washing the sv

[will]

ok, i admit it....have had the bike since december and I've not been near it with any kind of cleaning materials :shock: . most couriers bikes look shiny and new compared to mine :lol:

to get the worst of the crud off, is it ok to use a jet wash at my local garage, or is that inadvisable? if so, any advice on which bits to avoid with the jet, eg electrics etc

thanks. Will.

[fizzwheel]

You wanna keep the jet wash away from the wheel bearings, chain etc etc

I wouldnt wash it with a jet wash much better to get some muc off from halfords or somewhere and use a bucket and a sponge

[OF.uk]

ok, i admit it....have had the bike since december and I've not been near it with any kind of cleaning materials :shock: . most couriers bikes look shiny and new compared to mine :lol:

to get the worst of the crud off, is it ok to use a jet wash at my local garage, or is that inadvisable? if so, any advice on which bits to avoid with the jet, eg electrics etc

thanks. Will.
Be very careful with a jet wash. Don't go near the chain or bearings. Your best bet is a bucket of hot soapy water and a sponge, rinse off and shammy down. Slightly harder work but it'll do a better job.

[OF.uk]

must have been typing replies at the same time :lol:

[JakeRS]

i use this stuff called Gunk, its an engine degreaser you spread on with a brush, leave for 5 mins or so then wash off, gets most crud off your bike. Costs £2.29 for 500ml in Wilkinsons! Or £12 odd quid a litre in Halfords :roll:

And for stuff like chain lube on your swingarm, liquid parrafins the way to go apparently.

[Viney]

Buff it up with an angle grinder :?

Use parafin as a degreaser. Gunk is good, but stinks! Jizer is also a very good degreaser. Use car soap to wash the body bits. Pledge(furniture polish) buffing up the paint, and something like armour all on the black plastic stuff. Dont polish the seat!!!

Remember to re lube the chain after all that

[Spiderman]

You lazy git! :lol:

Muc Off is the lazy mans way mate. Big bottle that you spray on all over..leave for a min, then rinse off. Shamy dry would be good but on your colour i doubt you'd even notice some water marks.

For chain lube and stuff like that around your back wheel and swingarm use the parrafin / rag solution before you spray allover with the Muc Off.

The nice thing is that Muc Off also do a set that comes with cleaning brushes for your bike etc
http://www.muc-off.co.uk/motorcyclekit.html#

hth ;)

[fizzwheel]

oh and when you are all done, give your platics bit a good shine with Mr Sheene furniture polish

[Viney]

Muc off is over priced rubbish IMO.

[Carsick]

Washing? can somebody please explain this concept to me.

[Spiderman]

Muc off is over priced rubbish IMO.

Overpriced yes... rubbish...well it cleaned my bike better than i expected for a spray on rinse off jobby.

Personally i use a good car shampoo and hot water / sponge. The a good coat of mer polish to get it gleaming again. But thats me and if Wills feeling lazy enough for a jetwash job i reckon he'd be better to spend that money on something that will work better than high pressure water.
All imho of course ;)

[JakeRS]

Gunk is good, but stinks!#

I think it smells feckin lovely, especially when the engines warm!

[Peter Henry]

I guess it just might be me, but I could never understand anyone just letting the crap build and build on a bike! A dirty bike is just something that really winds me up! :oops: Regular cleaning is a good safety feature as it means you are keeping an eye on many aspects of the bike whilst keeping it clean.I am nowhere near as pedantic with the car but oh the bike has got to ALWAYS look right! :lol: 8)

[Flamin_Squirrel]

I guess it just might be me, but I could never understand anyone just letting the crap build and build on a bike! A dirty bike is just something that really winds me up! :oops: Regular cleaning is a good safety feature as it means you are keeping an eye on many aspects of the bike whilst keeping it clean.I am nowhere near as pedantic with the car but oh the bike has got to ALWAYS look right! :lol: 8)

Obviously you need your memory jogging. We get rain here, remember? :lol:

Hard to keep the bike clean it's ridden every day and a 5 min ride in the wet will undo all that polishing work.

[Kate]

Cleaning is one of those things I keep meaning to do, got to do both the car and the bike....at some point.

[fizzwheel]

The other thing I use is one of the those small pesticide sprayers that you can get from B & Q etc etc

I fill it up with hot water and some car shampoo and give the bike a good spray with that, give a scrub with sponge then refill with clean water and spray off

[Carsick]

Regular cleaning is a good safety feature as it means you are keeping an eye on many aspects of the bike whilst keeping it clean.
The bike gets a thorough check at least once a week, so the safety aspect isn't as much of a consideration. Spending the time to keep it clean all the time would be time wasted, as far as I'm concerned.

[embee]

if you use a de-greaser like Gunk or Jizer, remember it does what it says on the tin, and de-greases everything. This means the metal surfaces are ideally prepared for the onset of corrosion!

If you de-grease it, you really must treat it with something to protect it again; wax polish, Scottoil365, WD40, Vaseline, Mr. Sheen, Vinyl&Rubber care or similar products.

Use a good car shampoo (Autoglym, Mer etc) to wash it now and again and it'll help maintain a waxy coating, even if you're not too fussy about the appearance.

