Advice needed: Evading an ant attack on my motorcycle

I sprayed this silicon spray to keep the bike shiny, now there are ants attacking this fork nut like it’s the best candy in town.

BHPian webjunk recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hi Guys, I have this strange issue with my new bike. 2 days back I sprayed this silicon spray to keep the bike shiny.

Now there are ants attacking this fork nut like it’s the best candy in town. Normally I keep my bike shrouded with a cloth to avoid the neighbour’s cat attacking my seat. (See what it did to my scooter BTW)

Today when I tried to take out the bike I noticed this colony of ants only at the base of handlebar and fork nut. And a few on the front of the tank. It seems like its attracted to the soft white lint like substance formed there (not sure if its fungus, but why would fungus form around the grease? ) Also its not the lint from that white turkey towel. It doesn’t shed lint.

When I hold that white stuff it’s like fine dust that you may see behind your TV stand or on top shelf etc when you have not cleaned it for weeks. When I try to blow it away it just disappears. It had also formed lightly around my tank cap.

Any idea what this could be and how to solve it. (No I haven’t spilled any sugary stuff on my bike and my kids are all grown up) And no dead animals, insects were found anywhere near it. Never seen anything like this in my 40 years of riding/driving.

Here’s what GTO had to say on the matter:

In case it helps, here is some advice on solving ant attacks in cars. Boric acid + sugar balls proved effective when they attacked my car. Never seen the little rascals again since.

Here’s what BHPian VijayAnand1 had to say on the matter:

This happens sometimes. The culprit perhaps could be the cloth cover that you’ve been covering the bike and scooter with. A soiled cloth or a peculiar smelling cloth does attract ants, and once those ants have sprayed their romones along the way, they march all the way to their territory.

Start off with washing the bike/scooter with surfactant based detergent thoroughly and a thorough air dry. Secondly, use concentrated phenyl like Lizol to clean the parking area of the bike, let it dry and then use a brand new piece of clothing or a dedicated cover.

Lastly, mark the perimeter of the vehicles with Laxman Rekha Insecticide chalk for a few days and see if the ants dabble again. Once the ants find it hard to reach, they usually are deterred, unless crumbs and leftovers make the march an adamant one.

Shouldn’t be worry, it does a few days of cold war, but keep at it, it will work. BTW, Silicone spray in no way attracts ant.

Good luck, keep us posted.

Cheers!

VJ

Here’s what BHPian speed79 had to say on the matter:

First I thought that it I white mold on bike. But since you had used silicon spray 2 days back, it should not be mold. The spray is probably not silicon spray, but is some organic substance marketed as silicon spray, and it could be ant food. Ants might have chipped it away from the bike.

And what you have seen behind your TV stand, is certainly white mold, and you need to take care of it more than the ants. Bangalore weather is conducive to quick spread of mold. I know it because I have been struggling to contain the mold in my house.

Any anti-cockroach spray at base of bike should help keep the ants away. Boric acid did not help me with these weaver ants in my garden.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

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