real dirty bike

[Synthead]

I ride my bike a looot ... I'd say about 400 miles a week just joyriding around. So she's always dirty. There's this light brown powder all over it. I'll try to clean it, and I'll get 'er real clean, but then I'll ride 'er again, and within a couple days, she's all dirty again.

Is there a trick to keeping your bike clean? I don't think I've ever seen a dirtier bike than mine ... :P

[fat_sac]

I'll take pics of my F4i tonight. 1500 miles with no wash and half was in the rain. It's ddddiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrtt ttttty!!! I've found that the only trick to keeping a bike clean, is to use it as a couch, lol. If I get one more parking ticket, mine's gonna replace my couch, I guaraawnnnteee!

[tconroy]

Wash,rinse,wax ride........Wash.rinse.wax,ride.........Wash,rinse ,wax,ride.........Get the picture??????

[tracy borchert]

mr clean

Wash,rinse,wax ride........Wash.rinse.wax,ride.........Wash,rinse ,wax,ride.........Get the picture??????

Sounds about right,tconroy.Your GS can never be to clean. The cleaner it is, the easier it is to keep it that way.:-D

[tconroy]

If I ride for an hour and come home the first thing I do is wipe the rims and tires and whatever else brake dust has collected on.I dont use a bike tarp,I use a big bed sheet.Nothing like unvieling a classic everytime you want to ride!!!!!!yeah,people think I'm crazy,but those are the people that dont ride!.LOL!!

[tkent02]

Or you could just ride the heck out of it....

and wash it only when some highschool cheerleaders are down at the gas station washing cars trying to make money for some worthy cause.....
They will usually cut you a deal if you are the first motorcycle they have done.
Most people don't realize how much harder bikes are to clean than cars.
I don't let shining time get in the way of riding time.

[spchips]

Cleaning time????

If it can't be cleaned in five minutes exactly at the D.I.Y car wash with a pressure washer (the degreaser gets the road resudue off nicely), then I'm not interested.... on the daily rider. It can be clean when it retires...or crashes.

On the fair weather friend, then you can spend some more time.

[Dink]

I use a Truckwash and my pressure washer, the truckwash I use can be safely left on (i.e. left to dry ) and then I hose it off with the pressure washer, generally the next day, this allows me to do the hard to get bits a little at a time.
It also helps that I retain a "pitcrew" for the polishing\\/ ;-)

Dink

[jsuani]

Not the highschool cheerleaders...

I ain't trusting anyone else to detail my bix but me. You don't know what type of washing agent they are using to clean your bike with. Ajax is real cheap and can scratch up a paint job. Plus you are taking advantage of the kids when the school system should be doing for them. Me, I am not judging you just informing. I used to work in my local high school and have seen what the kids have to go through. I use motul. It is hard to find but an awesome product. I even clean all the wrecked bikes with it when I get them to process what is available for salvage or selling. Spray it on, let it sit, and then wash it off. I found it at the bikini car wash that I had to pay for in Daytona. Awesome product and the shine lasted longer on my bike. Wow. I was impressed. Have fun, D.

[crc1214]

I'll chime in with my 2 cents........I like to keep my bikes clean, clean, clean. It seems like they just perform better, and it's a damned good way to get up close and personal with your bike. You can catch leaks, abnormal wear, things that aren't water-proof... LOL..

Anyhow, since they are so damned easy to wax I pretty much wax my bike every time I wash it (every 2-3 weeks). That seems to help.

Also, never ever underestimate the power of a bike-detailers best friend - WD-40. If you've got a plastic chain guard, wipe WD-40 on there and wipe the excess away with a clean rag. Use it on the wheels too. I even use it on my swingarm (it's a great grease-cutter). Anyhow, when you have a shiny chain guard, clean, clean wheels, and a clean and shiny swing-arm, those are really things that set the bike off. And the WD-40 almost seems to help repell dust and dirt.

And as far as pressure-washing....... I wouldn't do it. I know a lot of you guys out there do, but I won't. That's a good way to get water where it shouldn't be - bearings.

And if you drive it to a car wash there's going to be one slight problem - you're engine will be too hot. Way too hot to be sprayed with cold water. You cause metal parts to contract much more quickly than they should, and that's how engine leaks develop.

Just my 2 cents......

[Jethro]

Cleaning is for winter time. That's when the real detail is done on my bike. During the summer a can of WD40 and a rag and 10 minutes is all I need- no point in making it cleaner than that.