Engine Paint and Corrosion Issues

[CarlS]

A couple of riders on the the Tiger 800 forum have reported corrosion on engine covers and other parts. Both of the riders live in GB and many others in GB report they do not have this problem. I have no corrosion on my XC.











This is the best explanation that I read in the thread:

Steel is easier to paint than aluminium, eg the filter housing. Aluminium as in the engine cases is a different proposition altogether, because any micro porosity starts corrosion which travels under the paint and lifts it since the products of corrosion are much more bulky than the ally they replace. The problem is particularly bad where there is a line between paint and unpainted ally as at the edge of castings or machined bolt holes. BMW bikes have exactly the same issues you have described on your bike.

I don't know where the 800 is made but if it is here in the UK then the issue is made worse by EU rules requiring water based paint to be used

Cast aluminium will always require a chemical treatment of some guise, firstly to remove the graphite that occurs on the surface and to create a reasonable key for the external coating to adhere to. the best any dealer or painter is going to be able to do is create that required key using an abrasive source (sandpaper or localised sandblast of some description) and degrease the area using a relatively aggressive solvent the results of which could be acceptable done right.

 

[The Seeker]

That rather sucks!

My 1996 Trophy motor is still holding it's paint just fine....for whatever that's worth.

 

[shanered6]

my tiger 900 had no engine paint left on the sump or on the front of the engine , ive re done them and looks good !
from the pic's thats alloy corrosion under the pain ! theres damp benn there before painting.
the other thing in uk is we love salting the roads which plays havoc with paint if you dont wash your bike after every trip.

 

[DaveM]

That is actually bad considering this bike is a very new model so they have not been on the road that long and you should not see this amount of it happening so early in it's life span

 

[shanered6]

That is actually bad considering this bike is a very new model so they have not been on the road that long and you should not see this amount of it happening so early in it's life span[/QUOT

you have the same problem with landrovers ! ive seen landrovers less than 6 months old with corrosion worse than that .
the problem is that most alloy is recycled these days and is just not as good quality, there's a lot of cemicals used in the process and you tend to get more pourus alloy a catching area for damp or particals .

 

[DaveM]

Then I would sooner have it unpainted rather than have this happening to my new bike

 

[CarlS]

We need to keep this in perspective. This is represents two reported cases. No one else on the forum reports this and several have said they do not have this corrosion. The two dealerships are replacing the engine covers under warranty.

I agree with Shane. I think it is a case of poor prep and/or poor application of the paint. Perhaps that particular batch of alloy was not up to par.

 

[DaveM]

The thing is the bad points always get remembered and passed around and the next thing you know all Tigers do this

 

[CarlS]

Such as all Triumphs leak oil?

 

[keystiger]

My '05 is paint corrosion free, zero issues. As Carl said, go to any brand/model specific site and you will think whatever the vehicle it is a piece of crap......most folks only post the bad, and log in to only ask questions when having a problem so the forums can appear rather negative sounding overall.

My 2000 Speed 3 had no issues like in the pics. However the 98 Sprint did, but it also had over 90,000 miles on the engine and resided most its life in South FLorida---land of SALTY humid air--- before the rebuild.....so its allowed to show some "wear" IMHO.

 

[shanered6]

dave you are right !! chinese whispers have ruined the reputasions of many a good bike ,for no other reason than one or two badly looked after bikes .
point in kind .......i have owned 2 tl1000s's i had no problem with the suspention on ether of them, and i pushed both hard.... very hard !!!!
it doesn't matter if its a rollsroyce or a mini ,...you will get a manufacturing fault now and then that slips the QC .
i see no need to right a model off for it ..