Protecting metal work

Has anybody any suggestions on the best way to protect chrome and alloy parts from the elements and road salt. I wouldn't normally go out on the R3 in bad weather but if we get some fine sunny dry weather I could be tempted. But the local authority have thrown a load of road salt down because of the sub zero tempratures.


Keith

Best way I know of to protect the wheels is to powder coat them.

All the other aluminium bits will just go furry with that corrosive crap

Whenever you clean the bike up, just use regular automotive paste wax on the parts that you want to protect. It's all that I have ever recommended to protect any of the polished aluminum I have ever done. It is simple and it works.

CAD

Or live somewhere where they never need to put salt on the roads..

I use ACF 50 to protect chrome

Wax, wax, and more wax. Clean the hell out of it before waxing, then keep it as clean as possible for as long as possible. The less time the crud stays in contact with the shiny parts, the less the shiny parts will be subjected to corrosion. If it is straight NaCl salt, rinse with the hose 'til you can't stand up any longer. If it's MgCl, or some other "sticky" de-icer, get the bucket with the hot water and soapy, fluffy, washy-thing. Using the compressor to dry it saves a lot of finger-bendin' time - just try and keep from forcing water into places it shouldn't go (electrical connections, etc.). I don't recommend the pressure washer since it has the tendency to put water where it shouldn't be. The cool part is that washing the bike in winter has two advantages: 1). If you live with hard water, washing the bike in 45 degree weather allows you enough time to get rid of water spots, and 2). There's a whole lot less bugs to get rid of than after a half-hour ride on any August evening.

It's a pain in the ass and I dread it everytime I have to do it. The alternative is to have my Triumph end up looking like something an H-D rider would be caught riding (not a viable option for me).

Come to think of it, that might not be a bad idea - Have an H-D "Whateva-Glide" to use as a thrasher in the winter months and save the nice bike for summers in the sunshine and giving rides to hot chicks in bikinis.

Easy..... put it away till April.

Waxing and proper polishing is good longer term protection. Essential really.

However for short term use - especially use in a wet climate or through winter - more temporary fixes are needed.
I use Motorex 645, as recommended by Triumph (I think it's now called 'Clean and Protect') is very effective in my experience. There are sveral alternatives though, and largely they work in the same way. Scotoil FS365 is used by a lot folks though it's a bit messy for some - but does the job.
Loads of bikers use ACF50 - also old fashioned WD40 and GT85 - all work in the same way and are great as all round cleaners as well.

I must admit I'd not known before I came on this forum that the wheels aren't protected. I thought they needed a lot of metal polish but as I'd only had the bike through the summer months I didn't think much of it. I'm going to investigate Owl's advice and see about getting them powder coated.

Thanks for all the advice guys really helpful, Just had our first fall of snow over the weekend so it won't be going anywhere. Like blastedbones idea, my son lives in Melbourne. Australia so maybe I should immigrate out there.

I looked out onto this first thing today.