[steviek]

Hi all.

Anyone else find that the front wheel rim on a T100 starts to rust inside two weeks of picking her up from the dealer?

I was cleaning the bike at the weekend and had to rub away some light rust staining on the front rim using Autosol. It's clear that the chrome plating on these Italian made items is pretty thin and of basically poor quality. The 10 year-old Virago I traded in when I got the T100 had no such issues.

It's no biggie. I've sprayed WD40 on all the bits that I reckon will corrode, though nothing else shows signs of early rusting. I might get stainless or powder-coated rims at some point in the future anyway, but I wanted to know if anyone else here is less than delighted with this bit of finishing. I've heard that the early (especially '01) Bonnies don't suffer like this, so maybe they have rims from another supplier?

The bike has been out on rainy days but so far not on salted roads, and sits under an Oxford Stormex cover out of doors overnight (as did the Virago for six months in my ownership without rusting rims). Seems like I'll have to be more vigilant with the Bonnie over things like this. I don't suppose a bit of rust is a warranty issue as it's just wear and tear, but I would have expected a bit more wear before it began to tear, if you see what I mean.

EDIT: does anyone use something called "Mer-wax"? Not sure about spelling, but it was recommended to me by a workmate who uses it on jet skis and he reckons it's a superb wax treatment.

[ This message was edited by: steviek on 2006-11-14 07:08 ]

 

[caspianthruxton]

the rim should have some sort of a coating to prevent rust on it. I would call the dealer and see what they can do for you.

 

[sweatmachine]

There's no coating on these chrome rims, there may be on the Thruxton, but it has alloy rims and the Bonnie's have chromed mild steel rims.

They do rust with salt, and time, but I have almost 15,000 miles on mine and no rust. It's pretty dry here though.

 

[GleaminTwin]

So lets say you want to wash your bike a half dozen times a year, does that mean that water's gonna get inside the rims and start causing rust? Its just that concern that has gotten me using the simple green wipes lately, rather than doing the full wash and wax, much easier to do, too.

 

[sweatmachine]

washed bike = rusted bike

unfortunately.

 

[GleaminTwin]

The simple green wipes do seem to work quite well and they seem to be non abraisive, or at least they claim that. After wiping the bike off with them, it really isn't very shiny though. I think I'll try waxing the bike up a little after cleaning it off with them, but making make sure its really clean first, since any grit could cause the waxing process to scratch the finish. I really like having a waxed bike, also for protection against rust, but as we've pointed out, washing itself can cause rust.

 

[pabonne]

WD40 WD40 WD40 :-D

So far no rust... that does sound like a sweet excuse to buy SS rims though.

 

[357Bob]

7000 miles & no rust. But I don't wash my bike either. I use glass cleaner on the easy to reach parts. I wax constantly. I use body solvent to get off the oily, greasy stuff. We have it at the Dealership to clean cars. It doesn't hurt paint. It is either in my garage with another bike & 2 cars or it is at work in my stall next to my tool box.
But I too don't like the looks of the chrome wheels. They weren't polished very good before chroming. They look like they were ground down then chromed. Poor finish for chrome.

 

[357Bob]

Before my family & friends started calling me 357Bob, I was called WDBOB. I spray it on everything. They would ask me about this or that & my answer was always "Spray it with WD40".

 

[johnsime]

I use glass cleaner on the chrome bits rather than water - particularly don't use washing up liquid as it contains nasty ingredients that harm paint/chrome.
My bike is 04 and is cleaned if ever I go out in rain - 3300 miles - and no sign of rust yet.
I like the WD40 idea if you're having problems though.

Your problem could be a surface preparation fault when the wheels were made - no coating - it seems unreasonable you have rust issues this early.

 

[johnsime]

Mer

Yeah this is great stuff - Used to be available only at trade exhibitions but you can buy it at Halfords in the UK

http://www.merproducts.com/valet.htm

 

[steviek]

Guys, if you're reluctant to use water when washing a bike, you don't want to live in the UK as water is one thing we're not short of so long as you don't live in the South East of England

I also disagree that a washed bike is a rusty one. Water doesn't affect paintwork or powder coated items either. I'm not concered about alloy items as I can polish these no problems. My only corrosion concerns when I got the bike were the Renntec rack (chrome on these isn't great as I know from experience) and the mild steel fasteners etc used on various parts of the bike (which can be replaced with SS ones anyway). I definitely didn't expect an issue with the rims. Brand new chrome rims can only start to rust if the chrome wasn't applied properly in the first place.

I use Autoglym motorcycle cleaner and wash off the suds with clean water using a garden hose at low pressure, doing one bit of the bike at a time. I let her drip dry for a while, then go over her with a lint-free cloth to dry off all the shiny bits. Autosol is something I use only now and again to bring a shine back to alloy or chrome that needs it or, as in this case, to remove stains. WD40 goes on afterwards as a precaution (plus I love the smell ).

I like my bikes to be clean, but concourse condition is for bikes that don't get used or if you live somewhere that's dry most of the year round.

Anyway, the good news is that my local dealer (BS Bikes in Stoke on Trent) say this is definitely not normal and asked me to drop by so they can fire off a couple of digital photos on which to base a warranty claim to Triumph. They're a good bunch down there! When I mentioned at the first service the tacho wandering a bit (others here have reported this) they immediately said they'd put a new one on, but I wasn't bothered by it and left it at that.

Edit: I'll have to go home and wipe off the WD40, then hope the rust re-appears before Saturday when I can get down there. Now that just doesn't feel right somehow :wink:

[ This message was edited by: steviek on 2006-11-15 05:45 ]