Washng your bike | GTAMotorcycle.com

Washng your bike

Mukala

Mukala

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I have heard many conflicting ways to wash your bike. I rode my CBR250 during the winter, so It is pretty salty and dirty.

I have heard, dont use water, use a cleaner.

I have heard, use soap and water and ride the bike immeaditily after to get he water out of hard to reach cracks.

I have heard only use the suds from soap to wipe the bike down.

I have heard use Armorall wipes.

What do you guys recommend the best way to clean your dirty bike and help from rust from the salt.
 
Personally, if it had salt on it, I would spray it with a garden hose for a long period of time, to try and wash away as much as possible before you even touch it. No power washer. Buy some microfibre clothes and hand glove rag things, some decent car wash stuff with wax built into it... that's how I wash mine, still looking pristine with 21,000KM.
 
Someone on these boards last year mentioned lemon pledge for a bike, and man does it work amazing. I just grab a can of lemon pledge and some microfiber clothes and go to town on my bike.
 
After it's washed I like to spritz WD-40 into certain crevices.
 
You can always take your fairings off and use a bristle brush to get all the nitty gritty out :D
 
Dont concentrate the water from hose on like electric areas and obvious areas where water shouldn't be. Just a quick spray over those areas if you have to
 
Since I live in a condo (limited access to water), I have two methods that I use depending on the condition of the bike. I use the same method on my car.

1) Two Bucket Method: When the bike is extremely dirty and needs to be properly cleaned
(http://www.autogeek.net/exterior.html)

2) Waterless Wash Concentrate: For when I want to do some light clean ups, usually if there is some dust etc.


I always use a microfiber towel not the crap from canadian tire.
 
Rinse down the bike with a garden hose, wash with soapy water and a wash kit of some sort, I use Meguiars car wash w/ wax, rise off with hose and dry with microfiber towels. This works for me, bike looks great, never had an issue. Don't try to over complicate it.
 
I rode in some salty conditions; I rinsed the hell out of it. I seriously just stood there for 20 minutes soaking it at every angle. But, because I didn't have anything to actually wash it with at the time, I didn't dry it off, because I would have been rubbing in whatever grime and grit was on it. I've got water spots all over, but I'm sure they'll wash off when I get around to giving it a good bath.
 
I've used a clean cloth + white vinegar to get the white crusted salt rust off the pipes and other nuts/bolts on the bottom of the bike. Worked great for me. For the rest of the bike I just used cold water + soap and scrubbed it down.
 
If it's covered in salt, I would remove the lower fairings and make sure you get it all clean. Salt left in and around the frame, header etc can start corrosion pretty quickly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The BMW manual suggests rinsing only with cold water ,any salt, to prevent corrosion. Of course you can use their wildly priced products also,but it was surprising ,to see that in the manual.
 
I leave my bike out in the rain.

mrquincy.png
 
Must be spring.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
SlayerofSouls said:
1) Two Bucket Method: When the bike is extremely dirty and needs to be properly cleaned
(http://www.autogeek.net/exterior.html)
Click to expand...

This is how I wash my bike and car. The two bucket method helps to keep the amount of dirt on your wash mitt low so that you're not scratching the paint.

First I wet the bike with the garden hose, then I use a wash mitt to wash the bike. I keep the bike wet with the hose until I'm ready to dry it.

I use Meguiar's Gold Class car wash because it doesn't have any wax. I find wax turns my textured black plastic pieces gray because the wax builds up the in the recesses of the texture.
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/meguiar-39-s-gold-class-car-wash-0394513p.html

For the wash mitt, I use something with a long nap (long fibers). This also helps to keep any dirt that's been picked up by the mitt away from the paint of my vehicle. I bought mine from Canadian Tire but I couldn't see anything that looks like what I have from just looking at the photos. This mitt does look interesting though:
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/simoniz-platinum-chenille-wash-pad-0397065p.html

For drying, I use microfibre towels. Something like these:
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/simoniz-microfibre-cloths-8-pack-0396620p.html

For the chain area - meaning anything that get's really nasty from chain lube - I use kerosene. I have one of the Tirox 360 degree brushes which I think works really well on the chain. You can get that at GP or Riders Choice.

I have a couple of different brushes that I use to get into the nooks and crannies. I'll either use soap and water with them or kerosene, depending on what I'm trying to clean up. Kerosene is really great against the oil and lube grime.

I also wash my tires occasionally. For that I use a brush and Spray Nine. I find that Spray Nine rinses away completely and doesn't leave any residue, but it does remove any lube that may make it onto the tires. I don't over-lube, but eventually grime builds up on everything.
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