Honda VFR1200 Made in China? I could use some advice with this rust bucket.

Okay I'm just venting here. I don't wash my bike often, never have, never will. I ride in all weather so what's the point eh?

Here's the thing however: despite the fact it hardly saw any salt this winter (wife had surgery so I had the car for 8 weeks), some stuff is still rusting really badly. The bike's not even 2 years old. Coming off Italian bikes for the last 10 years this to me is very surprising.
Facts: I never use a pressure washer, never use aggressive cleaning materials and been a rider for 32 years.

Check out a few pics. I can replace all the bolts with stainless steel ones but what with the ABS rotor? If I order a new one won't it rust just as badly?
I don't mind rusting brake discs, hell I just sold my Spiegler full-floating cast iron discs. These things rust with the first rain drop but they brake like mad. They don't fit the Honda of course...
Any 'old' VFR guys want to chime in with their experience?






Bef

 

i wash my bike quite often...10,000 miles ....no rust......!!!!

 

If the bike was out in salt and you didn't wash it immediately after, all bets are off. That is the exact reason I won't take any of my bikes out if there's salt on the roads. I know if you don't get it off asap, that's exactly what will happen. And it's not a Honda thing or even a motorcycle thing...it's a salt thing. Salt sucks and should be banished from road use.

 

Please don't forget that atleast Here in the states, We now have Salt-Brine! That She-it Is way worse then plain old road salt.
The stuff sticks to everything, & you really need to get it removed ASAP.
A good customer of ours has a truck that is 3-ish years old, & the entire underside of the truck is rusting from the salt brine he "has to" drive thru.

 

Granted but with salt comes cold and for the life of me I have no idea how to wash it off immediately when I'm at work. Or even at home, when all is dark and the garden hose is frozen solid. Using water would just render my driveway into an ice skating track too by the way.

I've been commuting on bikes for 25 years. The worst bikes when it came to corrosion were the Suzuki RF600 and this bike. Of the 4 Aprilias, none have given me major problems, not even the Futura I've used for 6 years in all weather.

Just disappointed Honda spends a great deal of effort on the paint of the tank and none on the parts that need a good coating.

 

Same here, which is why I just won't even take them out if there's salt on the road. I've made that mistake a couple times and you just can't ever get rid of the damage the salt inflicts.

That is interesting.

Agreed.

 

I guess I'll take a closer look she is about due for her next bath afterwich of course I'll be ridding in the rain but I have to keep the muck off the wheels.

 

Now that I have a camera I'll show you my commute one of these days. You'll see why I don't have a car and why I have a fast bike.

 

I had a similar issue. I don't wash mine that often, and all of the bolts were seized up. Didn't even use thread locker. It may have just been the rubber giving up the ghost where it is fuzed with the metal for the grommets, but it was all over. That cost a pretty penny to have to replace bolts. I don't ride when there is salt, and try to even stay out of the rain. But I do need to wash with all the f'n shad flies along the Mississippi river here.