ACF50 - any good?

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Re: ACF50 - any good?

Post by daveuprite »

Cornishman wrote: Thu Sep 30, 2021 10:18 pm Bear in mind this bike will be plastered in mud and dust once every fortnight, then karchered, scrubbed with Muck-off, washed again and dried every ride. Is ACF50 any use with this regime? Will it actually help?

Presumably as you will only be using it once a fortnight you will be bringing it into the house near the woodburner so it’s comfortable over the winter. While it’s there I’m sure Tracie will keep it dusted and polished
David, I'm gonna give you Tracie's number so you can discuss it with her... :lol:
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Re: ACF50 - any good?

Post by daveuprite »

mark vb wrote: Thu Sep 30, 2021 9:45 pm
In my experience WD performed as well as ACF, but I suspect it wouldn't have unless I 'topped up' the WD every so often.
Mmm, I've been using good old WD for years. After every wash and dry (I use a patio leaf blower thing) I chuck lots of WD on all moving parts, threads, bearing seal areas, springs etc.

Just not sure if ACF50 would benefit me if I am giving the bike such an intensive wash after every outing. Sounds like it's better suited to road bikes.
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Re: ACF50 - any good?

Post by Paul_C »

I've used it pretty much since it became available. Generally give the bikes a thorough clean in October, apply the ACF50 with a brush and cloth. Then just a moderate clean through the winter. Worked well so far, including when I was commuting. I've tried the XCP Rust Blocker but it seems way too sticky and road muck just sticks to it.
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Re: ACF50 - any good?

Post by mark vb »

daveuprite wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 9:49 am
mark vb wrote: Thu Sep 30, 2021 9:45 pm
In my experience WD performed as well as ACF, but I suspect it wouldn't have unless I 'topped up' the WD every so often.
Mmm, I've been using good old WD for years. After every wash and dry (I use a patio leaf blower thing) I chuck lots of WD on all moving parts, threads, bearing seal areas, springs etc.

Just not sure if ACF50 would benefit me if I am giving the bike such an intensive wash after every outing. Sounds like it's better suited to road bikes.
I'd say ACF will work, but giving the bike a low-pressure hose down after use. A high pressure blast may well adversely affect the integrity of the ACF. Maybe better to go for the WD option, simply spraying the bike with WD again after each pressure wash, as you say is already the case.
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Re: ACF50 - any good?

Post by Helicoptermanr22 »

I founnd acf was more of a permanent solution on never to been seen again places.
, if like me you wash bike and mint it regularly then i believe there are better products and easier to work with.
Quicksilver corrosion guard for the out the way places
And Wurth HHS 2000 for the bits that get a regular beating . Both come off with a pressure wash and Muc off, 50% diluted.
Lads, be careful with WD40 as can damage wiring looms and small rubber components , turns them into a black mush.
A technically safer and better product than WD is Wurth ultra 2040 and gets
Much nicer coverage.
There was a you tube video of a chap testing stuff and sprayed WD on a balloon and it melted that part.
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Re: ACF50 - any good?

Post by daveuprite »

Helicoptermanr22 wrote: Sat Oct 02, 2021 7:10 am I founnd acf was more of a permanent solution on never to been seen again places.
, if like me you wash bike and mint it regularly then i believe there are better products and easier to work with.
Quicksilver corrosion guard for the out the way places
And Wurth HHS 2000 for the bits that get a regular beating . Both come off with a pressure wash and Muc off, 50% diluted.
Lads, be careful with WD40 as can damage wiring looms and small rubber components , turns them into a black mush.
A technically safer and better product than WD is Wurth ultra 2040 and gets
Much nicer coverage.
There was a you tube video of a chap testing stuff and sprayed WD on a balloon and it melted that part.
Yeah, I had noticed that about WD40. I'll take a look at the Wurth 2040 - thanks Heli-man.

Sounds like it could also act as a kind of dialectic grease, which would be useful. I smother most of my exposed electrics in dia-grease every year because of all the streams and puddles I like to play about in.
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Re: ACF50 - any good?

Post by mark vb »

Ah yes, the WD40 perished rubber issue! This was debated on the XJROC site years ago. It seemed to revolve around hearsay and rumour. I set up a controlled experiment dousing various rubber components in it for varying lengths of time (I sadly had nothing better to do at the time!), and none perished or turned into mush. I believe it's the solvent in any spray which is the potential contaminant, unless the product itself is proven as such. WD is a very thin oil with solvent added to provide a good, even spray. I find the solvent evaporates fairly quickly thus leaving the oil doing its job. In many years of using WD quite extensively, I've not experienced it adversely affecting rubber to any discernable extent. I could be wrong, but would need clear proof from a trusted/qualified source to demonstrate it does under known conditions.
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Re: ACF50 - any good?

Post by Helicoptermanr22 »

Hmm hear say and rumour, maybe for some, i rarely use the stuff for what I've seen it do especially to the rubber seals inside wiring loom plugs and tbh there are better spray penetrants also, WD is a generic product but not great apart from very light applications.

I mentioned Wurth HHS 2000 spray grease/oil, its brilliant for chains and far superior than the best spray chain lube i previously used. Bizarre !


I will mention what i historically found with WD

Loom ends where they are taped using black sticky tape. After a year it will break down the adhesive in the tape and become sticky and useless.
2 years ago i rebuilt a powerhead on a honda 150 outboard four stroke.
When stripping it down i found all the connections almost jammed together. Upon closer inspection the rubber / nylon seals had broken down and de graded.
He swore blind that he had looked after it greasing all the connections. The connections he had done were fine however he admitted using WD all over on the rest which were severely damaged as were the loom ends were all sticky and unwrapped. It was like a solvent or such like had attacked the rubber.

Same with a Yamaha 90 outboard with the OIl injection pipes. They were loose and degraded and the owner on that one had admitted the same.

Just a couple of recent examples and it was either BMW or Yamaha stated in the handbook not so long ago said do not used over certain components, sorry i cant remember which one it was.
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Re: ACF50 - any good?

Post by mark vb »

Yes, I do agree WD40 makes electrical tape, such as found on wiring looms, go sticky and useless as it effectively undoes itself. It's happened to me in the past. I suspect it's a reaction between the WD and the tape adhesive, which 'melts' after a while rather than a reaction between the WD and the tape itself, which I guess is some form of pvc or similar.
I suspect it's possible that WD40 may attack certain types of rubber or synthetics, but what I was saying was that, so far, in my use over many years it hasn't... and that's with regular spraying of year-round use bikes. However, I use WD to protect and stop/slow down corrosion to the metal parts of a bike, and don't target rubber seals etc. albeit some will get clobbered by a bit overspray..... but so far, no failures (aside from a few sticky loom ends 🙂)
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Re: ACF50 - any good?

Post by Brenhden »

Thanks for reminding me its nearly ACF50 time.
And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.

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