Hitchcocks Forum

i'm collecting my shiny new 500 Classis in a couple of weeks.. has anyone any tipa for any work over the winter? i was thinking of taking off the mudguards and painting the underside in some sort of stone chip for a start?

You'll no doubt get lots of opinions on this so you need to make your own mind up, but I would use ACF-50. I prefer something that won't chip and trap moisture and can be easily removed. If it's good enough to stop aircraft rusting on carriers it should be good enough for a bike. I've used it for some years and it does what it says on the tin...except it's a spray can😀

I agree, something unchipable is best. Mudguards do come in for it and I always change any fastenings for stainless. It's worth taking the back number plate fitting off as well any treating the inside.

ACF 50 takes some beating, ease of application and it certainly works well..

Gets into the nooks and cranies and a shot into all switch gear will do no harm..

Only draw back is the price but then i've had a tin for 3 years and still working.

Also consider that lovely blue coloured grease they do, great for steering head bearings..

I usually moisten a cloth and apply it to wheel rims/spokes simply because overspray getting on the tyres may not be a good idea..

Waxoyl spray. Available clear or black.
Stone chip paint sounds good but can get rust underneath it, been there.



Oily rag stops rust. 3-in-1 goes gummy and stays put. It works. Especially the spoke nipples, they rust from new. Been there.



Loctite the mudguard screws 'cos they fall off.



WD40 is very good at dissolving rubber and removing grease from where it should be. Avoid.

I'd heard this about WD40 and rubber. But never found a problem, so I put a mix of different rubbers in a pot of WD40 for 3 months. Result? No softening of any of the items. But I prefer ACF50!

I like the idea of oiling the spoke nipples, I often use a spray on bike protector which I try to get into the spoke nipples, I have just been out to the bike shed and oiled all the nipples with a bicycle oil works well

Hey Presto, (sorry, couldn't resist that, bet I'm not the first). Did you also try spraying your three different types of rubber with WD40 and leaving them out in the atmosphere for 3 months? could be a different result maybe if oxygen came into the test? Adam

WD40, first hand not hear-say.

I have used WD40 to remove handlebar grips and it turned them into chewing gum.

I have used WD40 on switch gear, it softened the plastics and destroyed the switches.

Not once but many times. It is a penetrating dewatering fluid; it's for getting salt water out of jet engine turbines, if you think about it there aren't any plastics in there.

Not all rubbers and plastics are affected but many are. Murphy's Law says anything that will go wrong, will go wrong. Sod's Law dictates that it will have the worst outcome; occur at the least convenient moment, be the least accessible component or the most expensive.

I used WD40 near a hub bearing and it washed all the grease out, I had to re-pack it.

There are other better service fluids/solvents, ACS and penetrating oil being some of them

As handgrips have been mentioned try using hair spray to fit them they slide on easily ad it sets fixing them in place you need to be fairly quick before it goes off