a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)

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Taid
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a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)

Post by Taid »

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?
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Now sold ... 1956 AJS 16MS Bitsa .. HSU 414 .. rebuilt/re-registered 1987
Groily
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Re: a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)

Post by Groily »

'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.
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griffin
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Re: a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)

Post by griffin »

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 !
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clive
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Re: a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)

Post by clive »

oily rag and only occasionally with that as the bikes tend to provide their own oil protection!
clive
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Mick D
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Re: a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)

Post by Mick D »

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
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Taid
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Re: a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)

Post by Taid »

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?)
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Now sold ... 1956 AJS 16MS Bitsa .. HSU 414 .. rebuilt/re-registered 1987
MalcW
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Re: a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)

Post by MalcW »

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.

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Re: a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)

Post by Greybeard »

Is this what rhe BBC call a 'slow news day'? :D

To answer the original question though - thoroughly ;)

Steve (wot bought an R100RT to use in crappy weather)
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griffin
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Re: a trivial question .. how do you clean your bike(s)

Post by griffin »

Taid wrote:Thanks guys .. good info (as usual) ..... Griffin .. any specific or prefered degreaser?

I use degreaser nick...... errr borrowed from work :o (although just took early retirement from Rolls-Royce) .
Heard good reports with 'muc off' and screwfix sell 5ltr no nonsense degreaser for £8.99
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