Tips on cleaning ( how do you clean yours )

[stewboy]

Hey all , i need to give the bike a clean.. and although the weather is crap its still got to be done......

so any one give me some tips o :wink: n cleaning mine as i never get looking GREAT! ..

[El Saxo]

I havent had the bike long but have been using muc-off, seems to do a good job, and i've used autosol for the shiny metal bits once they're clean (i.e. the exhaust pipe / can etc).

[Carsick]

clean?

[northwind]

My bike gets washed sometimes. When it rains :)

Mucoff is good stuff... I like Mer polish, it might not be the ultimate finish but it goes on well. And ACF50 for protecting metal. If you hose the bike down, either dry it off or use something like those Flash cleaners- otherwise you get those ugly spots wherever a drop dries out.

[lynw]

clean?
:lol: :lol: :lol:

not just me that needs this concept explained then... Im with Northwind, it gets cleaned when it rains :D

[kwak zzr]

hello there stewboy meet mr clean! :D my engine is as clean underneath as my petrol tank is! i know its sad but i enjoy it, it all depends on how long you want to spend on it? ive spent more hours cleaning mine than riding it.

[stewboy]

i dont mind spending the time on it ...come peps lets fae it ....who really wants a bike that looks all grubby and like crap .......

ill spend as long as it takes my janey ( thats what i call her) is my pride and joy

[lynw]

i dont mind spending the time on it ...come peps lets fae it ....who really wants a bike that looks all grubby and like crap .......

ill spend as long as it takes my janey ( thats what i call her) is my pride and joy

tbh I dont care what it looks like. I ride it every day, Im out the house at 8am back at 6.30pm to 7.30pm, just isnt going to get washed on a weekday on that time scale. and weekends Im out on it pretty much most of the time again so there really isnt any time in daylight to do wash it.

plus it helps keep the salt off the bike in winter. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[kwak zzr]

WD 40 loads of it! it desolves grease, gets the **** off your engine and protects alittle aswell(dont get it on brakes and tyres),AUTOSOL for all the metal parts! SILVO for alloy leavers and things, i use any good wax for the painted parts, you will need a mild abrasive on the exhaust front pipe because nothing else will shift the staining. the rest is just elbow grease!

[Carsick]

ive spent more hours cleaning mine than riding it.
I hate to say it dude, but that saddens me a little.

[seedy100]

Rain for the top.
Puddles for the bottom

[Peter Henry]

I clean mine with lots of patience and care and try to remove any dirt from even the most awkward nooks and crannies. Cleaning a bike as always been a sort of therapy to me.

Of course these days I am a "weekend warrior" (well ok then weekend Field General! :lol: )and have more time to do this,it might be different if I were commuting on the bike. 8)

[kwak zzr]

ive spent more hours cleaning mine than riding it.
I hate to say it dude, but that saddens me a little.

my wife says the same :roll:

http://www.awfullygood.co.uk/4images/4images/./data/media/2/shock.JPG
http://www.awfullygood.co.uk/4images/4images/./data/media/2/sprocket.JPG
http://www.awfullygood.co.uk/4images/4images/./data/media/2/swing_arm.JPG
http://www.awfullygood.co.uk/4images/4images/./data/media/2/wheel_disk_side.JPG
http://www.awfullygood.co.uk/4images/4images/./data/media/2/wheel_sproc_side.JPG

[RandyO]

i dont mind spending the time on it ...come peps lets fae it ....who really wants a bike that looks all grubby and like crap .......

ill spend as long as it takes my janey ( thats what i call her) is my pride and joy

tbh I dont care what it looks like. I ride it every day, Im out the house at 8am back at 6.30pm to 7.30pm, just isnt going to get washed on a weekday on that time scale. and weekends Im out on it pretty much most of the time again so there really isnt any time in daylight to do wash it.

plus it helps keep the salt off the bike in winter. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

my schedule is much like yours but my bike actually gets washed every 3500-4000 miles when it goes into dealer for service, it's part of the sevice they do,

I have never had any problems from winter salt & sand, bug splats in the summer than go uncleaned, that another story, I think bug guts it the most corrosive substance known to man :roll:

I got some mud on my bike today :twisted:

[RandyO]

Bikes like the SV are made to be ridden

[kwak zzr]

ive only done 4k in the last 12months :roll:

[rob13]

ive done less than that :oops: im a shiftworker now though so while my girlfriend and all my mates are at work, i can be out riding. Its away in the garage at the moment mind as im doing an annual service on it.

