How do you clean your bike?

[vanmajor]

was just doing some cleaning of all the gear & bike from the weekend just been and was wondering how everyone else cleans their bike and what maintenence follows?


here's how i do it...

1. i will clean the worst of the mud / shit off and then coat the bikd in CT18 and let it work at the dirt and then rinse off with a waterblaster after about 10 minutes. i do the same with armour, neckbrace, boots & helmet..

2. will then dry it off, lube the chain with castrol lube and the moving parts with WD40 and then coat in silicone, following that i will clean the airfilter and drain the bowl if i think there's gonna be shit in there.

3. will give her and oil change after about 6 hours of use. varying on the type of riding i do.

[toebug]

I do pretty much the same as you and wipe the silicone in with a rag and its worked a treat for years!

[Reckless]

Pretty much exactly the same! But I never use the waterblaster.
Just the hose, the blaster is to hard on the seals and bearings. I use Dynamo in a 5 litre weed sprayer its good enough without waterblasting. The weed sprayer makes it really simple, lasts about 4 washes washing two bikes, boots, armor and gear.

Oil changes on the EXC book says every 20 hours but mine have never gone over 12-15 hours.

Oh and I always, take the filter out, put the filter bung in and clean the airbox as well.

[flyingcr250]

Pretty much exactly the same! But I never use the waterblaster.
Just the hose, the blaster is to hard on the seals and bearings. I use Dynamo in a 5 litre weed sprayer its good enough without waterblasting. The weed sprayer makes it really simple, lasts about 4 washes washing two bikes, boots, armor and gear.

Oil changes on the EXC book says every 20 hours but mine have never gone over 12-15 hours.

Oh and I always, take the filter out, put the filter bung in and clean the airbox as well.

i use the water blaster, i pull my bike down every 3 months, so im not worried about bearings etc. i put a bit of dynamo in the detergent attachment for the water blaster and it sorta foams it on, then i let it drip dry and spray crc over the whole bike except for the seat and hand controlls, once the crc evaporates your left with an oily film. which is awesome for repelling dirt etc...im not a huge fan of silicone.

[avgas]

You mean that dirt and grime comes off??????!!!!

[little.whittle]

When cleanning bike I blast it then get a soft car brush and car wash stuff in water (smells like berry's haha) and lye the bike down on one side then the other so can get it all... then wash off..... then wipe it dry and use proper silicone liquid and get a brush and wipe over plastics and like swing arm etc and the wheels... then the WD 40 on moving parts and chain then chain lube and all shiny. ;)

Leatt brace-- i get upholstery cleaning spray. works awesome it foams up and takes all the dirt out.

Helmet-- Damp cloth and wipe clean.

Boots--I blast and if needed scrub too.

[little.whittle]

Oh andI use Motorex lube :2thumbsup

[vanmajor]

yeah i forgot to mention that i rub the silicone in haha.

[QUOTE= Pretty much exactly the same! But I never use the waterblaster

Just the hose, the blaster is to hard on the seals and bearings.

Oil changes on the EXC book says every 20 hours but mine have never gone over 12-15 hours.

Oh and I always, take the filter out, put the filter bung in and clean the airbox as well.

yeah the SX manuals say every 10 or so hours so i use that as my guide. i need to get a filter bung and clean the airbox!

[QUOTE= Leatt brace i get upholstery cleaning spray. works awesome it foams up and takes all the dirt out. [/QUOTE]

i take the actual fabric/foam/pads (whatever you want to call it haha) off and put it in the wash if it's dirty as and it comes out like new!

[little.whittle]

i take the actual fabric/foam/pads (whatever you want to call it haha) off and put it in the wash if it's dirty as and it comes out like new![/QUOTE]

When i take my pads off the Velcro strips comes unstuck from the plastic :oi-grr: so i have to keep it on:argh:

[vanmajor]

haha that makes things a little difficult!

[little.whittle]

haha that makes things a little difficult!

Yes have to use the hot glue gun haha. Oh and sometimes rub silicone on the black parts of it but not alot

[courts]

yeah much the same -remove most with pressure washer, use supa -rip degreaser on engine bay wheels chain etc , wash off after 10-15, wipe down with crc and coat with silicone. this keeps majority of dirt from hanging around-in theory anyway -and makes it easier to clean after ride.

[tommorth]

leave it all in thge garage for a week so the mud goes hard and dry start it up ride up and down driveway a few times so some of it falls off
wet with hose
spray with dynamo start doing something else and forget about bike
spray with hose again most off dirt falls off maybe poke stick at stubborn bits
dry and oil fork lowers leave rest to to dry for a while
start it to dry pipe etc
spray lots of wd40 everywhere except the seat (siliconed the seat on my road bike once was not a good idea)
park in garage

clean filter any time I do a ride over 2 hours just can't see the point if its less than that
change gearbox oil 10-15 hours

wash gear in washing machine helmet pads and armour can really stink have found that dynamo seems to attract water put dynamo in the wash once and when the cycle the gear was a lot wetter than it would normaly be and not any cleaner so it doesnt go near the gear


an exciting topic this lol

[IIIRII]

I just tell Noobie to do it

Sorted...

