- Thu Feb 19, 2015 10:57 am
#44511
Jack the Lad writes: " Mine is ridden all year round and is a bit tatty with the effects of road salt (same as any bike that actually gets ridden) but it still looks good enough if I can be bothered to wash it. "
To me that is one of the biggest reasons not to use an Enfield as your daily driver. I've got a B5 and a Kawasaki Versys. The Bullet has loads of chrome and unlacquered alloy, both of which are very badly affected by road salt. In common with many modern Japanese bikes, the Versys has none of either.
A few weeks ago I rode my B5 on a short journey of about 15 miles. The roads were damp in patches, not wet, and had been salted the previous day. The bike got put away in the garage. A week later I noticed that the front forks were covered in little lumps of white corrosion, and underneath each was a small pit. It looks a bit of a mess and I'm going to have to try polishing them out.
Clearly I failed to notice the little splashes of salty spray that had ended up on the forks, so you could say it was my fault. On the other hand, the Versys gets ridden in the dry, the wet, and the damp, with or without road salt, and as long as I power-wash it every couple of weeks it survives with no corrosion anywhere except on some of the fasteners.
That's why the Enfield stays in the garage all winter and the Versys gets used every day.
I've spent enough time battling corrosion on old Brit bikes (again, lots of chrome, and no lacquer on any of the alloy), and I don't want to repeat that experience.
To me that is one of the biggest reasons not to use an Enfield as your daily driver. I've got a B5 and a Kawasaki Versys. The Bullet has loads of chrome and unlacquered alloy, both of which are very badly affected by road salt. In common with many modern Japanese bikes, the Versys has none of either.
A few weeks ago I rode my B5 on a short journey of about 15 miles. The roads were damp in patches, not wet, and had been salted the previous day. The bike got put away in the garage. A week later I noticed that the front forks were covered in little lumps of white corrosion, and underneath each was a small pit. It looks a bit of a mess and I'm going to have to try polishing them out.
Clearly I failed to notice the little splashes of salty spray that had ended up on the forks, so you could say it was my fault. On the other hand, the Versys gets ridden in the dry, the wet, and the damp, with or without road salt, and as long as I power-wash it every couple of weeks it survives with no corrosion anywhere except on some of the fasteners.
That's why the Enfield stays in the garage all winter and the Versys gets used every day.
I've spent enough time battling corrosion on old Brit bikes (again, lots of chrome, and no lacquer on any of the alloy), and I don't want to repeat that experience.