the bullet and gone for a black engine conversion that includes the two engine cases, the sprocket cover and the two air intake covers (I already had aftermarket throttle body covers fitted that match the new look). That just leaves the heel guards, which Triumph don't make in black - I'll either leave them as-is or have them powder coated at some point in the future. The whole job was far from cheap, and I have to say that I'm pretty annoyed about the fact that the alloy used by Triumph has so little resilience... it'll certainly impact future bike selection decisions, anyway. Luckily I really like the black look (pretty much the way the new Thruxton RS leaves the factory) so I can live with the unplanned expenditure on the basis that I got some added value from it.
Can you imagine going back into a car dealership and complaining that their new product is corroding because it is used on British roads! They have bodywork warranties that last for years whereas some bike manufacturers turn their backs on us in a matter of weeks. What would they expect you to do if you were away touring and had no facilities to wash the bike at the end of everyday. I personally ride all year round and have used ACF50 for years even though it is time consuming to apply but the protection it offers is in my opinion worth the effort.
There's really no excuse for the crap quality alloy all manufacturers use today. I used to ride my 1959's and 60's BSAs all through the winter and never put any protection on the engine alloy at all and all that needed to bring it back to a mirror finish was a bit of elbow grease and some solvol autosol.
These day's, i try to avoid the winter salt on roads. Too much hassle to clean and you always miss some part.
Gothmog knows whats up. This rapid oxidation points to high iron content in the alloy, and poor surface finishing/coating. I suspect heavy cost-cutting at Triumph's Thai plant where nearly all the motorcycles have been built since, what, 2012? This is, to me, evidence of cost-cutting, plain and simple. I would be furious. I had an '86 Honda as my first bike, and it lived outside for years before I got it, and the polished cases were gleaming with just a quick buff and soap. This is unacceptable to me.
Hi. I’ve had the same issue on my Thruxton. I’ve some cleaning advice if you’re interested in trying something else.
I have the same bike and if there is any salt out there I give it a good wash down, however I went to N Ireland in September, got a lot of crap on the exhaust downpipes which I couldn't wash off for several days, I have found some pitting in the chrome, not as good quality as my 10 year old America
On the plus side I have a Triumph Tiger 1200, virtually everything on it is painted, including the spokes. It gets used year round (not a daily commute though) and probably gets washed max once every 3 months. It has never been ACF-50'd but has had 2-3 coats of FS365 early in it's 3 year life. I stopped using that on it as it just didn't need it. If the Bonnie is a daily commute on salted roads I reckon the Black Edition is thee one to have. The paint quality on my Tiger is excellent, better than my Honda which has three times less mileage but is peeling off all over the bottom of the engine.
Had same prob only much worse. Polished it out by hand with Solvol Autosol now I can see my face in the covers. I keep a bucket of water in garage and just give cases a very quick wash after every ride in winter ,works just fine and only takes couple of minutes.
What you're doing works as you've found out. The key is to use cold water, if you use warm or hot water to remove the salt it activates it and makes things worse. It's a sorry state if affairs TBH. Manufacturers instructions are quite poor and unless you start off using a suitable regime by the time you find out it's too late and your bike's already corroding in front of your eyes. Prevention is much better than cure and if people haven't already seen them Stuart Fillingham has a number of videos on YouTube showing how he cleaned and cared for his bonneville when he had it which is a good place to start
