Hi All 

The weather is crap in Vic , I have been riding in the rain , is it best to wash the bike before I park it at night to avoid corrosion ? 

Thanks In advance 

AIHD48 ,, Go straight out and wash ,, RIGHT NOW ,, ... Otherwise you will get up in the morning, have a look at your pride and joy, and all you will see are two rubber tyres, held up by bits and pieces of rusted metal !!!!!

Now we have the humour out of the way , on a serious note ,,,, I could say it would'nt make any difference what so ever, but that would not be technically correct , (with any metal product).... Look at it this way,, its your pride and joy , you paid a lot of money for her.. If your not going to ride her for a few days , and she has a lot of road grime and shit as well ,yes give her a tub up,, she, and you will be happy ...
I make a habit of every week or two, (when she is clean), of spraying wd40 on a rag a giving all the metal parts ,(not paint work), a good wipe over.. I've had a few bikes , and that works for me in keeping , all/most, of the rust/ corrosion at bay .... In between you can use polishes etc to to bling her up ....

Thanks Guys , Markwoumla your a funny one cracked up reading your first few lines .

Kiwidave , I live near the coast prob 2kms away , bike is always garaged .

Ill just keep it clean and give it a wash when i get back.

People say harleys rust up easily so was just curious , wife needed the car today so I had to take the bike , usually don't ride in the rain , and I will never sell the bike to buy a car , priorities, i got them right , lol

I ride in the rain on mine because I use it for touring, the rain can throw mud and gunk up from the road onto the under parts of the bike where it's hard to get off and putting the bike away wet can leave (washable) spots on the paint and chrome.

Just give it a clean and it'll be fine in my experience.

LOL Markwoumla !
I dont use it on the bike but will consider it now cus I like the Smell Of The Shit to !

I used to use WD40 on my Jap bike engine and exhaust and it did a great job, and with enough elbow grease it didn't attract dirt. Mr Sheen was handy on the plastics too. Having a few of these bike for circa seven years ridden in rain/hail/shine they were looking good for the effort.

But now with the HD I'm happy to use Maguire's and HD branded stuff. Gotta work on the black engine bit more around the cooling fins etc though -- what do people use on that? I'm tempted to give the WD40 a go but the smell makes me think something needs to be fixed!

Since the 70's Ive sprayed the shit out of my bikes with WD-40. I let them cool down a little then just spray it on particularly around the switches etc. One of my bikes is now 20 years old and still looks immaculate.

For the bare Alloy areas HD have a great product that you just wipe on the alloy and it effectively seals it from the elements for several months. Its about $8 for a sheet which is a ripoff but its a good product.