Dr F
I was fitting my new rearsets this morning and came accross this nightmare waiting to happen. It's the rear master cylinder, unfortunatly it's one of those things thats in direct firing line from water off the back wheel. My bike is an '05 model, nearly two years old now, so you guys with newer bikes might not be as bad as this. It only takes a minute to check and requires no removal of any parts, (mine was stripped to fit the rearsets). Just pull back the rubber gaiter on the back of the master cylinder, use a small screwdriver if needs be but be careful not to nick the rubber.
If yours looks like this then you could do what I did, unless you have some other ideas to rectify it. All I did was to give it a good dowse with WD 40 and scrubb it with an old toothbrush, if you don't have an old toothbrush, use your Wife's/kids/girlfriends. Wash off the WD with degreaser (WD 40 will perish the seals) and then water. Dry it off with an airline or let it airdry, then apply a liberal amount of petroleum jelly (vaseline). Slide the rubber boot back on and don't forget to check it in future, after all, prevention is cheaper than the cure.
If yours looks like this then you could do what I did, unless you have some other ideas to rectify it. All I did was to give it a good dowse with WD 40 and scrubb it with an old toothbrush, if you don't have an old toothbrush, use your Wife's/kids/girlfriends. Wash off the WD with degreaser (WD 40 will perish the seals) and then water. Dry it off with an airline or let it airdry, then apply a liberal amount of petroleum jelly (vaseline). Slide the rubber boot back on and don't forget to check it in future, after all, prevention is cheaper than the cure.