Washing your bike?

[boer]

How do you guys take care of your bikes. Sponge and brush with the garden hose or high pressure washer?

[Valerie]

Pressure washer and some simple green.... and if we are really gonna do a good job the soapy water bucket and brush also.

[dbailey223]

You cover up the spark plug area, pipes, etc. before blasting away to keep water out, right?

[Valerie]

We just put an exhaust plug in to keep the water out of the exhaust - If we remember. ? If you don't have one you can use a ziploc and a rubber band.

[boer]

So a high pressure washer is ok?

[devildriver]

a high pressure washer is ok but be careful around areas such as the discs and the steering head beacuse the water does get in and it can cause low life for any of these components.

[sTTeve]

I pressure wash the biggest chunks of mud off (stay away fromwheel- and steering bearings), spray the bike with Bell-Ray MotoWash, let is sit for 10 minutes and use the gardenhose and a brush/sponge to get the bike really clean. I than spray everything (except the brakes) with WD40 and lube the chain.

[pkcof]

- an exhaust bung, a quick rinse, spray with some CT-18 (at a mix of 5 to 1 from a cheap garden spray) and let it soak for 15 minutes, a quick sponge bath (we could all use one of them now and again) and then a reasonably high pressure rinse again - you'll be plesantly surprised at the results - last but not least some CRC or i like to use silicone spray (but not on the disks or seat!)

[SpeedBlitz]

It looks just the same today with 500 miles of dirt trail miles. My secret, the Suzuki bike wash. (no, I dont work for Suzuki either) It comes in spray bottles, I used enough, inquired about getting it in gallons, and was told it can also be had in 5 gallon buckets. So I now own a 5 gallon bucket of the stuff. Here is how it works, you rinse the clumps of dirt off, spray the Suzuki bike wash on the rest, let it set for 5 minutes and rinse. Everything will shine like new with zero scrubbing. And no high pressure to rust out swing arm and wheel bearings. Can all be done on your garden hose. Doesn't remove the shiny finish on the plastic either. I will take a picture of the wash and post it here for you to see. Cost for the 5 gallon bucket was $89! But the bottles are about $7 each, so easily pay for itself.

Hey, I ride in red clay also. It works great. I swear by the stuff now. I stumbled upon it about a year ago, bought one of the small bottles, sat around in the garage for about 6 months and one day I said "I'm going to try it" and that was all it took. As soon as you spray this on, the dirt starts to run off, looks like its melting away. A rinse and its shiny new. Wheels and spokes come out spotless. (this is an area thats hard to make look clean IMHO) As for the other poster, any Suzuki dealer has it. Now be careful, they also have ATV wash and I was told it doesnt work quite as well, not sure what the difference is. I challenge anyone to try this stuff and report back with your findings.

I found this in thread:

https://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=331496&page=1&pp=10

[farkawi]

There is also a hole on the side of the head that goes into the spark plug well that I like to plug up when washing. I use an old chopped off golf tee to keep the water out of there.

[vavoom]

All that sounds good, but your forgetting one thing for us California types. Don't get caught letting it run into the gutter and god forbid it hits the storm drain. The City types will have a field day with you. I recomend a pressure washer and use as little water as possible to reduce the amount of run off.

[642MX]

Pressure washer for sure, a garden hose wash takes too long for me.

[OneToGo]

I need to find some of that Suzuki Bike wash Toyota_MDT is talking about!

Remember to start the bike and warm it up after a wash (dont just stick it in the shed). A gentle ride to dry the brakes with the added benefit of air drying all the rest of the parts...maybe not if you have to ride in dust! An aiir compressor is great for blowing out hard to get at water.

Then oil/lube the chain and spray with CRC etc. before storing for next ride.

All my riding buddies in the past thought I always had that new bike look bike.

Maintenance is part of the fun of ownership, cleaning goes with it

Onjoy your bikes

[clark4131]

Garden hose, Simple Green and Citrol. No high pressure, bad for grease...SC

[Ho450]

after washing my bike i use an air compressor to get the water out of those hard to reach areas:thumbsup:

[ozfam4]

Ok here's the best kept secret I have. Home depot Zep orange oil. Rinse with normal hose, spray with undiluted ZEP orange oil, let it set a minute or 2, wipe with a terry cloth towel. When you rinse the bike the water will bead off due to the extremly light oil residue. Not oily to the touch and when dry won't look dried out like simple green. Spray the towel it'll come out white. Bike will keep its new look longer.

For tougher stains on an aluminium frame I use mild scotch brite pads soaked in Orange oil.

[kevinwr450f]

I wouldn't get a high pressure washer anywhere near my bike. Simple Green and a hose will do the trick with a good base clean. You may need to scrub a little, but it will work.

[KAS]

I use a product made by Spartan Chemical Co, called BH38. It is a little cheaper, and works way better than Simple Green. I also use a cheap electric power washer.

Rinse, spray on BH38, use a scotchbrite on the aluminum frame where my boots rub, use a brush on any ground-in dirt, then rinse again.

[Speedracer747-400]

Does that Suzuki Motorcycle Wash work that much better than Simple Green to justify it costing almost double the price?

For cleaning the chain I found that The Grunge Brush works really well.

[Dube2]

simple green, let sit for a few minutes, carefull pressure wash on dificult areas, soapy bucket and brush, hose rinse, leaf blower dry(a must), and wd40 or ArmorAll for entire bike. No issues with brake pads or bearings. After three years, I now need to regrease the neck.