Bike washing techniques

I use a long bristle brush(the kind you use for scrubbing car tires) for the majority of the bike and a tooth brush for getting around the motor and controls. If I use degreaser I'll use purple power or slam but only do a small section at a time and I'm quick about it so it won't etch anything. I use compressed air to dry the chain, pegs, shift and brake levers, carb, basically everything. The key is to get the tip of the blow gun close enough to blow the water off but not to close to blow water into seals. I do my best to clean it up after every ride and it makes a big difference as far as keeping that new feel. Stay away from simple green. It's very acidic and will etch your frame and other aluminum parts in short order

i spray it with cleaner,409 or such then pressure wash ,not on hubs ,steering head or chain,swingarm or linkage bearings.

a 4000 psi washer will kill a bike faster than not ever washing it.

a simple electric with 500 psi will do you right.

as for teardown i always took it apart on a schedule of riding. nothing written,just when i knew it was time it was.

a new bike was always taken completely apart ,to the frame ,and put back greased and tight.

it would take me a week or more to get thru whst all was done,but i had a bike to race so it wasnt a rush to get on it.

Look into getting an airbox cover also. It makes cleaning your airbox a breeze while you are cleaning everything else and makes it so you aren't blasting water on your seat and having it absorbing into your seat foam making it weigh more.

Is simple green that acidic? What would be a good alternative?

I take most of the plastics off while they're still dirty and spray them down separate from the rest of the chassis. Some diluted degreaser in a spray bottle and a car wash sponge for dirt stains the pressure sprayer doesn't take off. Compressed air for a quick dry.

It should go without saying you don't blast away at anything with a sealed bearing. (steering head, shock linkage, hubs, etc)

I use shout now. That stuff does the job. Just cleaned my new sidis with it.

I always thought simple green did the best job. Finish of with some of that F1 plastic stuff to keep the sun from fading the plastic.

after washing sprsy wd40 on the chain at the counter sproket while spinning the wheel to get water out,lube it later.

o ring chain dont get pressure nesr it,fubar for sure.

when i do filter i spray the airbox with wd40 and wipe all debri downward before removing filter. after working fresh oil into filter i wipe the excess oil on airbox sides to catch new debri.

I have always used simple green mixed 50/50. Scotch brite pad, tooth brush and a rag, also a brush just for the chain.

I used to use a pressure washer, but now have just used a hose with a nozzle.

Every time I wash my bike I take my tank off and subframe off. Every couple of rides I will take my skid plate off and be sure so clean between the skid plate and frame.

I wash my bike at the track right after riding. No soap or simple green.

Once every month or so, I'll take the plastics off and do the simple green with brush exercise...

- Hose down to remove heavy dirt/mud (if you're smart, you'll get most off at the track before coming home)
- Spray Simple Green all over bike, especially where there is heavy mud build-up. Let soak for a bit while you prepare a bucket with more Simple Green and water
- Remove skid plate and air filter (get a plastic Twin-Air airfilter cover - best thing ever)
- Use a scotch-brite sponge on all non-painted metal, avoiding plastics, except underneath fenders and inside side-panels. Use the non-abrasive side of sponge for exterior plastics, tank, seat, etc...
- Use heavy-duty brush on engine cases, wheels, chain, etc...
- Spray off (since you don't live in California, spray the crap out of it and then more just for good measure)
- Get the wheels spinning with the pressure from hose and hose the crap out of rims, hubs, spokes etc... I also like to run the heavy duty brush on the spokes while the wheels are spinning)
- Use compressed air to remove most of water, especially around electrical connections, carb/throttle body, engine, etc...
- Dry plastics off with towel
- Start bike and ride around block a few times
- Put away and dry hump your bike before closing garage and cracking a beer

Insert plastic bag scrunched up into muffler. (I always lose my muffler butt plug)

Wet bike down.

Wait 5min.

Wash bike on stand, starting from rear tyre, working way forward to front wheel.

Spin / waterblast tyres while bike is on stand.

Spray bike over with a mix of dynamo fabric softener and water (30% dynamo 70% water) from a spray container.

Wait 5 min.

Lay bike down on one side with 1 side of handlebars on stand, wash under swingarm, engine, linkage area, bottom of airbox / carb etc area, under front guard, behind fork guards.

Flip bike to lay on other side, wash under bike from this side.

Place bike back on stand and give a final once over, mainly getting rid of dirt flicked into places from previous water blast angles.

Towel down bike to avoid water marks.

Lightly wd-40 frame wear marks / foodpegs / shifter.

