Washing your bike

[Aussie Ninja]

If she's just got road grime on her I'll give her a quick wash with the fairings on but if I've been out in the wet I take them off and give her a good going over to get all the crap off left behind by the muddy oily road water.

[ttc]

I wash mine when i feel like it

how well it's done depends on how i feel

[Smitty]

I'm surprised Swabio hasn't posted here yet - he is the Cleaning King (even down to polishing the inside of the fairing... ) - but his bike does look immaculate.....

the 12 gets a wash every few weeks, with CT18, then polished . Getting a hugger has sure made the rear end less dirty, hardly any fling-off anywhere.......

whaaaaa??? you use CT18 on the 12r?
sheesh mate
never used bike wash on a bike in my life
however
its very good however for cleaning car suspensions

me?
I start with Meguairs Mist wax detailer
and work my way down from up top...
even under the mudguards and swing arms she goes....
and with a wipe comes up a sparklin'

got used on the GPx too
....helps make a 18yo bike look much better

cheers

[krusty]

CT18 makes easy work of washing the bike (especially when filthy with bug spatter), but you have to polish everything after using it otherwise it looks crap.

[MrStompy]

I wash my bike about 1 or 2 times a month or more if there seems to be more bugs than usual.

heres my method:

1 bucket of water - pour over the top.
spray some degreaser on the rims
1 bucket of water with some truck wash crap i found in the shed
use a sponge and clean everything - including the rims

i bucket of clean water to wash the suds off
then i got a beach towel and i dry all the water off the top and seats.

Its a Z750 so not much fairing.

occasionally i put wax on the tank and fairing

every now and then i put it on the track stand and kero off all the grease on the chain and the rims with a tooth brush.

I use spray grease on my chain pretty much after every second decent ride.

I wish when i serviced my bike they would clean it.

[Neka79]

hmm...recently..i do it abt every 2 yrs wen sum1 else does it for me...the scratches show up too much...but when i use to do it..

wet it down with water...
sparay degreaser all over chain
wash it with a sponge & good quality car wash
hose down again.
clean water & car wash & go over it with a toothbrush
hose down again.
use "shift-it" degreaser with toothbrush to remove all crap, i use this on all fairings, metal,wheels etc.
hose down with clean water.
chamois dry.
meguiars quick wax.
autosol on metal.
armoral on seat & sides of wheels
re-lube chain

[swabio-ACT]

hmmmm well

1st i start with deciding whether it needs a full on uber wash/wax etc, or a wash/wax minor, or just a spray n wipe.......

the uber goes like this......

clean the chain with motul chain cleaner
wet it down, wash it with meguirs colour boost, gold class, or soft wash gel
then rinse
chamois
push bike back into garage
spray the bike with the Meguirs quick detailer, whilst using the quick clay detailing system.... (uber smooth)
then wax it with the gold class wax

then do all the black stuff with the plastic detailing stuff (also meguirs)
then wd40 the rims, etc

I have been known to polish the exhaust and headers at times tooo......

[ttc]

I'm embarassed after reading this thread

[mobile]

Kero and paint brush on the rear wheel/chain/sprocket/under chain guard.
Truck wash the wheels
Hose this off, without spraying directly on bearings etc.
Hose loose crap off the rest of the bike
Wash with Meguirs Gel stuff
Hose off with Fresh water (we have recylcled crap (literally) from the tap)
Dry Off with Chamois.
Wax bike with Meguiars Quick wax
Do Black stuff with Silicone
Do Titanium can with WD40
Go for a ride to dry off and warm up chain
Lube chain with Motul chain oil

And I thought I was bad

Me too. Mine is just as bad, but the extra stuff comes pretty much as you need to service, but the wash routine is pretty much the same

[photomike666]

Regular routine every week (every 500k), wd40 on rag to remove any nasty chain lube splatter from lover fairing, swingarm frame, foot peg and rear wheel. Sponge and bucket with normal car wash stuff, rinse off with hose on shower setting (too much power will remove grease from bearings). Dry with shamie. Take bike for short run to dry rad and warm chain. Lube chain, rev to 6k in 6th on stand, clean up splatter again. Check chain tension. Usually make note of oil, water and brake fulid levels too.

Once a month I wax polish bike. When I do minor service I clean with fairings removed and polish.

*EDIT* I always check tyre pressures after wash but before run to warm chain. Checking tyre pressure is vital, might as well combine it with routine washing.

[kellz]

ok wel i have 3 wahses

the quick just needs a touch up before a big ride, involves, getting teh armoral out and spraying all over the fairings, gets rid of small bugs well and gives it a shine

2nd wash the wash and ride dry,
basicly hose it down, was with meguires gel wash, hose off, wd40 the can, tooth bruhs the rims hose off

3rd was
as 2nd, but with a full chamois dry, metal polsih teh can then wax the fairings, armoral teh black bits, alcho wipe the screen and spedo covers, then lube chain, etc

yeh i know but hey my baby has to look good

[Blackzxr]

I'm embarassed after reading this thread

Your embaressed Heres my bike, thought i'd duck out and take a pick. This is after the ride the other day.

Yes it is getting a tub today. Car wash, water, chamois and lube the chain. Have black rims, so the chain lube all over them, doesn't stand out

[mike-s]

wtf happened? did you induce the rage of a thousand pissed off budgies?

[NovaCoder]

sparay degreaser all over chain

Prob not such a good idea, unless of course you're using a degreaser esp. formulated for this purpose.


Ps. Best degreaser to use is Petrol mixed with brake fuild...comes up real shiny


ok, ok I lied about the last bit

[swabio-ACT]

i forgot to add the frequency of washes......

at least once a week........or as soon as there is dirt / dust on it! It also gets washed as soon as the rain stops if it has seen any rain!