Post water crossing maintenance

Yesterday, I came across a section of road that had been flooded . There were a number of vehicles/people on each side of the water. The water was moving rather quickly and from what I could tell, was only about 8-10 inches deep. I walked out into the water a few feet and could tell the road surface wasn't slick. After one or two cars turned around and went back, I watched a couple of pickup trucks cross without issue. I judged that even with splashing, the water wasn't any higher than my knee.

I finally decided to go for it. Once on the other side, I pulled over, gave my steed a good looking over and moved on for the rest of my ride. As you can see below, it looks like the water never got higher than a few inches up my lower fairing. I'm pretty sure that neither axle got completely submerged.

My question then, is it necessary to pull the wheels, inspect the bearings and lube everything back up?

IMHO it couldn't be much worse than riding all day in a driving rain.

GunMD said:

IMHO it couldn't be much worse than riding all day in a driving rain.

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Uh, Gunny!

eeksnake said:

Yesterday, I came across a section of road that had been flooded . There were a number of vehicles/people on each side of the water. The water was moving rather quickly and from what I could tell, was only about 8-10 inches deep. I walked out into the water a few feet and could tell the road surface wasn't slick. After one or two cars turned around and went back, I watched a couple of pickup trucks cross without issue. I judged that even with splashing, the water wasn't any higher than my knee. I finally decided to go for it. Once on the other side, I pulled over, gave my steed a good looking over and moved on for the rest of my ride. As you can see below, it looks like the water never got higher than a few inches up my lower fairing. I'm pretty sure that neither axle got completely submerged.

My question then, is it necessary to pull the wheels, inspect the bearings and lube everything back up?

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The biggest problem with standing water is it can get past seals in suspension areas such as the rear linkage. That is why dirt bike riders tear down such linkage once or twice a year to make sure water hasn't compromised the lubricant. In the case of your short encounter I would not worry. If you note a change in the running of the engine however I would check the air box to see if you got water in it. You can simply blow off the filter with an air compressor or reverse you vacuum cleaner and blow it dry if you find water there. make sure you dry out the air box too. Well done captain and good luck with your next voyage.

Thanks for the replies. Now my biggest concern is if I should wash it or not. (NOT!)

I'm kinda diggin' the looks and comments at work...

"What the hell did you ride through?"

"Did someone throw milk at ya?"

"Yo dude, you know that's not a dual sport right?"

As long as it wasn't salt water...

I would question the seals in the noggin, more than the ones in the bike.

eeksnake said:

I'm pretty sure that neither axle got completely submerged.

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According to that picture, it seems like water got above the front turn signals, but only you can answer that. Going by your 'knee level' water depth assesment, your ENTIRE wheels were under water, not just the axles.

The first thing I can tell you is you have water in your rear end for sure, as the vent (chrome cap on top of the final drive) is lower than a normal person's knee. And no, I don't consider submerging the axles and final drive the same as driving thru rain even all day.

I'd replace the final drive oil ASAP, and also remove wheels and check wheel bearings for water intrusion. I'd also remove ALL harness connectors that were below water, dry, clean, and repack them with dielectric grease ASAP before rust/corrosion starts to set in. And NEVER cross water again on a street bike above the axles (less than 8", as 'waves' reach higher) unless absolutely necessary; not worth the risk of falling and potential future problems. Good luck.

JC

You might want to check the oil in your rear end, just to be sure that you didn't take in any water through the breather. Other than that, prolly not any worse than a heavy rain storm.

ELP_JC said:

According to that picture, it seems like water got above the front turn signals, but only you can answer that. Going by your 'knee level' water depth assesment, your ENTIRE wheels were under water, not just the axles.

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It's kinda hard to see it in the image but that solid tan color along the bottom of my lower fairing is the water level. The remainder of the tan spots are from splashing (even though I took it very slow.) When I said the water appeared to never reach higher than my knee, that's in reference to my observation of a pickup truck that crossed a lot more rapidly than I did and included the wave the truck was producing. My knee level, while standing on the ground, is approximately the same as the frame slider in the image. Again, I'm fairly certain that nothing from the axles and up went under water.

Since I hate unanswered forum questions as much as the next guy, I'll check my final drive oil for water and, if necessary, will yank the wheels, inspect bearings, yada, yada, yada. I'll even do something different and post my findings in this thread.

And NEVER cross water again on a street bike above the axles (less than 8", as 'waves' reach higher) unless absolutely necessary;

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Wise advice. In this particular case, my decision to cross was made after careful assessment of the situation, weighing the risks against the rewards, contemplating possible alternatives and determining what reaching my ultimate destination was worth to me. In the end, I said "Fuckit!" and crossed the water. Right, wrong, indifferent, it was my decision and I'm glad I went for it.

what about the air filter?

Took off the rear wheel and rear drive. No evidence of water intrusion. (Didn't even reach the dust seals.)

Drained & changed the rear drive oil. No evidence of water.

Took off front wheel. No evidence of water intrusion. (Same as rear wheel, didn't reach the dust seals.)

Pulled out the air filter. No evidence of water intrusion.

Checked all electrical connectors. No evidence of water intrusion. (Applied dielectric grease anyway.)

Checked and cleaned radiator (front & back). The silt in the flood water put a good caking on some of the fins.

Whew. While checking all the above, got the chance to clean/inspect some areas I normally don't see.

Thanks for the input folks.