Aluminium Corrosion

[agedbikeman]

Are all Spyders like this or have I got the Friday afternoon one, on my 2014 RT, most of the aluminium parts are corroded to such an extent, I can peel the bubbling paint off with my fingers revealing a white dusty deposit under the paint, on the rear wheel hub, all the foot rests, footrest plates, rear belt gear, rear wheel adjusters, exhaust tip, virtually every aluminium part that is coloured silver.
This less than 5 year old garaged bike looks like it's 20 years old and been left out in the open all its life.
What happened to Anodised Aluminium, anodising must be cheap as all the alu I buy at the local DIY shop for peanuts is anodised and i've never known it to come off or corrode.
Anyone else had this problem?
This is my first Spyder and will definately be my last.


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[Lew L]

Hello aged,

My 2014 has ZERO corrosion and looks nothing like you pix.

Lew L-------- Reno Nv. ( where they do brine the roads.???? )

[Chupaca]

As many of those parts are clear coated to keep the shine they are subject to where you ryde and the care taken. Many can get a few scratches where the whole corrosion will start and spread. If left to long your only solution is to blast them clean and re coat or maintain them by polishing them often. Rocky roads and high speed ryding on dusty roads can blast away the coating salty roads in the snowy areas can eat at them....and then again you may have gotten a poorly coated lot...:dontknow:

[agedbikeman]

I ride everywhere all year round except where there's snow, unless I'm caught out in it.
I thought bikes like this were made to be used, not parked in a garage and ogled at, most certainly not "OOH it's raining, I won't ride it incase it gets wet.

5 years ago I refurbed the salted wheels on my 650 Suzuki, today and thousands of miles later, they're just as good as the day I did them with a wheelpaint aerosol for about 8euros, where did BRP get their paint from, a childrens paint box? I suppose they've never heard of stove enamel or stove laquer, which would never have come off, flaked or chipped.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Hello aged,

My 2014 has ZERO corrosion and looks nothing like you pix.

Lew L-------- Reno Nv. ( where they do brine the roads.???? )

:agree:......….. this might be occurring because of where you live ….ie. the environment ……. Mike :ohyea:

[Rob Rodriguez]

Looks like "salt" related corrosion to me. Salt from roads or ocean air.

[Easy Rider]

Just because you don't "see" any moisture or other contaminants on it does not necessarily mean that they are not THERE.

How often do you wash and dry it.......or put some polish on it ??

A really LOT of motorcycles end up looking like that after a few years if they are not given TLC all the time.

[johnsimion]

Your description of the care you take with your machines, the widespread nature of the problem, the fact you found the corrosion **under** the paint suggests that this was a manufacturing defect. With proper factory preparation, even salt should not be able to penetrate through to the paint to metal, and certainly not so extensively. If it was a maintenance issue as some have suggested, you might see corrosion spreading from some scratches, for example, but not just about every square inch on every piece of aluminum as you described. That being said, however, I don't think this is a common defect by any means. Certainly I've never heard anyone describing a similar widespread problem. Maybe some of our people who live in humid, salty areas could comment on their experience? Otherwise, I suggest you take this to a dealer and have them document what happened and write up a report, then contact BRP with a complaint about their quality control and see if they can do anything for you. Yes, I know you are out of warranty but so what, they may be willing to help you as a matter of goodwill since otherwise you're going to be spreading a lot of "badwill" about them. It costs nothing to try. Good luck!

[ARtraveler]

All of the advice above seems to be good. i have a 2014 and and 2011...and neither have experienced what you describe and show. We also live by salt water...so are exposed to that type of corrosion for many seasons now.

It is sounding more like a bad finish job. Maybe you can get BRP to do something about it. Please keep us informed. :thumbup:

[PMK]

Our left side footboard on our 2014 RTS was replaced under warranty due to corrosion. Opposite was fine. As for the axle adjusters, those I coated in grease.

Myself, I know poor prep will induce corrosion under paint or powdercoat. Low quality powdercoat process is not the best either. For our footboard, it was obvious the paint or powdercoat did not fully cover the bare metal and corrosion happened.

Realize also, most fasteners on the Spyder are stainless. Stainless against aluminum, the aluminum loses every time.

[PMK]

Wanted to add, get the footboards properly powdercoated or epoxy primed and painted. You must though, ensurethe shop properly bead blast the corrosion away, then ideally conversion coats the aluminum with Alodine or similar.

As for the axle blocks, blast them, and grease them. Those are a bad design anyway.

[DGoebel]

agedbikeman, Something unique to yours either in production or since has caused that widespread corrosion. My older spyder looks in better shape. Yours looks as if it's been dipped in a salt bath or something.