Remove bag from muffler.

Apply chain lube.

Install new air filter.

Warm bike up briefly (some people think this draws water into the engine?)

Put seat inside house to dry fully. (wet seat foam is the leading cause of soft seats, its also heavy)

Purple power in a weed killer pump tank, spray the whole bike down and then pressure wash. If the bike is really muddy, just pressure wash it. Dawn dish soap mixed at about 33% ratio with water works good also.

This mixture is thick and it uses a lot of soap but it does the job. While you are spraying it out it will almost be a gel.

I have heard Mr Clean works real good on the aluminum frames but have not tried it.

I used to not wash my bike at all, ever. I was just too busy. It was hard enough to find time to ride. I just bought a pressure washer. A sun Joe spx3000. I picked up new for $139. I'm very pleased with it.

I'm using 20% simple green. I spray everywhere that I believe will not come clean without some help. Then I use the pressure washer with the 15 degree nozzle tip. I stay away from bearings and seals.

I have read that you shouldn't let the cleaner dry before rinsing, regardless of what you're using.

I'm not using any brushes at all.
So far so good!

Holy shit, how long do you guys spend washing a bike?

My bike was really dirty since I've hardly washed it for 10 years.
So, I've spent 30 minutes twice.
It should only take 15 minutes now at best.

I use an 800psi electric pressure washer, with the wide fan tip to keep from killing bearings or lifting graphics.

I pull the seat off, remove the air filter, install the air boot cover and soak the airbox with full strength simple green. Put the seat bolts back in so the side plates aren't flapping when you spray them. Duct tape over muffler outlet. Hose off the really dirty spots first then wet down the rest of the bike.

Soak it with Shout and scrub under the fenders, cases and tire sidewalls with a dollar store toilet bowl brush. I grab a microfiber towel and rub all the plastic, frame, swing arm, forks, rims, hubs and grips. Soak the chain in simple green and scrub it real well with a Grunge Brush. Lay the bike on its side remove the skid plate and scrub the linkage, cradle and cases with toilet brush. Flip the bike and repeat. Scrub the skid plate, grab the hose, rinse the bottom and install skid plate before it goes back on the stand. Spray Shout on the seat then wipe it down with a wet microfiber towel.

Blast out the airbox first then rinse the rest of the bike. Don't spray the chain directly, it gets rinsed well enough just being there. Compressed air to dry all the tight spots and airbox then towel dry the bike. Spray the chain with Maxima MPPL then wipe it dry. Install a clean air filter then finish with SC1 and a clean microfiber. Reinstall seat.

Every oil change interval or after a muddy ride I will pull the tank and clean the bottom of it and the frame underneath. Remove the shrouds, radiator louvers and number plates and hand wash them front and back. I scrub all the raw aluminum, spokes and header/mid-pipe with an S.O.S pad. Then I wash the bike same as above.

My riding buddies give me shit constantly for having such a clean bike.

washing pretty much covered , when finished dry it down , start engine to warm it up , then spay the bike completely with WD40 / CRC what ever name you have for it there . wipe down excess { DO NOT GET ON BRAKE DISKS }
this keeps them looking like new also helps for the next ride the mud doesn't stick as bad .

Spray down your bike with power washer, simple green it, spray it down, remove seat (have twin air cover on)....simple green air box and spray out, spray off bike one more time for good measure, use leaf blower to dry the entire bike and then bust out the...yep WD40! Stay away from the common sense areas with the power washer...bearings.

WD40 should be mandatory when washing a dirt bike. I see too many clapped out bikes where guys bike parts are all corroded because they don't have a clue how to wash a bike nor do they spray it down with WD40. My bike takes a bath in WD40 and I wipe off the excess and just in case I get over spray on the disc, I clean the disc brakes really well with brake cleaner.

I use contact cleaner to touch up the plastic or other areas that have some grease/oil build up.

Braaapppp.

Should you warm your engine after power washing the bike? If so, whats the best way? Short and sweet? or full warmup?

If it is really muddy, I hose off the big chunks.
Then, I hit the chain lube, pipe splooge etc. with engine degreaser,
After that sits for a while, I hit the whole bike with Shout. (I found that the Shout doesn't discolor the aluminum over time like the Simple Green)
After that sits for a while, I use the pressure washer but stay away from any bearings.
Once it drip dries for a bit, I coat the whole bike with WD40, Walmart "Lubricant" or some other light oil, making sure to get the chain and any pivots.
I then wipe the whole bike down with some of those white bar towels.