[cheese]

Water blaster! Then I dynamo it.

[browny]

you guys that spray silicone and crc on are keen.i just waterblast,lube chain and air filter element,after a dirty ride.theyre made to get dirty and i find those things apart from making it slippery attract dust.

[JohnM575]

Waterblast the worst of the dirt/sand/clay off , then wash down the rest with car wash 'n' wax/car brush.Saves the seals , bearings etc and does a good job of getting the bike looking tidy.

Then do chain lube , CRC on all moving parts , levers , ignition, shock threads (slows down rusting) etc, then ride it round ,working the brakes to make sure no water sits in the caliper/pads and then let it run for a few mins to get rid of the water around the engine.

[oldskool]

I just tell Noobie to do it

Sorted...
There hasn't been a decent downpour for a while so my bike is getting dirty. Where do I get one of these Noobies from, mail order?

[vr4king]

Hose down wait 5mins then wet again then dynamo then give it a good 5mins then hose and brush the angry stuff of then dry off and silicon spray the hell out off it as well as crc on all bare metal and lube the chain with "wynns viscoten"

As well the normal air filter etc

Anyone else here HATE cow shit with as much passion as me,I have almost turned around from a trail ride or two because of the sheer amount of this devil sperm on the ground............GRRRR I fu*king hate it

[secondfield]

Keep the dynamo away from grease packed bearings. It fucks the lubricant.

[Reckless]

Keep the dynamo away from grease packed bearings. It fucks the lubricant.

Actually Rupe reported this on the Dynamo thread! I think he stopped using it? Although waterproof grease is used on mine anyway. Most of us haven't had that problem including Danger who has used it for a long time. Its one of the reasons I don't use the water-blaster (dynamo or not), I don't think the hose has enough pressure (even on full blast) to open the seal lip up. I find with the hose the volume washes better than the cutting action of the waterblaster.

[secondfield]

Fair enough, previously I have noticed my swingarm linkage grease turning into a black watery goo after a brush and hose with dynamo around this area.It may not have gotten completey through the seal but just a work of caution ...

[Reckless]

Fair enough, previously I have noticed my swingarm linkage grease turning into a black watery goo after a brush and hose with dynamo around this area.It may not have gotten completey through the seal but just a work of caution ...

Good on ya for the heads up!
Just as an aside, if dynamo, under hose pressure is getting in you might have to have a look at your seals as without the dynamo the water will be getting in. Dunno how the KXF is set up though, so I'll leave it to you, Cheers!

[CRF119]

Just the hose, the blaster is to hard on the seals and bearings.

I havnt found this i use a similar product to CT18 to get the tough stains off like cow shit and some of the wierd color clays and then water blast it all off. My bearings go 50 hours before strip down i use a water proof anti corrosive gresse. If the bearings are well packed with that gresse water blaster is fine.

I then use a product called dress it is the smae as car sales people use for any thing that needs to look shinny engine bay and tires etc. This is far cheaper then silcone and dosent attract bugs and dust so bad. also makes cleaning the next time very easy!

Oil change is around 7 hours

[roy.nz]

All you need is MOTO Muck from Hylton who sponsors and pitches up at Fells farm. This stuff works a treat no matter what dirt. Spay the purple magic on leave it for 10mins and then just use your hose pipe and it all comes off. No scrubbing or anything like that. If its really really dirty use a little more. The stuff is cheap and works the best out of anything.
Cheers

[laserracer]

There hasn't been a decent downpour for a while so my bike is getting dirty. Where do I get one of these Noobies from, mail order?

Hell oldschool .. you had the perfect cleaning tool ...The world famous ...CAT POO BRUSH :banana:

[oldskool]

Hell oldschool .. you had the perfect cleaning tool ...The world famous ...CAT POO BRUSH :banana:
Alas the way of the cat poo brush is a lost technique to me. I have sir cummed easily with the over use of slippery Dynamo. It is the best I can attest. I love the smell of it when I am out riding and sweaty and it gets all slippery over the seat. It starts to get all foamy and frothy and effuse a lovely fragrance, it simply can't be beat.

[L Rider]

All you need is MOTO Muck from Hylton who sponsors and pitches up at Fells farm. This stuff works a treat no matter what dirt. Spay the purple magic on leave it for 10mins and then just use your hose pipe and it all comes off. No scrubbing or anything like that. If its really really dirty use a little more. The stuff is cheap and works the best out of anything.
Cheers

We use it too. Great stuff alright, makes cleaning 4 bikes an easy task:2thumbsup

[crazyhorse]

Get a bucket, put in some cleaning product and water, use a sponge and scrub it ........ ha ha ha

[little.whittle]

put on trailer and go through the car wash haha...

p.s Dont forget the exhust plug :lol: