I am known in the family for not being house proud .. cleaning and polishing doesn't come easily to me ..
However, on occasion I do get round to cleaning the car etc ..
But a motorbike is a different proposition .. the bits that get greasy/dirty are (mostly) open to view, but not necessarily easy to get at to clean ..
Detergent and a pressure washer is, I suspect, not the recommended way to go, but shampoo and shammy (and polish?) would be ok on accessible paint and brighwork.
So .. How do you do it?
a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)
- Taid
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a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)
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Now sold ... 1956 AJS 16MS Bitsa .. HSU 414 .. rebuilt/re-registered 1987
Now sold ... 1956 AJS 16MS Bitsa .. HSU 414 .. rebuilt/re-registered 1987
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Re: a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)
'fraid I'm like you Taid!
They say people look like their dogs. My dogs are scruffy. I'm scruffy . . . and my bikes are too a lot of the time.
I wipe them, literally, with damp cloths and then oily rags, from time to time. Very occasionally I get some detergent and a bucket out and pass a few minutes getting cowpats off things, and I use a wire brush under the engines prior to removing plugs to drain oils etc. Even more rarely, I buff up the timing covers. But spit and polish, sadly, aren't my thing. Too young to have done National Service and got to grips with blanco and buckles, nowadays a bit rheumatic for fiddling around between spoke nipples with toothbrushes and chrome polish!
Downside, bikes aren't shiny. Upside, you can go out in the rain without worrying about 2 hours work after a 1 hour ride.
They say people look like their dogs. My dogs are scruffy. I'm scruffy . . . and my bikes are too a lot of the time.
I wipe them, literally, with damp cloths and then oily rags, from time to time. Very occasionally I get some detergent and a bucket out and pass a few minutes getting cowpats off things, and I use a wire brush under the engines prior to removing plugs to drain oils etc. Even more rarely, I buff up the timing covers. But spit and polish, sadly, aren't my thing. Too young to have done National Service and got to grips with blanco and buckles, nowadays a bit rheumatic for fiddling around between spoke nipples with toothbrushes and chrome polish!
Downside, bikes aren't shiny. Upside, you can go out in the rain without worrying about 2 hours work after a 1 hour ride.
- griffin
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Re: a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)
Taid
If my bike is really oily/dirty I first degrease the worst bits with paraffin using a brush then a degreaser from a spray bottle , leave it ten minutes then wash the bike with a car shampoo/wax .
Then using a hose pipe with the nozzle set to mist to wash it all off , finally take it for a short run to dry it off.
When it's fully dry then start on waxing the paint work and polishing the rims and casings etc with metal polish.
I used jizer or gunk in the late 1970's it had that wonderful smell but it's rubbish now.
And of course next time you have a run planned it will always rain !
If my bike is really oily/dirty I first degrease the worst bits with paraffin using a brush then a degreaser from a spray bottle , leave it ten minutes then wash the bike with a car shampoo/wax .
Then using a hose pipe with the nozzle set to mist to wash it all off , finally take it for a short run to dry it off.
When it's fully dry then start on waxing the paint work and polishing the rims and casings etc with metal polish.
I used jizer or gunk in the late 1970's it had that wonderful smell but it's rubbish now.
And of course next time you have a run planned it will always rain !
- clive
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Re: a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)
oily rag and only occasionally with that as the bikes tend to provide their own oil protection!
clive
if it ain't broke don't fix
if it ain't broke don't fix
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Re: a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)
Hi
Wipe off any minor 'incontinence' with a clean rag on return from each ride - polish the alloy and chrome once a year - that's about it. I keep meaning to wax the body work, maybe next year.
I don't ride in the wet, riding my bikes is for fun and I don't regard getting soaked fun
Regards Mick
Wipe off any minor 'incontinence' with a clean rag on return from each ride - polish the alloy and chrome once a year - that's about it. I keep meaning to wax the body work, maybe next year.
I don't ride in the wet, riding my bikes is for fun and I don't regard getting soaked fun
Regards Mick
- Taid
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Re: a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)
Thanks guys .. good info (as usual) ..
... Griffin .. any specific or prefered degreaser?
When I bought the AJ it seemed to have been sprayed all over with something slightly oily (WD40?)
... Griffin .. any specific or prefered degreaser?
When I bought the AJ it seemed to have been sprayed all over with something slightly oily (WD40?)
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Now sold ... 1956 AJS 16MS Bitsa .. HSU 414 .. rebuilt/re-registered 1987
Now sold ... 1956 AJS 16MS Bitsa .. HSU 414 .. rebuilt/re-registered 1987
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Re: a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)
I spray the bike with commercial dirt remover (Muc Off, Demon Machine etc. etc.), go and have a cup of tea, come back and spray it all off with the hose, dry as much as possible with microfibre cloth, put it away.
I keep meaning to be super thorough and then go over them with ACF50, but it hasn't happened yet.
Malc
I keep meaning to be super thorough and then go over them with ACF50, but it hasn't happened yet.
Malc
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Re: a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)
Is this what rhe BBC call a 'slow news day'?
To answer the original question though - thoroughly
Steve (wot bought an R100RT to use in crappy weather)
To answer the original question though - thoroughly
Steve (wot bought an R100RT to use in crappy weather)
- griffin
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Re: a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)
Taid wrote:Thanks guys .. good info (as usual) ..... Griffin .. any specific or prefered degreaser?
I use degreaser nick...... errr borrowed from work (although just took early retirement from Rolls-Royce) .
Heard good reports with 'muc off' and screwfix sell 5ltr no nonsense degreaser for £8.99