I use Mr. Clean. Pressure washer, kinda with the same methods as others have mentioned.

One thing I do different is instead of WD-40, I just have always hated that smell, I got one of these
refillable compressed air cans and fill it with mineral oil diluted with enough mineral spirit so
that it will spray properly. The mineral spirit will quickly evaporate leaving the oil. If you REALLY want
that baby fresh smell, use baby oil instead. You get a lot of WTF's? when you pull up to the line
wreaking like a nursery.

I will never use a pressure washer on my bike again. Way too aggressive,only reason pro mechanics get away with it because they completely rebuild the bike after every race. Just spray some degreaser, wipe down with a sponge and dish soap and rinse. Some of you guys seem to get a little carried away with washing.

You wrote that you change the air filter then warm up the bike? Is that an air filter that you prepped on a previous day? If you don't let the the filter oil set it can get sucked into the carb and cause problems (I've read).
After cleaning we have always turned the gas off and ran the bike till the float bowl was empty. If we didn't do this, (my KTM particularly) the pilot jet would clog and require clearing when I had absolutely no time to do it. Some carbs have a drain screw but we just got in the habit of doing this. Be aware that when you get to end of the fuel, the bike will run lean and climb way up in the RPMs till fully starved if you do this on the stand in neutral. We just ride up and down the driveway till dead.
TM

I don't like working on my bike with ANY dirt on it. I can wash my bike complete with gear and filters in 45 mins.

Cleanliness is next to godliness.

I usually use a pressure washer to spray the majority of dirt off, then spray some Mr. Clean over the whole bike and let it sit for a few minutes. Then spray the whole bike again using the pressure washer and then coat with some Oxi Clean, I spray a lot on the seat cover to get all the stains off and on the tires it seems to help. Let it air dry then go over with some glass cleaner on the plastics/graphics and wipe it down and use a green scotchbrite pad to get the black wear marks off of the swingarm, frame and any other areas where my boots mark it up. Keeps the bike looking really good for an extended amount of time.

I have always used a pressure washer, I have always sprayed the chain, I've always sprayed the linkage and the hubs.... In 25 years of riding I have never had a chain or bearing failure... Ever! I also grease my bearings every 6-8 weeks with this awesome new to the market Bel Ray water proof bearing grease key term was water proof! I think it's the original tub from 25 years ago from my 1985 CR80....I also hit the chain with WD40 after ward then chain lube.

The procedure

1. Unload bike and put on stand
2. Spray degreaser on chain, sprocket, and linkage area to soak
3. Unload truck while degreaser soaking
4. Spray the snot out of the chain and greasy crap, then mud and tires
5. Apply Motul bike wash over the rest of the bike
6. With a conical brush for wheels I scrub everywhere
7. Rinse
8. Wipe down with Motul bike shine stuff or lemon pledge!

Good to go... And yes everyone makes fun of how clean my bike is... And I take it as a compliment!

Every single person I ride with uses a pressure washer on their bike with zero problems.

If you use a smaller hobby style pressure washer and don't blast directly into bearings for long periods of time / service linkage etc regularly its fine in my experience.

It takes me about 40min to wash bike. I don't feel I could get it clean enough with a brush.

Stay away from commercial washing facilities and do it yourself.
Remove tank bags, luggage and any accessories you don’t want to get wet such as a GPS.
Wash frequently, but don’t overdo it.
Wash with water and suitable cleaning agents.
High-pressure cleaning can be effective in removing caked-on mud and tough grime.
Try this..

I used to spend about an hour on my bike (pain in the butt to set it all up, unload from trailer etc) after each ride. Now that I have my own track on property, I don't wash it as much. I don't use a pressure washer anymore because I don't really think it needs it. If I know my bike is gonna get muddy, I'll just put strips of duct tape under the fenders (saves so much time). My current 125 is pretty old though so a new bike would get much better care. My next 125 is getting rebuilt piece by piece so that bike will be treated like new.

My routine is basically this. Remove chain, wash chain in oil/degreaser and then wash off, hang chain somewhere and blast with compressed air. Then I'll wash the bike from the top down, but first wash the guards and underside quickly to remove and big bits. Then degrease the exhaust and chain areas. Use a brush to wash most places, and then the underside of the bike. Then hose off and spray WD40 all over the engine and exhaust. Put the chain back on and lube it up. Good to go for next time.

I try and stop by a car wash on the way home. Get 90% of the mud and dirt off for $1.50.

Take them home and douce everything with simple green and use the garden hose to rinse it all out.

I try to make are my trailer stays clean as well.