Have been meaning to share this picture of my dead centerstand. It represents the harsh reality of riding in winter salt and slush. The wintry mix must have accumulated inside the tube and slowly corroded and weakened the metal until the torque present when I put the machine on the stand eventually snapped the stand in half.
Just something to keep in mind if you are going to ride in wet winter weather. You can’t keep a machine pristine. Chrome, paint and other details of beauty quickly fade. If you spend a lot of time rubbing your scooter or motorcycle with a soft cloth diaper don’t ride in the winter.
My two cents.
I’ve always been surprised that you rode in the winter. Winter road treatments are hard enough on cars and they have galvanized steel and other corrosion prevention treatments. Motorcycles and scooters have zero corrosion prevention treatments. My bikes get a bit of corrosion just sitting in the salty atmosphere in the garage due to the salt and crud that falls off my car.
When I sold my 1981 Honda Goldwing Interstate in 2008 it was because I was unable to maintain my balance.
The Goldwing had 310,000 kilometres on the clock, and was on it’s second frame and third standstand. I rode year round for a seven year period in the mid-1980’s as the bike and sidecar were my only form of transport when I worked in Toronto, a city known for its extensive use of salt on the roads; about 2-million tonnes a year at last count..
LPS No. 3 works well to inhibit corrosion but over time nothing stops it entirely. Even stainless steel corrodes if given enough time. Cleaning regularly and cleaning in the places where we never look on a bike or scooter can help maintain a vehicle for a long time. Generous use of LPS and good ol’ WD40 can help a lot.
For what it’s worth, I worked in the Corrosion / Weathering Dept. of a certain car manufacturer. We’d occasionally rent corrosion chamber time to a certain motorcycle company because in fact bikes do have to be protected against some corrosion issues.
That’s one thing about here, no chemicals on tgd road. They just spread sand or pea gravel and call it good. We spend so little time around freezing it isn’t worth the trouble to use chemicals on the roads. In Anchorage, things may be different and then there is the whole calcium carbonate thing on the heavily travelled gravel roads.
Steve:
We don’t use much salt here either, some but not much. Mostly sand . . . but then again it doesn’t snow much. We barely get two weeks a year and some years not any. Our problem is frost every morning as we hover near freezing
I also think a lot about aging and my first thought was that as your scooter ages, you are able to replace the parts. Not so much with us humans
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
Denver uses magnesium chloride on the roads when it snows…it’s not good for metal, not as bad as salt but not good either. I tend to hose down the rig after riding in snowy/mushy conditions….it helps. Of course, unlike Vespas, URALs are expected to have rust spots….
As I have gotten older, my philosophy is to thoroughly use those “things” that I enjoy. I see no sense in denying myself the pleasure of using something, just to keep it pretty.
Pretty for whom? My estate? My heirs?
Granted, some things are actual heirlooms, and should be kept as pristine as possible, but such items are rare.
Dale B: I keep waiting to find some catastrophic corrosion on the Vespa but so far the muffler and centerstand seem to have been all that has taken a hit. I should probably wash and wax it well before this winter….
Bryce Lee: Charlie6 keeps trying to persuade me to join the sidecar legions. So far I’ve resisted the peer pressure. Sounds like you are well versed in the problems of winter riding….
Doug: I’ll have to look for some LPS No. 3. I have LPS but not sure which it is along with a supply of WD40. Time to do some inspection and prep.
Maybe Piaggio has used a corrosion chamber because the Vespa body seems to be holding up well to the salt.