I've had a couple of triumphs and kawaka with chrome wheels and as @littleade has said you need to stay on top of the cleaning and use ACF50 or FS365 (there are other products on the market) to keep the wheels clean and protected. It is a ball ache but essential if you don't want the rust.....
Sympathise with that, at the price of these machines the wheels and spokes should be stainless steel. Attention to the quality of materials used is also in question here! My 2016 T120 is okay but I do spend a lot of time cleaning/oiling after rides. Definitely a guarantee claim. Good luck.
That wheel rim almost looks like it's from an old barn find. Not good. I hope you can get it sorted. I don't have a garage, so my bikes live under covers, but I haven't really had any problems (touch wood), and I keep mine a long time - minimum was 3 years. But then, I've only had one bike with much chrome on it - a Yamaha Virago - it was fine, but took a bit of work. Least affected by weather - Aprilia Falco. Triumph Tiger 800 seems pretty good too, but no chrome.
Sorry to see that on a Triumph... hope they sort it for you.. trouble with the test bikes is that the staff run them around to and fro home and don’t lavish the required care & attention.. was told that to get a recent demo T100 into saleable condition they had to take the engine cases off and sand blast them to get rid of all the pitting that Spring weather had caused... not a good advert for the quality side of things ...
I live near the ocean, read salt air and moisture. My Speedmaster is a year old and use AC50 every six months and my rims and chrome look brand new. AC50 is actually made for aircraft where rust could be a REAL problem. I do keep it in a garage and wipe it down after every ride. Maintenance is key.
Chrome is porous by nature and in the days of yore, plating coats of corrosion resistant nickel and/or copper preceded the chrome, giving it a non-porous and secure finish on the substrate. This took time. Modern manufacturing techniques are quicker, more accurate and use less deposition material. Bike manufacturers use this to their advantage. The thinnest of coatings that they can get away with, some missing or cutting back the copper and/or nickel to save money and then blame the owners for neglect when corrosion appears. A higher standard chroming finish should be used. Whilst it would increase production costs very slightly, manufacturers should remember that all of us buy bikes to ride, some in the dry, some in all weathers. When I first started riding(OK, another old fart going on about yesteryear!!), bikes were one of the few means of transport and for weekends runs etc. The bikes nowadays are expensive (and the accessories are absolutely extortionate) and treated by the makers as something of a luxury hobby. They rely on building and selling bikes to a price at minimal profit and recouping on accessories. (e.g. £210-00 for a Street Twin Centre Stand!) So listen up Bike manufacturers, Enthusiasts will vote with their wallets! Sorry to go on.
One the reasons I chose a triumph model with mag wheels . I parked next to a nice thruxton in town just before Christmas, up close it had a lot of rust to the exhaust, spokes and rims,shocks and chain guard BUT I reckon a bit of autosol would sort most of it out. And I'm sure the owner would of told me "its ridden not hidden "
Such a shame to see a bike neglected like that. But if the owner wants to ride and not clean it, it is up to them.
Agreed DD, he might be ok with that or just want to run the bike into the ground. You just cannot second guess people and their motives when it comes to their property. You just have to look around at some of the cars on the road and peoples houses and the state that they are in.
Ouch! Is that coming from under the plating? Can't call it chrome or I'll be done over the trades description. Personally, if mine go like that, I'll be using s/s, spokes as well. Even may tubeless.
Ok, I was thinking of moving on from my 2013 T100 to a new Street, but not now! I don’t take any particular care of this bike, although I don’t go out on salty, icy roads because why would I DO that? Finish is fine
Read the inside cover of the hand book wish I had or it was pointed out to me before i shelled out 10k of my hard earned children’s inheritance on a bike you can’t ride in the rain
Clean dry and lubricate after every time the motorcycle is used totally impractical if you ride it to work on a daily
2017 T-120. 7800 miles. Just noticed some spoke rust the last time I oiled the chain. Stored inside, have ridden in rain once. Bike was washed the next day and dried with towels and air blower (gets to all the nooks and crannies). Have an 2005 KLR 650 (38k miles) that has been ridden in mud, sand, beaches, etc, etc. Washed haphazardly twice a year at most. No rust. Hmmmmm...
