BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

Santa on his RT.

Awesome Dayglodavid!


I try to ask at least 1 stupid question a week here, so here goes.  Is this level of winterizing really necessary?  I'm not clear whether you are doing this because you live in a coastal area and get salt spray or if you do it regardless.  I would certainly wash my bike thoroughly, but not necessarily spray everything down with oil.  Maybe I need to re-think that?


I live inland about 60 miles from the coast so do not deal with any salt spray.  They also do not put salt on the roads in Portland, and it rarely snows.  My bike is garaged all winter, not a heated space but it's dry.


You don't really see cars with rust on them out here, and when you do it's usually because someone relocated from another part of the country.  I don't know why my bike would rust any more than my car.

I suspect that the majority of us do very little of the vast list in this thread. 
For me it's wash and polish when it's dirty.  Have it serviced as near as I can before the winter and don't take it out on roads that have been treated with salt.
Mine lives in an unheated but dry garage and it's never put away wet.
I've owned RTs since 1996 and have never had any corrosion issues.

I do suspect that Mbro had other things in mind when he started this thread, other than a "fight the rust" regime. Although regular cleaning can be a rewarding, enlightening (it's good practice to dealve deep behind all those plastic panels) and dare I say, therapeutic task there are lots of maintenance jobs which are not included in the BMW schedule that can be carried out by the owner. The benefit of doing these tasks includes a more thorough understanding of what lies hidden, how things come apart (better to find out in the comfort of one's own garage than at the side of the road) and a bike that rides better. As I have previously mentioned one of my own winter jobs is stripping, cleaning and greasing the gear change linkage. It's really surprising just what a difference this simple task makes to the gear change action. I started doing this years ago on our two K1200LT's and the improvement was vast. Yet I have never seen this job mentioned anywhere.
Getting back to the rust / corrosion regime the only rust problem I have had with a BMW is on our second LT where the centre stand required re-painting. Other than that our RT's have been rust free. We did have a problem with faulty paint on the final drive and footrest hangers and these where changed under warranty. I'm sure that no amount of plastering everything with the ACF stuff would have made any difference in this instance. But there again, we are all different so I do respect the decision of those who gain comfort from going down that particular road.

Good discussion.  I, too, am well inland a thousand miles, so I'm less concerned about ocean spray, however we do salt the roads here, and "winter is coming" (ha)!  I haven't heard much about ACF50, but thats something I might consider in a coastal environment for sure.  I'll definitely give the gear shift linkages a clean and grease, including the items in my list.  My friend also told me to check the manual maintenance list (I think I've got most of the points covered).  I dread parking my bike for a few months every year, but I suppose if you have to stop doing one thing, you should start doing something else.  Time to polish up my snowboard... 


One thing that I did notice, is my throttle isn't quite as smooth as it once was - by that, I mean the throttle tube under the grip...  Is there a way to lubricate that?  In torrential rain and with the grip heaters on, it seems to bind ever so slightly more.  Anybody ever lubricate the throttle tube?  Grease? 

Sullivj wrote:I'm happy to be convinced that XCP is better, so if you see any comparison tests, please let me know.

All Year Biker have a new website, http://allyearbiker.co.uk/, they are now offering two treatment options using different products, either ACF-50 or XCP.

XCP Rust Blocker, http://allyearbiker.co.uk/featured/test-feature-2/

Our Gee wrote: Dismantle and clean / lube gear change linkage. (Two ball joints and two shaft bearings to be greased).

Re: Winter Maintenance List

Gear change mechanism pic added for clarity. The 2 ball joints are at either end of item 2 in the pic.( Don't be tempted to loosen the screwed adjuster.) The small spring clips have to be carefully removed in order to dismantle the joint. This can be a bit fiddly the first time. The circular part has to be sprung away from it's locating groove then pulled down with long nose pliers to release the straight pin part from the joint.( It's the pin part which holds the joint together). The joint, (cup and ball) can the be parted, cleaned, packed with grease and re-assembled)
With the two shaft bearing bushes (Item 8) it's simply a matter of cleaning the shaft and bushes and re-greasing.
Hope this helps anyone who is going to attempt this task.

DaygloDavid wrote: All Year Biker have a new website, http://allyearbiker.co.uk/, they are now offering two treatment options using different products, either ACF-50 or XCP.

XCP Rust Blocker, http://allyearbiker.co.uk/featured/test-feature-2/

I wonder why they charge more for the XCP treatment, when the product so cheaper to purchase.


Does that imply it's harder to put it on / buff it off I wonder.

Sullivj wrote:I wonder why they charge more for the XCP treatment, when the product so cheaper to purchase.

That does puzzle me too.

For my purpose, I'll be getting an ACF-50 treatment.

Mine is booked in for mid November.  Used all year biker for a number of years and found them very good not only at protecting the bike  but also identifying issued.  A mate of mine with a GS  ended up with a new engine and transmission after AYB identified an issue with the paint finish on his 6mth old bike.

DaygloDavid wrote: That does puzzle me too.

For my purpose, I'll be getting an ACF-50 treatment.

Are you not tempted to do it yourself?


I bought 4 litres of ACF for what they charge, and that will do about 40 applications!


Also, doing it yourself, you're more likely to strip the bike down a bit, and get the ACF where it needs to be. I spray it on with a paraffin gun, attached to my compressor. I expect they do something similar.

Sullivj wrote:Are you not tempted to do it yourself?

No, I don't have the equipment for DIY.

Sullivj wrote:Also, doing it yourself, you're more likely to strip the bike down a bit, and get the ACF where it needs to be.

This is how the bike is stripped down prior to ACF-50 treatment by AYB.

Sullivj wrote:I spray it on with a paraffin gun, attached to my compressor. I expect they do something similar.

Yes, AYB apply the ACF-50 using a spray gun & a compressor.

Great pix David. Did you strip it down, or did they?


If they did it, and supply the ACF, £70 suddenly seems like good value.

Sullivj wrote:David. Did you strip it down, or did they?

I did it.

Wash it, dry it, treat polished alloy parts and non stainless fixtures.  IMO nothing else required.  20 years of ownership, no corrosion issues on 10 BMW's Saved £1400 on treatment costs.