What the heck is this?

[jotapeh]

So unfortunately some nasty stuff showed up on my bike last week, it seems to be 'splashing up' from the front??

At first I thought it was just bird crap or something, so I washed it off. But it has shown up a few times now during riding ... so it worries me that it might be something important..

 

[JSP]

looks like rusty water maybe splashing up from your rotor? Notice any rusty metal down there? Does this only happen when the road is wet, or when its dry as well?

Wouldnt think it could get up there though... is that the only spot?

 

[jotapeh]

It's splashed up inside the front fairing as well, nothing on the front dash but it has come up to the place where the brake lines connect to the reservoir..

You are probably right, just seemed weird that it would splash up onto the side like that. It seems to favour the left side quite a bit as well, I haven't seen any splashing on the right side of the tank.

 

[99vengeur]

Did you do anything with the "dummy button" like the garage door opener mod??

After I did the garage door opener mod, I had this issue as well. Water is getting into the left handle bar control housing and you are getting a little bit of rust from inside there. Just open it up and make sure you have a good seal around where the "dummy button" is and it should stop. Once I made sure it was water tight, never had it happen again! :thumbup:

 

[Spunky99]

Tell you what...that looks like the rust from a radiator.

We don't have an iron block so I'm not sure what could be rusting.
Take a look at your coolant. Is it rusty?

 

[owldaddy]

Is it possible that you have parked under a steel roof? Such as in a car port, or some other overhang that may have dripped rusty water on your bike.

 

[jotapeh]

Thanks for all the insights.

I think Spunky99 is probably closest to the source of the problem - I've never touched the dummy button housing nor do I park under a steel roof.

I haven't looked at the coolant but I hope it is not rusty, that would be awful, this bike is so new.. how would that happen so quickly? However I have noticed that temperature readings on the bike have been slightly high when I park it recently, before it would rarely hit 102°C+, last night it crept up to 108°C. That could just be ambient temp affecting it though.

Guess I will have to take a closer look after work today

 

[99vengeur]

Thanks for all the insights.

I think Spunky99 is probably closest to the source of the problem - I've never touched the dummy button housing nor do I park under a steel roof.

I haven't looked at the coolant but I hope it is not rusty, that would be awful, this bike is so new.. how would that happen so quickly? However I have noticed that temperature readings on the bike have been slightly high when I park it recently, before it would rarely hit 102°C+, last night it crept up to 108°C. That could just be ambient temp affecting it though.

Guess I will have to take a closer look after work today

Your radiator is not rusting.

If you look at the left control housing, you will likely see rust on the bottom. And chances are it will be found around a hole in the bottom of the housing. It's dripping from there. It's not coincidence that you found spots on TOP of the plastics and that it just happens to be right under the left control housing only.

Give it a peek and let us know that's what it is.

 

[dart1963]

thought it sounded familiar...
http://www.600cc.org/forum/f99/prone-rust-18811/

I wonder if a pack of these got build with substandard hardware....

I'd seriously get under over and all around the bike looking for the cause...

you say its' "splashing up from the front", did you notice it after riding , or just parked? If it happens when parked, then 99vengeur has hit it spot on there's not much else where it could come from. If you've only seen it after riding, it could still be there, but it could also be rusty water trapped in/around the brakes as was found in the other thread. Let us know what you find!

 

[99vengeur]

:hijack:

Dart -- I love the new avatar!

 

[Spunky99]

That ACF-50 is used on aircraft....must be real good!

Buy ACF-50 10013 Corrosion Inhibitor - 13 Oz. Aerosol Can - MIL-C-81309E Type ll & lll- Sky Geek, Skygeek Owner, Lubricants, Corrosion Inhibitor,

 

[jotapeh]

Your radiator is not rusting.

If you look at the left control housing, you will likely see rust on the bottom. And chances are it will be found around a hole in the bottom of the housing. It's dripping from there. It's not coincidence that you found spots on TOP of the plastics and that it just happens to be right under the left control housing only.

Give it a peek and let us know that's what it is.

Well to be honest it was not just under the left control housing. As I said in a previous post it was also inside the "well" under the front dash and somewhat under the right brake fluid reservoir, etc..

However you seem to be right in that it seems BOTH control housings have rust leaking from them, that is both the turns/horn control housing and the killswitch/starter housing interiors are rusting.

I guess I'll have to open these up and seal them properly, any ideas how?

 

[99vengeur]

The water is likely getting in through the buttons and switches. You won't really be able to seal every one of them as you could lose some functionality. What I would suggest would be to open the housings and see if you can find where the rust is coming from. Once you locate it, clean it really well and then maybe protect it from water. You could use what was suggested above, or try to use a silicone sealer. You really won't know until you open them up. Take some pics if you do, and we could better advise you how to prevent it from happening anymore.