Rusty water pours out of bars

[XLsior]

Drill a number oh holes all the way along the handle bar and carry a tin whistle mouth piece...

then anytime after the bike gets wet install the mouth piece and play a little tune on the handle bars...

this will blow out any remaining water and entertain yourself and any onlookers.

[zero_dgz]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

You could remove the bars and plug one end off, pour in some rust converter, them plug the other end and flip the handle bar a few time to make sure inside is coated. Then pour out the excess.

I'll leave this here for any Waldos passing by in the future who might read it... That rust converter stuff (it's phosphoric acid, usually) does not prevent new rust. I have used it extensively in my line of work. It does convert red ferric oxide (Fe2O3) into iron phosphate, but it doesn't do anything to actually protect the surface from new rust from forming. Application of rust converter is only the first step. You still need to top coat the metal with some manner of protective paint, enamel, or powdercoating afterwards. As we've discussed already, there are a myriad of clever and/or gimcrack ways one could accomplish this.



Also, one of the byproducts of its chemical reaction that converts the rust is water. Which then creates more rust, if the surface is not dried and is left untreated.


So tl;dr: Just applying that stuff to a rusty area is not a complete fire-and-forget solution.

[Megadan]

Boiled linseed oil on the other hand is a great way to rustproof the inside of tube steel. It dries and leaves behind a film that acts as an oxygen barrier. It was used for a long time to treat the insides of aircraft trellis frames.

Otherwise, being 100% sealed or good draining and ventilation is the most important factor. Anything in-between and it can create issues.