Throttle cables end curves rusting

[bosnjo]

Hi blokes
when I got my 2nd hand Glee, those 2 shiny metal curves (elbows) on the end of throttle cables, by throttle grip assembly, were in pretty poor shape. I could see some rust on them as well as on little bracket holding those curves tight to the throttle assembly. As I don't know the history of my bike, I polished them and left them alone to see if the rust comes back. My bike sleeps in garage and has been driven on the rain only once (since I got it). Now, 2 months past, the curves and the bracket look terrible again.
Is this normal? As I mentioned, I don't know the history of this bike, but year and half old with 9.000 km's on the clock only and this part looks like on 20 years old motorcycle?
I have to do something with it. I was thinking of changing throttle cables but then, should I do that already?
The other option is to disassemble the ends, paint the bracket with black hamerite and cover the curves with black heat shrink tubing.
I don't know if my bike was abused by previous owner, but, what's your experience on that particular part? Should it rust so fast in the country without salt on the road, without snow and almost without rain?
Thanks

[2112]

Ummm, Suzuki build quality... My 2013 glee with 887 miles has some early signs of corrosion in a few places. Most of the bits just want a touch up, but you can see where Suzuki have cut corners to keep the price down.

[Gassoon]

that's weird! My 5 year old wee hasn't a speck of rust on those tubes, and it seems lacquered to protect it: as good as new. Maybe the previous owner tried to clean them with a steel pad or something
Or - Suzuki quality control let them past.

The black shrink-tube is a good idea though though I'd probably just rub them smooth with wet and dry paper, dry thoroughly and mask everything around (make a big paper cone) and spray the buggers
black!

[bosnjo]

Well, to paint them properly, I'd have to remove them from the bike, otherwise masking would take all day. Heat shrink tube is quick and leave rubber look finish. I remember doing mirrors stems on my previous bike that were rusty, covered them with heat shrink black tube and the result was stunning.

[Gassoon]

Well, to paint them properly, I'd have to remove them from the bike

True  


I have low standards!

[Locky]

Same as Gassoon mines a 2011 Wee and the tubes are still in nice condition . Id rub the rust off with wire wool or something then a coat of ACF then the heat shrink tube ..

[Jacko]

I'd see how much a new set would cost from your local dealer first.

I've ridden my Glee in the wet, I did the WNR on it last year, rained all day and night. Mine are still like new.

[Mr Nick]

I think there's a consistency issue as mine were corroded despite being soaked in ACF: same as the cooling system T piece above the water pump. Must be the water in the North....

And Portugal obviously.

[willbo]

Aha.! Something I've sorted out myself :-) and I added pics too somewhere on the forums. Basically, I undone my throttle cables removed the throttle housing and took the ends off.

I then used super fine wet and dry then wire wool to remove all rust and blemish off. Afterwoods I used a polish to remove any slight scratches and polished to a shine. Reattatched the cables to the throttle housing and Hello presto.

I only removed the ends because it made it easy to get the wire wool around them and repolish

[willbo]

viewtopic.php?f=58&t=12233&p=174614&hilit=throttle+cables#p174614


On mobile so not sure if link works

[bosnjo]

Same as Gassoon mines a 2011 Wee and the tubes are still in nice condition . Id rub the rust off with wire wool or something then a coat of ACF then the heat shrink tube ..

Yes, before putting heat shrink tube I'll use rust remover, then primer.

[bosnjo]

http://www.V-Strom.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=12233&p=174614&hilit=throttle+cables#p174614


On mobile so not sure if link works

I'm going to remove them as well, but mines have no chrome anymore, just some yellowish metal bellow the chrome, and that little bracket that you screw-in to hold them both to assembly is completely covered with rust.

[willbo]

Ah. No chrome at all? Replace or paint then maybe. As for the bracket, mine was totally covered too. A little wet and dry and wire wool good as new

[greywolf]

I believe those things are stainless steel rather than chrome plated carbon steel, a poor name as they do surface oxidize. Harder grades are more prone to surface rust but it is cosmetic only. Only the surface discolors. If that is the case, do not use steel wool to clean. Tiny bits break off and embed, changing the chemistry of the alloy and promoting rust.

[willbo]

Nothing broke off mine, no scratches and no discolour either.  Still shiny now with polish on. Maybe I was lucky I don't know, but worked a treat for me

[bosnjo]

OK, so, what you are saying is that there is still some hope for elbows, being stainless. If they realy are stainless, then it's easy, I'll remove them, sand them down with 2000 sand paper and then polish them with excellent metal polish I have. The bracket, I'll cut it to make room to remove it from cable, sand it down, rust remover, primer, black satin spray, back on to the cable.
If rust comes back to elbows, then I'll do all over again and cover the elbows with heat shrink tube.

[greywolf]

Right. Let us know what you find. It would be nice to establish what the material is. Scotch Brite pads are another alternative to steel wool. I just prefer something like that whenever there is a possibility the material involved may be SS.

[bosnjo]

I'm sure elbows will look nice after polishing, so I'll know the final result only in week or two. If it holds down nicely, then it's stainless. If it starts rusting in few days then it's not stainless.

[greywolf]

They have a strong magnetic attraction, which would make sense since they oxidize. If they are plated, the corrosion will get under and lift the plating. If you don't see plating lifting, they are high strength stainless steel and steel wool will promote rust on them.

[bosnjo]

OK, just polished them. I didn't use steel wool, I never do arround my car or bike. Took one hour of wet sanding, first with 800 paper and then 1200. I noticed that pipes have some kind of coating that was in bad shape in some places, falling off, and with white dots under it. Sanding over it removed completely all of the dots and cracks and left nice clean metal. Then, on areas that were OK, sand paper simply couldn't brake through the coating. Maybe if I had the cables off the bike completely and brought back to my house, then I'd go with various grades of sand paper until only clean metal was exposed.
But anyway, after one hour of sanding I took half an hour of polishing the metal and now it looks just like it came back from chrome plating.
I'll see in coming days what's going to happen in areas where I removed the coating and polished bare metal.
The bracket, I removed completely. It's simple steel and completely rusted. That's the bit I'm going to take care of right now on my balcony.
Then, there is little doubt I have:
I tried to remove the cables from the throttle assembly and I simply couldn't manage. I opened assembly and tried at least return cable as twisting the throttle would remove tension from it, but it was still too tight to do anything. Do I have to disconnect cables on throttle body first? If not, what was I doing wrong? Arrgghhh, being car mechanic doesn't always help on motorcycle...
Willbo, how exactly you removed them on yours? I've seen the photo you posted on other thread.

Now, off to take care of little bracket...