Washing it - how?

Much the same way as you would your car. I do a low power hose to get rid of surface dust, then warm water/shampoo with a soft sponge, then rinse, and if I can be arsed the warm water and shampoo again, then rinse and shammy dry.

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Best way; don't.

Hose is OK, but be very careful with it. Don't apply high pressure anywhere, jsut use it to rinse over bodywork.

Erm....do you actually wash your chris?

[yorkie_chris]

Nope.

[dyzio]

Originally Posted by speedplay

Erm....do you actually wash your chris?

No, he doesn't.
From time to time, when YC is sleeping, the magic GM fairy cleans his bike

i think kwak should clean YC bike at the next AR, while YC is sleeping

haha

[Richie]

he must sleep for a long long time....

find 2 cans of halfords matt black paint does the job (cover lights and clocks with hand while spraying) gives a nice woodchip finish over flies on front

[Red Herring]

Originally Posted by 7755matt

Isnt WD40 on pegs and levers a bit iffy? Making them slippy?

Probably makes them slippy, definitely doesn't make them iffy. You are not relying on any surface friction when operating bike controls. What you do want is nice smooth operation.

Perhaps overlooked here is the very act of cleaning your bike should take you all over it inspecting, touching and checking everything as you go. It's the best way to find a lose part that shouldn't be lose, a tight part that shouldn't be tight or a worn part that shouldn't be worn before it tells you itself, usually late at night when it's raining..... I've always believed if you look after your bike it'll look after you.

best way is to put aside 2 hours a week of your tinme.

heres how i do mine....every week without fail (if its been ridden or not)

I spray with muc off first and let that do some breakingn down of dirt. I then have a low pressure sprayer i brough from homebase which you pump by hand. I fill this with warm water and gently spray all over the bike just lightly rinsing of the soap.

out then come the brushes. 3 in all.

brush 1 does in between engine cases and pots etc
brush 2 does around susupension
brush 3 does swing arm &wheels

After scrubbing down this and a final rinse i chammy dry the bike and all componenets i can get to.

this is followed by hein gerike spray on polish and a buff off.

Now for the chromey bits.Autosol these and dont be shy with the elbow grease. Once dry give it a buff with a polishing wheel and hey presto. Bikes clean.

Now the fun part......


Push it back in the garage and put a cover over it just in case it gets dirty!!!

[Messie]

Jump on bike and ride it 2 minutes down to the local car hand wash guys.
Get off bike and step aside, smiling
Watch very nice young lads wash and shine bike
Happily hand over £5
Ride away