Cleaning my ride

As an all year round biker the poor machine gets a bit of a bashing from the weather, especially the salt at this time of year. I bought some Autoglym bike cleaner but is there any advice on cleaning techniques on here or down loadable, or any other products that work to prevent as much damage as possible.
Does a quick cool water rince down when I get home do it any good or am I asking for trouble?

Talk to the autosol/autoglym master Kwak zzr. Hes a black belt 6th Dan in Cleaning.

If he can't help you, no one can!

Soap and warm water once a week in the winter, and if its been a bit damp/raining then hose it down after riding Cold or warm water, the road salt wil dissolve in it all and be carried away. Warm water makes it a bit quicker, but I dont know anyone with a hose that is connected to a hot water supply....

Make sure to rinse the vulnerable parts well - brakes, rear shock mostly. I spray lubricant on the shock pivoting points if I can get to them to make sure they are coated in a water-repellant layer to help ward off corrosion damage form the salt. Helps to spray the brake levers and any springs (back brake etc) with it too, so they dont seize up and fail to return as easily

Keep it clean, and it'll stay nice and reliable. Each time you clean you get to have an inspection of the bike too, so you can spot any problems and fix them before it strands you in the middle of nowhere

Matt

i clean my bike everytime i ride it. Come to think i dont think there is one nut or bolt that has dirt on it"

I use muck off spray for the first time round. Rinse with warm water from a pressure sprayer. (or whatever u have)

Then round 2 of muck off just incase you missed anything. Leave this on for about 10 mins to crack in the muck. Now , i have a whole selection of bottle neck and stiff brushses for certain bits of the bike. Build yourself a set of these up. always helpful. Give all the bits a good scrub.

For the panels or paint i use microfibre cloths. Start with a blue one and finish with the buff yellow.

Rerinse the bike and take out your chami. Give a good wipe down. I have a can of compressed air i blow into knocks ans crannys which removes any unwnted water.

Once this is done, i polish the paint using autogleam. This i found is most likely the best. Autosol all nut heads and shiney bits. Use a good bit of elbow grease here. Buff with a lint free cloth. autosol the swinging arm, , wheels, levers. dont miss these.

finish with a spray all over with castrol bike polish and one last shine. Wheel into the garage, back to black the tyre walls and place cover on bike.

That is how i do it everytime i ride! And thats why my bike is gleamy shiney

Once cleaned, give the forks, swing arm a liberal coating of ACF50, very good anti corrosion stuff! If that's too pricey then you can use GT85, it's basically a PTFE based spray which will give you protection against the salt n crap on the roads.

Sounds like a great routine Blue but I get home as It's getting dark and I don't have a garage, yet. I try and give it a thorough going over when I can and I like the idea of getting a selection of different brushes together. I've only got the one at the moment!
Do you WD the electrics when you've finished?

Cheers Cuffy, I'll give them a look and find a local supplier. I think protection is the key for me. Those poor forks

This is just a guess Blue but I suspect you dont have my daily 120 mile commute into London & back.

Its gone 7:30 by the time I get home and the last thing I want to do when I cant feel my fingers (or nads) is to clean the bike.

Weather permitting I use S Doc 100 gel on a Sunday morning to clean and prep the bike for another weeks riding. Clean & Lube the chain, check tyre pressures and off we go.

Mine a K6S and it doesnt appear to have been effected too badly by this winter punnishment. S Doc 100 is pricey but its the best I have found.

Originally Posted by svrich

Sounds like a great routine Blue but I get home as It's getting dark and I don't have a garage, yet. I try and give it a thorough going over when I can and I like the idea of getting a selection of different brushes together. I've only got the one at the moment!
Do you WD the electrics when you've finished?

i have a silicon spray for electrics. I do these once a month. Just to keep it tip top

Originally Posted by Bimble

This is just a guess Blue but I suspect you dont have my daily 120 mile commute into London & back.

Its gone 7:30 by the time I get home and the last thing I want to do when I cant feel my fingers (or nads) is to clean the bike.

Weather permitting I use S Doc 100 gel on a Sunday morning to clean and prep the bike for another weeks riding. Clean & Lube the chain, check tyre pressures and off we go.

Mine a K6S and it doesnt appear to have been effected too badly by this winter punnishment. S Doc 100 is pricey but its the best I have found.

your right there mate, My daily commute is less than a mile!

in the cage tuedsay, thursdays

on the bike monday wendesdays fridays.(wheather permitting)

The reason being is i pay tax for both so i might as well use both