Washing your bike...How do YOU do it?

I used Mequires Quik Spray Detail spray and a micro-fiber towel to clean my bike. For bug juice I have a bug and tar spray from the dealer to clean tuff bug and grime off

 

I try not to ever use water to wash my bike. I use Honda Pro Spay Cleaner and Polish applied w/ cloth baby-dipers.

 

I seldom "wash" my bike unless it needs more than a wet washcloth, wax spray cleaner, etc. Even on a trip, I wipe it down each evening and wax it. In winter, I strip off all the plastic and clean what I can get to. Not that water should hurt come to think of it ... just figure in some of those day long rain storms you've ridden through.....how much wetter could it get. (still don't like the idea of a strong hose or spray washer though) .... And then again, in the old days of the 850G and 1000G standard suzies ... I can remember using the spray thingys at the car wash quite often. Go figure ....

 

i live in a country that rains all the time (at least it seems that way) so i have no problem using water to clean the bike.

i use standard car shampoo, apply that to the dry bike to agitate all the dirt/grime, then power wash the bike at the local garage.

when i first got the bike i covered all the electrics/wires etc in self amalgamating tape, so i can spray the hose anywhere i like.

towel dry the bike when we get home, hint of polish and she's as good as new.

lank8pew

 

Good read guys. I myself use what I call a dry wash as one I never let it so dirty that it doesn't take much more than a good wipe down to have it back to like new. Don't care to take preassured water to bikes like these, Yea I know they can probablytake it but most trouble comes from water getting in the wrong place causing corrision and the like. Only time I do use the hose is when I back wash out the radiator. I take off the farings and take to it blowing the water in from the back side then let it sit for a bit then take an air comperssor to it , only way I've found to get the bugs out of the radiator then with the farrings off, I dry whats left which in turn cleans it up a bit. Other wise I just keep a can of Plexus and Honda Cleaner right next to where I park , only takes a few minutes to clean up the bugs while they're still soft after a good ride. also I do a quick check on the chain while I go over the VFR that way she's ready to roll for the next outing.
Works for me.

 

For what it's worth, the best way I found to clean bug guts off the front of my bike is Hydrogen Peroxide, true story, and does'nt harm the paint!

 

Bike Washing

I use Lemon Pledge, although she never gets that dirty, I'm a wuss, and try not to ride in the rain, as I don't have the proper gear, and she's also garage kept. I usually give her a wipe down weekly, while doing my inspection.

 

All of these answers are good, but I have gotten pretty lazy of late. When my wife was sales manager at a metric shop, she discovered Suzuki wash.

It works better and easier than anything else that we have used and has cause no problems on 6 bikes over 4 years. My shop sells S100, but I use Suzuki wash at home (although I wear a Groucho Marx nose and glasses to confuse the spy sattelites.

 

Don't forget that motorcycles are waterproof, how else could we ride them in the rain? Blast away, that's what I've always done with no (zero!!!) problems ever. Sometimes I even use the coin car wash. Figure on a wet butt after that one.

 

I Never use water on mine. Honda Pro Cleaner on wheels, calipers, swingarm, etc., and Maguires Quick Detailer on the paint. The Pro Cleaner removes some of the paint. I noticed first time I tried it on my gas tank that my white cloth turned Red. But, it's good for the grimy parts around wheels.

 

Did they have o-ring chains in 1985?

 

One thing

I would add that Castrol Super Clean works well at getting chian lube grime off. I use Maguires wax and it is slick and shiney. Have to try that Honda Cleaner and save some water! Of course you gotta warm it up afterwords and dry everything out including the brakes. If you are blowing out the radiator with an air gun, watch your pressure, some of those cores are made of pretty thin stuff.