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Author Topic: Corrosion  (Read 1477 times)
Redeye
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Posts: 11

Shameless Pusher for "Red Eye Tech Services"

Overland Park, Kansas


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« on: October 08, 2009, 10:50:01 AM »

<Begin rant>  The Valkyrie carburetors are joined together with 303 stainless steel hollow dowels, with a clearance of about .001".  A corrosion-novice would think that stainless steel would be a super way to do this.  It just so happens that in the presence of salty water, aluminum touching stainless steel becomes a battery.  It is the same process behind all the other types of batteries out there:  Dissimilar metals in contact plus an electrolyte.  A little bit of salt spray from a nearby ocean or a salted road makes these joints into a battery comparable to a NiCad.   The end result is corrosion so the carbs refuse to separate from eachother when you decide to work on them.  White aluminum oxide grit gets packed so tightly between the aluminum and the stainless pins that it is like glue.  Removing a hollow stainless dowel takes so much force, that at least one of the TWELVE dowels gets destroyed.  That is the part that pisses me off.  WTH, Keihin?  The hollow pins joining the Valkyrie carbs should have been made of a plastic like Delrin 150.  I've included a picture of the Galvanic series for metals in seawater. 
<End rant>
Rich


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Cheers,
Rich

1999 Valkyrie Interstate
Mods: ECT timing mod with clutch switch mod, drilled baffles, gel pads in the seats, taller windscreen, longer kickstand, Metzler ME880 front, Dunlop OEM back.
Sasha47VSSS
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Posts: 32


Malo les Bains, France


« Reply #1 on: October 08, 2009, 11:12:18 AM »

Very nice Little.fox!
Correct judgement, two dissimilar metals in presence of electrolyte (water) form an galvanic cell which cause corrosion.
My Valk was shipped from Japan to Europe. The shipping company came and took the bike from my place, latter has emptied the fuel tank and rinsed it with water. As a result, at arrival in France, impossible to start the engine. Local dealer dismantled the carbs and found all needles jammed by the corrosion!!
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fstsix
Guest
« Reply #2 on: October 08, 2009, 11:35:00 AM »

Good rant. I live on a island and have to keep my 9 year old bike in a garage on the mainland 18 miles away for your same reasons. BTW not to be nosy but your id says Kansas? Salt?.
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Farther
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Posts: 1680


Quimper Peninsula, WA


« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2009, 02:01:22 PM »

My guess is that Kansas uses salt on the roads in the winter time.
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Thanks,
~Farther
Ricky-D
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Posts: 5031


South Carolina midlands


« Reply #4 on: October 08, 2009, 06:39:04 PM »

I think the hollow pins you refer to are fuel manifolds for the carburetors.  there are "o" rings on the ends.

Could you not use a battery to reverse the reaction and drive the ions back to the base metal?

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2000_Valkyrie_Interstate
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