How do you clean your bike?

**vanmajor** · 16th September 2009, 19:42

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** · 16th September 2009, 19:51

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

**Reckless** · 16th September 2009, 19:53

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** · 16th September 2009, 20:03

Originally Posted by 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.

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** · 16th September 2009, 20:05

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

**little.whittle** · 16th September 2009, 20:09

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** · 16th September 2009, 20:14

Oh andI use Motorex lube

**vanmajor** · 16th September 2009, 20:17

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

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. [/QUOTE]

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** · 16th September 2009, 20:25

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

so i have to keep it on

**vanmajor** · 16th September 2009, 20:29

haha that makes things a little difficult!

**little.whittle** · 16th September 2009, 20:35

Originally Posted by vanmajor

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** · 16th September 2009, 21:36

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** · 16th September 2009, 22:56

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