Planning on giving my bike a good clean.

[Reaper_NZ]

Hey everyone. I'm planning on giving my bike a good clean when i get my brothers car on the road (just in case :P)

Is there a certain way to do it that is better? I gather you don't do it how a car is done, just wash the outside. Should i be taking the fairings of and degreasing the engine and washing and polishing the fairings?

If you want you can do a step by step of how you would do it to your own baby :D

Also any tips and tricks would be helpfull.


Cheers,

-Reaper

[Ixion]

Is such precipitate rashness wise? Whenever I am tempted by thoughts of cleaning any of my machines, I stop and consider the possibility that , if I remove all the dirt and splodge, I may well find that there is not actually any motorbike under there. Best not to shatter illusions I always think, you can't ride a sparkle to work.

[Reaper_NZ]

Well, i ride it to work. And its gets incredibly dirty on site. So it needs a clean.

[WarlockNZ]

Wash, rinse, de-grease, wash again and then polish ... don't forget the rims ... that brake dust is nasty...

ohh ... and all those hard to reach places ... under the swing arm, the shock coil, the inside of the fairing ..etc ... if you can't see your face in it .. you haven't done a good enough job :)

[gijoe1313]

Autosol is your friend! That and a good lot of cleaning rags and some old fashioned elbow grease. Don't throw away your old toothbrushes, use them for the hard to get places!

I always stock up on degreaser and Autosol when Supercheat is having a sale :lol: I think I have 7 cans and 5 tubes at the moment :innocent:

Also, a good carwash bucket, one of those handmitts to do a nice cleaning job is a must! Chamois to dry and then some nice polishing to follow...ahhh :yes: I always love the look of my little ol'Hornet after a wash n'wax! :love:

[KLOWN]

I hear kerosine is a good product for cleaning chain and wheels and removing spots of hard to remove grime.

[Reaper_NZ]

Cheers for the info. So no one takes there fairings of and does the carbs and other hard to reach places that you cvan't get to with the fairings on???

EDIT: Oh and whats Autosol?

[KLOWN]

i'm pretty sure autosol is a metal polish. I take my fairings, tank, chain guard etc off if you want to give it a real good clean.

[Reaper_NZ]

Yes, real good clean. The whole 9 yards.

[Chisanga]

I find WD40 really useful in getting all the crap off your rims.

Just have to be very careful you don't get any on your brakes so I tend to spray onto a rag and then wipe.

If you do this regularly they are easy to clean rather than letting it build up... I generally clean rims the day after I lube my chain to clean off the crap that flys off :)

[klingon]

here are my bike washing tips:

1) Never polish your seat :shit:


2) Never polish your tyres :gob:


3) Don't squirt water in the electric bits


4) Make sure everything still works when you're finished


5) Don't wash your bike while wearing a bikini (the neighbours will stare)

[Reaper_NZ]

I find WD40 really useful in getting all the crap off your rims.

Just have to be very careful you don't get any on your brakes so I tend to spray onto a rag and then wipe.

If you do this regularly they are easy to clean rather than letting it build up... I generally clean rims the day after I lube my chain to clean off the crap that flys off :)

Cheers for that. I'll get some WD40 next time I'm at a hardware store.

Any recommendations for a chain lube?

[Chisanga]

Cheers for that. I'll get some WD40 next time I'm at a hardware store.

Any recommendations for a chain lube?

I use "Motorex Chainlube 622 Strong for Road Use" as given to me by AMPS when I purchased my bike.

Just need to learn to apply it a little less liberally as I tend to get a heap of fly-off :(

[crash harry]

Cheers for that. I'll get some WD40 next time I'm at a hardware store.

Any recommendations for a chain lube?

Don't use WD40 as a cleaner - it's just the kerosine in it that does the cleaning anyway, use Engine Degreaser - essentially kero in a spray can, and usually cheaper than WD40.

I recommend a Scott Oiler for chain lubing, but if you don't want one I've had excellent results with the Bel Ray spray on stuff. Only problem is it's white and looks a bit funny, but man it does not fling off at all! Doesn't make a mess of the rear wheel like some others do.

[Reaper_NZ]

Whats a Scott Oiler?

[Chisanga]

Whats a Scott Oiler?

A device you attach to your bike to automatically lube your chain. See http://www.scottoiler.com/

[rainman]

Don't throw away your old toothbrushes, use them for the hard to get places!


I hear kerosine is a good product for cleaning chain and wheels and removing spots of hard to remove grime.

Just don't do what I did - had a spot of crap on the back section of the exhaust that didn't respond to polite attempts to shift it, so I got the kero plus the toothbrush and gave it a bit of a scrub. Nett result, one spidery scuff mark where the blob of crap used to be. :(