[Last Action Pimp]

my schedule is much like yours but my bike actually gets washed every 3500-4000 miles when it goes into dealer for service, it's part of the sevice they do,


:lol: :lol: Not at my dealer, i cleaned my bike just before i took it in for its 4000mile service and when i got it home i had to spend another hour cleaning it (and i wan't me being fussy it needed it) greese and dirty finger prints over both wheels and the handle bars, the powder from their gloves was also on the handle bars and seats and tank!!

i never took it back there!!

[Blue Flame]

tbh I dont care what it looks like. I ride it every day, Im out the house at 8am back at 6.30pm to 7.30pm, just isnt going to get washed on a weekday on that time scale. and weekends Im out on it pretty much most of the time again so there really isnt any time in daylight to do wash it.

So how come your location is in the pub and you've made so many posts!! :?: . 'Drink riding' are we :wink:

[lynw]

tbh I dont care what it looks like. I ride it every day, Im out the house at 8am back at 6.30pm to 7.30pm, just isnt going to get washed on a weekday on that time scale. and weekends Im out on it pretty much most of the time again so there really isnt any time in daylight to do wash it.

So how come your location is in the pub and you've made so many posts!! :?: . 'Drink riding' are we :wink:

Because when Im in the pub Im drinking coke or orange juice and lemonade. Any member of the soho massive will confirm that is the equivalent of me drinking 5 pints - though I do have the advantage of instant sobering up the moment my lid goes on :D

[Fizzy Fish]

kwak zzr - does your love of cleaning bikes also extend to cleaning other people's? I'd be happy to help you out, and my bike does look expecially nice when it's clean so you're sure to get a real buzz off it...

[kwak zzr]

ive done 2 others before @ £20 each :roll: ! but they dont get the same treatment as mine :oops: my cousin also keeps his bandit in my garage and surprise surprise thats CLEEENNNNN as well.

[SVeeedy Gonzales]

Those pics of the clean bike... that's too clean... I'd never want to take it out if I got it that clean, even though I clean it pretty often.

I hose it down with water, then spray paraffin all over the most dirty bits and leave it for 10 minutes. The I use Halfords car cleaner and give it a once over, hose it down again and that gets rid of as much of the dirt as possible in the shortest time. Even gets the worst bits on the chain and hugger and wheels pretty clean with hardly any scrubbing.

[aej]

I cleaned my SV once...

[tee jey]

ive spent more hours cleaning mine than riding it.
I hate to say it dude, but that saddens me a little.

my wife says the same :roll:

http://www.awfullygood.co.uk/4images/4images/./data/media/2/shock.JPG
http://www.awfullygood.co.uk/4images/4images/./data/media/2/sprocket.JPG
http://www.awfullygood.co.uk/4images/4images/./data/media/2/swing_arm.JPG
http://www.awfullygood.co.uk/4images/4images/./data/media/2/wheel_disk_side.JPG
http://www.awfullygood.co.uk/4images/4images/./data/media/2/wheel_sproc_side.JPG

What a grubby bike, it needs a good clean, start off with good old soap and water, not forgetting to clean behind the ears, chamios off the water, Silvo the silver bits, blanco the white bits, boot polish the black bits, emery the rusty bits, Dubbin the seat (especially the pillion) and then take it for a good run on wet roads to wash it off.

[Last Action Pimp]

kwak zzr wana clean my bike for me?? ?? ill give u a tenner to make it shiny like yours

[tee jey]

Muckoff = Fenwicks Motorcaravan Cleaner (about £8 per litre) diluted 1 to 8 with tap water in a cheap spray bottle. Save your self a fortune. Available from all caravan shops amd Towsure............ believe me I've used it for years, it's good.





.

[kwak zzr]

kwak zzr wana clean my bike for me?? ?? ill give u a tenner to make it shiny like yours

tenna! that works out to about 50p per hour! :shock:

[northwind]

I had mine that clean when I couldn't ride it... Had nothing better to do so I took it to bits, cleaned, lubed and polished it, then put it back together. Then the day after I got the all clear to ride, it rained, and the bike was filthy again. Oh well...

[busasean]

got to say i'm with kwak on this one! i have three thoughts behind it.

1) if a copper stops you for anything and the bike is immaculate then the chances are he wont look at it too deeply for illegal exhaust etc, also its a matter of first immpressions, bikes filthy then obviously (in their eyes) its not being looked after, checked or serviced so therefore it probably needs a "closer" look at!

2) i have found that when thouroughly cleaning a bike you tend to find things going wrong and can sort them before they go tits up and leave you stranded. on my old africa twin i found a chain link that was starting to crack, found a disc that was cracked (made me go very white!) and quite a few other bits that could have cost me dearly in terms of money and pain!

3) having paid alot of money for my bikes i try to keep them in good order so if i decide to sell 1 then at least they wont lose too much due to corrosion, - especailly the sv because the finish is awful!

i leave for work at 5.30 most days and commute on average about 700 miles per week (use transalp for commuting) but only tend to clean it fri night/sat morn but use the scotoil anti corrosion spray every day which i reccommend very good!

