Bike care near the beach?

My question is aimed for anybody with experience maintaining their bike in a salty environment, more specifically the gulf coast. How can I best maintain my bike to prevent he salt from wreaking havoc on every system? I'm assuming I'd have to wash at least weekly with frequent waxing, perhaps add some dielectric grease on all of the electrical connectors. Is there anything I should specifically watch?

For a little background: I'm in North TX, so I'm lucky enough to have no experience with salty roads or bad humidity. However, I travel for work 7 days at a time down to Galveston. I don't always need to take the cage, and I'd like to enjoy more time on my Feej. I'm still torn, as the bike is very cherry and I don't want anything to deteriorate excessively by driving it to work. I know, I know... it won't be new forever. I'm lucky it's still as new as it is for an '08. I just want to keep it in the best shape I can while I enjoy it!

When servicing the electrical connectors you need to disconnect, pack the connector with dielectric grease and then reconnect. You made it sound like you were just planning to smear the grease over top of the connector and that would be a no-no. Frequent washing for sure to wash the salt off but I'm not sure that excessive waxing would help. Remember that wax is actually an abrasive and you are removing paint when you wax to get rid of oxidation. I'm pretty sure that all the painted parts on the FJR are clear coated to protect the paint.

Also remember that I don't wash my bike all that much and like BikerGeek who doesn't wash his bike at all I am going for the antique pettine look. I don't want an actual antique though which is why I didn't buy a POS Gen 1.

I didn't realize wax was an abrasive! Noted, thanks. As for the dielectric grease, though I already knew where to put it, I appreciate the reminder. I was simply glossing over in summary.

Perhaps I would have been better to ask: How much do you actually have to fight the oxidation on this bike?

My old FZ1 lives at our beach house and the main problem I find is salt pitting on the handlebars. The bike is covered most of the time and after 2 1/2 years I haven't had any electrical problems. I think it's mainly a matter of keeping the bike clean as long as it's not out in the weather. I know a bunch of guys with bikes down there and keeping the bike clean and garaged seems to be the main factor. Dielectric grease on the contacts never hurts, but it seems to be far more necessary for boat electrics than MC ones.

'03 on Florida's gulf coast since it was new. Original owner was in Pensacola, I bought it in '07, live in Panama City.

I've never given it any special care with salt in mind. Unless it's kept within a couple hundred yards of the water, salt is not an issue. Road salt up north would be 100 times the problem of salt spray around here.

wfooshee said:

'03 on Florida's gulf coast since it was new. Original owner was in Pensacola, I bought it in '07, live in Panama City.
I've never given it any special care with salt in mind. Unless it's kept within a couple hundred yards of the water, salt is not an issue. Road salt up north would be 100 times 1000 times the problem of salt spray around here.

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Fixed

Abrasive waxes are abrasive. Many are minimally or non abrasive. You get what you buy. But I'm with the previous poster, I wouldn't think obsessive waxing would help, more likely hurt. You want a good coat of wax, which normally lasts a while. Removing it and reapplying frequently doesn't improve the protection.

Wax is not abrasive, polish is. Check on the container, if it says anything about getting rid of a film or restoring paint, it's abrasive. A pure wax will say it adds a protective layer, nothing about improving or refinishing.

There's no point (as far as protection is concerned) worrying about any plastic areas. What will deteriorate are fasteners, both the shiny surface and the thread. If you are worried, undo each of the screws that hold the plastic on, put grease on the threads, screw up. (I always grease threads whenever I undo anything.) By all means wax the visible parts of fasteners. Unfortunately, the best protection will itself make the bike look grubby, but long term it's the best way to keep the finish.

The exhaust stainless steel WILL rust, particularly at welding points. I don't know the best way to deal with this, I've simply washed and rubbed at it to keep it under control.

Brakes, brake discs, anything where dirt can get trapped. Hose off everywhere! If you use a pressure hose, be very wary near seals, electrics, anywhere where the water might penetrate. Dry off as far as possible - picture below taken a few days after the bike was put away wet.

(click on image for larger view)



Preferably take the bike for a spin after washing. Helps dry everything out. And it's a reward for taking good care.

