Advice on the bonneville salt flats

Pop-Pop

Pop-Pop

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68
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Pagosa Springs Colorado
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1996 ST 1100
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9037
Any advice will b appreciated. Id like to camp directly on the flats but have read differing opinions on that being allowed. Any neat things to see or where to eat would be helpful. Should b leaving thursday. Are weekends a bummer there?
Ride safe!
 
I used to go to Bonneville Speed week many years ago as I made land speed record attempts. I actually got a speed record in the 250cc production class that I held for less than a day.

Anyway to your point. If you value your bike and any metal gear - stay off the salt flats. The salt at Bonneville is highly corrosive and will destroy everything. I live near the ocean and I can tell you that the salt at Bonneville is far more corrosive than the salt conditions near the coast where I live.

We used to coat our bikes and gear with a product called LPS to prevent corrosion and even this did little to stop it. The salt dust particles, even in the wind and picked up by your tires gets into everything. One of my bikes I rode on the salt I washed after and in three weeks the engine had locked up from ingesting salt and the levers and brake pedals were frozen. I had even run the engine and lubricated the cylinders after and it was not enough. People's cars who drove on the salt were equally affected with rusted door hinges and door handles as well as suspension parts etc. being corroded extensively. Body panels rusted through in months. This is even after a thorough cleaning after.

My recommendation to you is to stay away from the salt flats. I am not kidding.

Dan
 
bdalameda said:
I used to go to Bonneville Speed week many years ago as I made land speed record attempts. I actually got a speed record in the 250cc production class that I held for less than a day.

Anyway to your point. If you value your bike and any metal gear - stay off the salt flats. The salt at Bonneville is highly corrosive and will destroy everything. I live near the ocean and I can tell you that the salt at Bonneville is far more corrosive than the salt conditions near the coast where I live.

We used to coat our bikes and gear with a product called LPS to prevent corrosion and even this did little to stop it. The salt dust particles, even in the wind and picked up by your tires gets into everything. One of my bikes I rode on the salt I washed after and in three weeks the engine had locked up from ingesting salt and the levers and brake pedals were frozen. I had even run the engine and lubricated the cylinders after and it was not enough. People's cars who drove on the salt were equally affected with rusted door hinges and door handles as well as suspension parts etc. being corroded extensively. Body panels rusted through in months. This is even after a thorough cleaning after.

My recommendation to you is to stay away from the salt flats. I am not kidding.

Dan
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Thank you.
 
If you want a souvenir of your visit there, you could slowly and carefully ride your bike onto the salt, just off the side of the paved road leading to the salt flats and take a picture of it. The road and access may have changed since I did that in 1983, but my bike of the day did not suffer any salt damage in the 7 years that I had it. We weren't there long though and it wasn't windy. Just long enough to get the shot and left.

Scan 1.jpeg
 
Bush said:
If you want a souvenir of your visit there, you could slowly and carefully ride your bike onto the salt, just off the side of the paved road leading to the salt flats and take a picture of it. The road and access may have changed since I did that in 1983, but my bike of the day did not suffer any salt damage in the 7 years after that I had it. We weren't there long though and it wasn't windy. Just long enough to get the shot and left.

View attachment 299190
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The old windjammer fairing! Many thanks!
 
Pop-Pop said:
The old windjammer fairing! Many thanks!
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Yeah, the Windjammer was the best thing since sliced bread in those days! I had the lowers too, but had left them off for this trip, to allow better engine cooling in the hot climate.
 
Bush said:
Yeah, the Windjammer was the best thing since sliced bread in those days! I had the lowers too, but had left them off for this trip, to allow better engine cooling in the hot climate.
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I saw my first bmw 750 at 16 yrs old in springerville az, with the handpainted white pinstripe and the jammer. I was hitch hiking the country. I fell in love immediately, and that led me to riding later. A piece of bike history.
 
Great salt lake is drying up. One environmental problem is the dust that is blown by the prevailing winds eastward toward Salt Lake City. The dust contains arsenic and other not so nice elements and salts. If the salt flats are dry and the wind is raising dust, you might consider holding your breath as you drive by. (Not really a facetious comment). This is a well known issue out there and is of major concern. Water usage continues to decrease the size of the lake and increase the area of toxic salt to the winds.
bdalameda said:
My recommendation to you is to stay away from the salt flats. I am not kidding. Dan
Click to expand...
 
Man, the times are a changin'! When I was in Utah that year, the biggest concern I saw was the cloud of black dust blowing eastward and across the Interstate I was on that day, coming off a very long coal train. I held my breath as much as I could then too. Obviously that was in the days before they sprayed the coal surface in the cars with the product now used to control that. Sounds like folks living in that area have gone from bad to worse!
 
Took a rent car on the Salt Flats one time. Explorer limited at 110. Took it back and they busted me $800 to clean the car. Had an empty water bottle so got some salt for a Souvenir. Sitting on my computer desk as I type. "Sir you are not to take the car off road. It's in your contract". Yeah, like who reads the contract? Company I worked for never said a word.
There is really nothing there except a sign and the salt.
 
Bush said:
Man, the times are a changin'! When I was in Utah that year, the biggest concern I saw was the cloud of black dust blowing eastward and across the Interstate I was on that day, coming off a very long coal train. I held my breath as much as I could then too. Obviously that was in the days before they sprayed the coal surface in the cars with the product now used to control that. Sounds like folks living in that area have gone from bad to worse!
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I'd think the coal dust was a limited exposure since the train was moving and any one person's exposure would be of comparatively short duration. The winds however, can blow for hours, and some of the components of the salt dust are seriously dangerous. This is of significant concern out there, as I said, and there is the potential for a major problem should more of the lake disappear. A precedent would be the drying up of the Salton Sea in California, and the alkali dust that blew into nearby towns causing health issues traced to the dust.
 
Hmm, I did a record run at Bonneville. Afterwards I gave it a double session car wash and rode it back to California. It never got any corrosion during the next 3 years I had it. Must have been that YamaLube.;)
 
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