[kwak zzr]

needless to say when i sell a bike i have no problems with buyers. :D

[seedy100]

kwak zzr

Just seen your pictures, - awsome (and may be a little sad)

Can I bring mine round?

Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kwak zzr]

do you think i would have much response to a mobile valet for bikes? serious! i was thinking of this in the summer, do you think people would pay say £25 for a bike clean?
its a buisness idea that i would enjoy doing. :D

[Sholay]

do you think i would have much response to a mobile valet for bikes? serious! i was thinking of this in the summer, do you think people would pay say £25 for a bike clean?
its a buisness idea that i would enjoy doing. :D

I would occasionally. If cheaper more often.

Think it is a possible business idea.

Good luck.

[Saint Matt]

I really enjoy cleaning my bike, I find it very satisfying, especially in the sunshine. I try to do it every week, more than that in the summer if I ride it a lot, but less when it's cold. I use some car wash and wax first, then just a cheap polish if I'm at home (dad's a bit tight when it comes to consumables like this, and yes I did have to word that carefully as he just bought me an Xbox 360, a camera and took me and a few mates out for a £230 meal for my 18th) or autoglym if I am round at the girlfriend's, then I use autoglym vinyl stuff on the seats, parts of the dash and no. plate holder to get the white polish marks off (also makes the seats slippy for ease of **** movement), borrowed from my missus's brother, then autosol the can. Some parts like the swingarm, wheels, engine and heelplates might get a wipe from a brake cleaner soaked rag before hand :)

[northwind]

There's a difference between dirty and ratty though. Mine scrubs up lovely when I put my mind to it, and it's (if I may say so ) exceptionally well kept. Just that it's always dirty. I think some people get a bit caught up with clean = well kept. I bet you a pound that mine, with its layer of filth on top of polish and ACF50, will age less in a year than one that gets shone up bright but not well protected...

[kwak zzr]

surpose it depends on how much you ride and what weather you ride in?
salty winter roads are a no no for suzuki's, my old bandit started to rot fast! but my honda cbr 6 did well in the winter months.

[wheelnut]

Mine gets cleaned when it needs it, up to now in 3 years it has needed it twice :P

I used to have my own truck, and washed it when it was dirty, My mate who was fanatical would be washing and polishing his truck all the time. The problem was that he never checked the main things, like oil and water, and he wouldnt go near it with a grease gun because it was a dirty job

My truck was in better condition after 5 years than his clean one :D

So Im convinced

[kwak zzr]

i do daily checks aswell when i clean it, the only thing i'm sloppy on is the tyre pressures. :oops:

[northwind]

surpose it depends on how much you ride and what weather you ride in?
salty winter roads are a no no for suzuki's, my old bandit started to rot fast! but my honda cbr 6 did well in the winter months.

Again, your milage may vary. Mine was pretty much a fairweather bike till I got it, it seems, but since then it's been ridden 5 days out of 7 all year except when I've been injured, on holiday, or it's been in bits. Obviously a lot of that is in conditions that'll kill a bike if you're not careful, but it's still in good nick. I used to use FS365 which worked well, now I use ACF50 which is even better. The only place my bike's really suffered is the rear subframe- which is a little damaged and so let water attack the metal- and the engine cases, which have lost some paint.

[kwak zzr]

northwind sorry for being such a dill but whats FS365 and ACF50? :oops:

[Fizzy Fish]

do you think i would have much response to a mobile valet for bikes? serious! i was thinking of this in the summer, do you think people would pay say £25 for a bike clean?
its a buisness idea that i would enjoy doing. :D

If I had someone like that round here I'd definitely pay to have my bike cleaned every month or so - there's a lot of us lazy types around, as you can see from this thread!

I reckon you should go for it - all it would take to guage interest is a few flyers handed out at local bikes meets, or a note on web forums, etc. There's a shop in Kings Cross dedicated to bike valeting, admitedly there are more bikes and hence more of a market for it around in London, but if you don't have overheads then you can just do whatever comes up.

good luck if you do anyway!

[Balky001]

2 ways to keep the bike looking spanking new

1. A decent mobile valet service

2. Buy new parts when the old ones get dirty.

But if you have more sense than money, Mer and Mr Shine for the plastic, Wurtz brake and chain cleaner for the chain and discs/pads, (don't forget the caliper pistons and add a bit of silicon spray) Wurtz clear chain lube to keep it looking nice and parafin for the hard to remove greasy bits. F365 applied liberally to engine and bits and cotton buds used where necessary!