The FJR is not too bad at fighting corrosion. I live as far from the coast as anywhere in the UK so I don't often get sea spray, but I ride mine regardless of road salt in the winter. I don't encourage corrosion, but I treat some as inevitable. In the end you have to weigh up whether you want the showroom finish of a garage queen, or the inevitable superficial marring of the finish of a bike you want to ride.

Thanks everybody! Lots of good stuff here. FWIW, my quarters are only a block off the beach, and I have to drive along seawall blvd to get to where I turn off for work. Basically, I drive next to the beach every day. I also don't have any place to garage the bike until I return home up North, so I'm planning on buying a quality motorcycle cover such as a Guardian. I am, however, concerned about sand getting under the cover and becoming very abrasive.

Thanks again for all of the feedback!

Also, ACF-50 or similar

In the somewhat salty atmosphere of the Gulf Coast you will see some evidence of corrosion. Any good polish will protect the paint. I would think it is obvious that some "waxes" and "polishes" are abrasive, others are not. Generally the container will tell you what they do and what their purpose is. I rely heavily on the Yamaha Spray Polish and Detailer. Pick your poison.

The body paint is not the issue. That is too easy to protect. You will see corrosion on the little plates at the base of the handlebars that cover the handlebar bolting. You will see it in when the black paint on the front rotors peels off to reveal surface rust around the disc carriers. You will see some "graying" of the brake and clutch reservoirs.

My advice is to wash, wax, and polish (or not) just as you normally would. You cannot keep it showroom condition forever, ride it and enjoy it.

Proof I know firsthand:

As said before on other subjects, you are over thinking it. Ride more worry less.

I learned to ride living in Melbourne Florida and riding A1A daily to Merritt Island parking my bike within sight of the water. No problems.

Now, when we rolled out our automated computerized ticket machines at some of our coastal locations...those things took a beating sitting outside in the salty air daily. Of course, the company that supported them was as far from the water as you could get sitting in KC so what would they know?

gixxerjasen said:

As said before on other subjects, you are over thinking it. Ride more worry less.

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Yes sir, you are absolutely right! I over think everything, all the time. Admittedly, I've got a bit of a stigma simply from my job. Fighting corrosion on aircraft is a constant job, but they are also flying over the ocean to oil rigs. They might get a little more exposure than my FJR.

I should have thought about something like ACF50! The last heliport I worked at had loads of it, but not at this one. We mostly have CorrosionX, CRC corrosion inhibitor, LPS, and loads of WD40. CorrosionX does a pretty good job, but I don't want a waxy slimy coating on a lot of my exterior components. I have stuff I can try to prevent the corrosion, so I'll figure out what works. For wash and wax I use Turtle Wax deep black detailer and wax. My '08 really looks sharp when I'm done. We usually have a car washing party on the last day of the work week, so I'll just keep it as clean as I can.

I glad to hear we don't have a lot of problems around the salt. I really appreciate everybody's feedback!

Gen2 + ground spider problems. It's not just the "through connectors" that require attention, it's the dead-end capped ones too.

I live 2.2 air miles from the Atlantic Ocean. Never any problems with rust or corrosion on either my Harleys or my FJRs. My bikes stay in the garage, uncovered all the time. My autos stay out in the driveway and still there is no issues with corrosion. If you live within sight of the ocean, it's a different story. Much more marine film settles on the bike (and on everything else) that lives within sight of the ocean.

If bikes are kept outside, covered or not, really close to the coast (less than 1/2 mile), there will likely be some pitting on some of the thinner plated fasteners sooner or later. But unless you just never detail your bike, you shouldn't have a problem. Its usually the neglected bikes, you know, the ones that are dirty as hell where the owners claim they bought the bike to ride and not to wash or detail. It's those bikes that will look like shit and deteriorate faster in an ocean proximity area.

I live in SoCal, and ride the Pacific Coast Highway all the time. I didn't see any mention of it, but keep an eye on the lower forks. The salt air will pit them in a hurry. I bought a bike once in Corona, about sixty miles inland from the coast, and there wasn't a spot on the forks. Within weeks, at the first wash, I noticed the clear coat on the leading edge was gone, and corrosion was starting, and despite all efforts, it began to pit. My Feejer, an '06, had rust on the brake discs centers where the coating has corroded off when I bought it. When I replace the front tire, I plan to address that.