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Best Way To Wash Bike?


tcosgrove92
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HOW TO CLEAN A MOTORCYCLE

By Bradley Grant

Aim: To end up with a presentable bike

What you will need:

1: Bucket

2: Hard bristled brush

3: Weed sprayer (cheap one from a hardware store will work well enough)

4: Garden hose

5: Bike

6: Stand for bike that holds the rear wheel up in the air (a nice hydraulic one is good, but a big bit of firewood or something like that would also work)

7: About an hour of time

8: Good bike cleaner (I prefer a citrus based detergent)

Method:

1: Park your bike on some concrete and on a stand of some sort.

2: Get your hose, hook it up to the tap (don't turn it on yet or you will just waste water).

3: Get your bucket, fill it with luke warm water and add your bike cleaner, and drop your brush in the bucket and place this beside your bike.

4: Get your weed sprayer, fill it with luke warm water and your bike cleaner, and screw the top back on and place this beside your bucket.

5: Turn the tap on and you should have a hose with water pouring out of it.

6: Wet your bike, some of the dirt should come of aswell, depending on how powerful your hose is.

7: Turn the tap off (I just tie the end of the hose in a simple knot to stop the water flow)

8: Get your brush out of your bucket with soapy water, it should be wet with some bubbly soap on it.

9: Scrub your engine (I start with the kickstart side) remember to scrub hard to remove all dirt! keep scrubbing until you are satisfied with the cleanliness of that side of the engine.

10: Turn on the tap (or untie the hose) and wash away all the loose dirt and detergent.

11: Repeat steps 9 and 10 on each 'section' of the bike. I do it as follows;

1: Kickstart side of engine area.

2: Front end (wheel, tyre, forks, mudguard, name plate or headlight, handlebars, front of radiator, header pipe, bash plate, and the brake components)

3: The non kickstart side of the engine area.

4: Rear end (wheel, tyre, swingarm, mudguard, chain and sprokets, brake components, shock, and the foot pegs)

5: The top of the bike (mudguard, tank, frame, and the 'seat')

12: Do this twice around the bike.

13: Now get your weed sprayer full of warm, soapy water and pump it up so that it has sufficient pressure and spray it all over the dirt/oil that remains, do this all over the bike and get the nozzle as close to the dirt/oil as possible, this usually removes the dirt/oil that you cant get at with the brush.

14: After you have thouroughly covered the bike with this method, rinse it off with the hose.

15: Stand back and admire your clean bike.

For an added effect buy yourself some silicone spray, this will not only make your plastics shiny it will also protect them. Silicone spray also works on tyre sidewalls, dark metalic parts on your bike, and ALL plastics, such as the front sproket/flywheel cover, the radiator cover, and the chain guard.

For an even more thorough wash, remove all plastics before washing commences and also clean the underside of the removed plastics.

Cheers Brad.

Edited by BetaNZ
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On my MX and Enduro bikes I have always used "pro-clean" and a pressure washer (not too close with the lance though) and nothing has got the bikes cleaner - until a few months ago, when I picked up a new product that was being sold at an MX race / meeting at Mepal.

The stuff is called "Rhino Goo" and its is absolutely superb. They had a stall there and were doing special promitonal deals and after seeing lots of people in the paddocks after the race using it on their bikes, I bought a load (after getting their views on it).

It gets the bikes just as clean (if not cleaner) than "pro-clean", but leaves a nice coating / sheen behind, almost as if the bike has been gone over with silicon. This is very noticeable, as after washing, the water beads off the plastics, like it would if its been polished / waxed

I've also used it on my jetski after its been in salt water and its just as good and shows its not corrosive, as my jetski is very shiny still

Basically, you use a pressure washer to remove as much dirt as you can, let most of the water run off of the bike and then coat in rhino goo. Wait a few minutes and then go over it with the pressure washer again, avoiding all bearings and forks seals with the lance. Theres no need to get too close with the lance.

If you get the wheels off the ground by putting the bike on a stand, you can get the wheels spinning with the pressure washer by pointing it at an angle onto the tyre tread - this enables you to get the wheels pristine as they are going round

:Edited to say, Ive never tried the wax thats on their website, so if anyone orders some let me know how it goes please B)

Edited by darrenmk
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On my MX and Enduro bikes I have always used "pro-clean" and a pressure washer (not too close with the lance though) and nothing has got the bikes cleaner - until a few months ago, when I picked up a new product that was being sold at an MX race / meeting at Mepal.

The stuff is called "Rhino Goo" and its is absolutely superb. They had a stall there and were doing special promitonal deals and after seeing lots of people in the paddocks after the race using it on their bikes, I bought a load (after getting their views on it).

It gets the bikes just as clean (if not cleaner) than "pro-clean", but leaves a nice coating / sheen behind, almost as if the bike has been gone over with silicon. This is very noticeable, as after washing, the water beads off the plastics, like it would if its been polished / waxed

I've also used it on my jetski after its been in salt water and its just as good and shows its not corrosive, as my jetski is very shiny still

Basically, you use a pressure washer to remove as much dirt as you can, let most of the water run off of the bike and then coat in rhino goo. Wait a few minutes and then go over it with the pressure washer again, avoiding all bearings and forks seals with the lance. Theres no need to get too close with the lance.

If you get the wheels off the ground by putting the bike on a stand, you can get the wheels spinning with the pressure washer by pointing it at an angle onto the tyre tread - this enables you to get the wheels pristine as they are going round

:Edited to say, Ive never tried the wax thats on their website, so if anyone orders some let me know how it goes please B)

I ve got a really dirty bike here darren please come round and give me a free demo?

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Hi guys:

I use a product here in Canada called Castrol Superclean after I have gently washed the bike with my pressure washer....then spray lightly and rinse with the pressure washer... then as Legionairr says, I start the bike let it warm up and a few times up and down the driveway drying the brakes. WD-40 or other such products at crucial pivot points such as levers, footpegs, and general spray at the chain...

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