.....and it sounds like you'll be well advised to have the brake pad pins out and grease them or they'll be corroded in for good. :roll:

[Jdubya]

A good idea( something I do religiously after I've washed the bike) is to cover the bike in FS365 and/or WD40 for that after-washing pre-riding protection. :wink:

[Rob]

I've heard some interesting arguments against jet washes. The idea of taking a high powered water jet to a surface still covered with fine peices of dirt being akin to to taking sandpaper to the finish, that sorta thing.

That said when I'm feeling too lazy (or too hungover) to fill a bucket and break out the muck-off I can often still be found at the local Texaco. Just make sure you re-lub the chain after!

[northwind]

You need to be very, very careful with jet washers.... Just before I sold the yam I gave it a quick squirt down- oh dear, all the paint's dropped off the engine casings. I had to polish the whole lower cases in the 5 hours or so before my viewer turned up :oops:

Muc Off's expensive but it's also absolute dynamite, I wouldn't have believed how effective it is if I'd not seen it. Mine was festering- couple of weeks of winter slime which had been left on the bike for a couple of months after I did my leg in, on top of a massively thick coat of really old FS365- and it all just poured off. Needed a little work with a paintbrush to get stubborn much out of nooks but otherwise was just spray on, hoes off, clean bike.

I'll try the cheaper alternatives next I think but I'd happily pay the full whack for muc-off, it just made my least favourite job a piece of cake.

If you're going to have your bike dirty, get it protected underneath- a dirty, protected bike will rot less than a perfectly clean, unprotected bike. Hard wax (not as easy or shiny as Mr Sheene but more protective), and the protector of your choice, I've had good results with FS365 but I've switched to ACF50.

[SVeeedy Gonzales]

Hose it down with cold water, go over with a hot bucket of Halfords car shampoo, spray it off with the hose and shammy it... only takes 15 mins once a week... helps if you install an outside tap/hose! I was always rubbish at cleaning until I got the hose/spraygun attachment put in... plus now on the worst winter days I can wash off the worst of the road salt as soon as I get home and not have to wait until I have time to give it a full clean :)

Have no intention of ever spending more than I already spend on cheapo Halfords car shampoo :D

[creamerybutter]

If you're going to have your bike dirty, get it protected underneath- a dirty, protected bike will rot less than a perfectly clean, unprotected bike. Hard wax (not as easy or shiny as Mr Sheene but more protective), and the protector of your choice, I've had good results with FS365 but I've switched to ACF50.

Whats FS365 and ACF50?

[creamerybutter]

Was it a silly question or something? :?

[fizzwheel]

If you're going to have your bike dirty, get it protected underneath- a dirty, protected bike will rot less than a perfectly clean, unprotected bike. Hard wax (not as easy or shiny as Mr Sheene but more protective), and the protector of your choice, I've had good results with FS365 but I've switched to ACF50.

Whats FS365 and ACF50?

They are anti corrosion treatments, FS365 is made by the Scotoiler people, not sure who makes the other stuff

They keep the salt off your bike in the winter

[creamerybutter]

Are they sprays and do you just coat everything with them?

[fizzwheel]

The FS365 is a spray I sprayed my entire bike with except for the brake disks and callpers

[Iansv]

I use FS365 too.... when I remember :oops:

[northwind]

FS365's really good, got my bike through daily use last winter in really good shape... It seems the ACF0 should be better, going by the recommendations you hear. It's a longer lasting application apparently. Not really tested it yet to be honest, I only started using it after I was laid up. It was designed for planes which is quite encouraging :) Should be fairly easily available, I got mine from a show but most of the big shops will carry it I think. £12 or so for an aerosol so it's not cheap, but it should go a long way.

[Cloggsy]

If you use a pressure washer, stay away from the radiator fins :roll: It does tent to bend them a bit :oops:

[UncleBob]

I just cry on mine cos no one wants it... :( :( :(

Hehe :wink:

[Peter Henry]

Squirrel...Even here with our arrid climate it is amazing how dust and airborne debris seem to zoom in on a bike! Dont think cos the sun shines a bike does not get dirty! I do accept though that if guys are riding through whatever the Uk weather throws at them then the job of keeping on top of things is much harder.
If you look at the initial post though...he admitted he had not cleaned it since December? That is hardly a question of the climate now is it?? :wink: 8)

[Supadan]

ACF-50 is great stuff if £13 a can. Kept my plane lovely all winter.

[chazzyb]

Just use Gunk for degreasing, not general washing. You shouldn't really need it on an SV at all. Also, Gunk will destroy tarmac, so careful where you use it - do it in the road, not on your drive! :twisted:

[chazzyb]

ACF-50 is great stuff if £13 a can. Kept my plane lovely all winter.


Yeah, but I bet the plane doesn't collect road crap and salt?

[northwind]

it's tried and tested on bikes too... Not by me yet, since the bike'sbeen off the road since I got a tin, but Patch uses it and recommends it very highly (ferociously almost) and he does some miles. The Scottoiler FS365's pretty effective, I never had any complaints about it, but it seems the ACF50's a better option. Smells nice too.

[pjsv650s]

cant remember who posted it but Muk off- Pro-clean etc does work
Used it on dirt bikes for years and works wonders but is NOT a degreaser . gunk is best for chain lube IMO. Busters often do cheap muk off

[Supadan]

ACF-50 is great stuff if £13 a can. Kept my plane lovely all winter.


Yeah, but I bet the plane doesn't collect road crap and salt?


:D :D :D LOL