[fizzwheel]

northwind sorry for being such a dill but whats FS365 and ACF50? :oops:

FS365 is an a salt inhibiting ( sp ) treatment, you spray it on your bike and it then it coats the metal parts, it reacts to salt and stops the salt attacking the metal and thus prevents rust

ACF50 is a different version by a different manufacturer, if northwind says its better than FS365, which is made by the Scotoiler people then I would be inclined to get some 8)

WD40 will prevent this as well, its just IMHO not quite as good

HTH

[wyrdness]

There's a difference between dirty and ratty though. Mine scrubs up lovely when I put my mind to it, and it's (if I may say so ) exceptionally well kept. Just that it's always dirty. I think some people get a bit caught up with clean = well kept. I bet you a pound that mine, with its layer of filth on top of polish and ACF50, will age less in a year than one that gets shone up bright but not well protected...

I'm with Northy here. My bike tends to look grubby, but is coated with ACF-50 and scrubs up very nicely, with no corrosion anywhere that I can see.

The only thing that I have a problem with is grime stuck fast to the cans, that's been flung up from the rear wheel and has dried hard. I'm not sure what will remove this without scratching. Any suggestions? Muc-off doens't seem to shift it.

[wyrdness]

northwind sorry for being such a dill but whats FS365 and ACF50? :oops:

FS365 is an a salt inhibiting ( sp ) treatment, you spray it on your bike and it then it coats the metal parts, it reacts to salt and stops the salt attacking the metal and thus prevents rust

ACF50 is a different version by a different manufacturer, if northwind says its better than FS365, which is made by the Scotoiler people then I would be inclined to get some 8)

WD40 will prevent this as well, its just IMHO not quite as good

HTH

The bloke in Infinity said that FS365 is water-soluble and neutralises salt. He suggested spraying it on the bike every time you've ridden on salty roads. It washes off easily so requires regular re-application.

ACF-50 was developed for aircraft by Lear (as in Lear Jets) and is said to only require one application a year. It's oil-based like a sort of super WD40. I use it more often to be on the safe side, especially after cleaning the bike.

[fizzwheel]

There's a difference between dirty and ratty though. Mine scrubs up lovely when I put my mind to it, and it's (if I may say so ) exceptionally well kept. Just that it's always dirty. I think some people get a bit caught up with clean = well kept. I bet you a pound that mine, with its layer of filth on top of polish and ACF50, will age less in a year than one that gets shone up bright but not well protected...

I'm with Northy here. My bike tends to look grubby, but is coated with ACF-50 and scrubs up very nicely, with no corrosion anywhere that I can see.

The only thing that I have a problem with is grime stuck fast to the cans, that's been flung up from the rear wheel and has dried hard. I'm not sure what will remove this without scratching. Any suggestions? Muc-off doens't seem to shift it.

I spray mine with muc off first and then rinse the worst of it off after that then I give mine a liberal spray with WD40 and then give it a few minutes to soak in and the rub it with a very soft cloth and that seems to shift it

[Grinch]

All I'm going to say is, I'm dirty.. as is my bike.. :wink:

[rpwoodman]

Northwind,

What parts of the bike do you use ACF50 on? Currently I've just been using it on the bolt heads holding the fairing on, tho the manufacturers web site seems to imply to me that it can be used over pretty well all parts of the bike.
I've been using various wax products on the fairing etc, but have wondered giving a wipe over with ACF50 once that's all done. The protection (to keep the bike in good order) is probably more important to me than looking good - hence my application of a tankslapper tank protector (http://www.thetankslapper.biz/online-store/scstore/main.htm).

rgds

[northwind]

I use ACF50 on all the exposed metal bar the brakes, basically. No point in using it on paint really. I don't rely on it being once-a-year... Perhaps it is but the way you find out that you've left it too long, is your bike goes rusty, so I'd rather do it too often :)

The other thing is, chemical cleaners can remove it- so I always reapply it after cleaning the bike, even though you can see from the way the water runs off that there's still some in place. I'd sooner be safe than sorry.

FS365's good too though.

[thor]

How do I clean it?

Rinse with cold water
Wash with car shampoo and sponge and hot water
Rinse with cold
Dry with cotton cloth
Wax and polish with clean cloth

For the wheels and down pipe I use a nasty allow cleaner. It just melts the brown stuff! I then take care to rinse it all off.

[raymond smith]

i clean mine several times a week in winter which is a pain. while in work last saturday i had the idea to use some industrial cleaning wipes, which are safe on paint etc, to save me getting frozen outside. they worked brilliantly on the engine,frame etc but i didn,t use them on the paintwork cos i didn,t want to rub all the **** in. probably not as good as a full degrease and wash but imho very good. the ones i used were cheap ones so the good ones we stock will probably be better