How do you Clean your bike?

Unless your bike is heavily soiled with road grime, mud and grease, using a water hose may not be necessary all the time to thoroughly clean the bike. A bucket or two, (1) with water with a good car wash solution and (1) with clean water may work just fine although a little more attention may need to be paid to smaller and not so accessible areas. Small detailing brushes help get into small crevices and spaces.

"Bucket Washing" is a good way to pay attention to detail or your bike with out putting a lot of unnecessary water and pressure on the bike that may remove waxes, oils and may damage or scratch painted surfaces.

Regular washing or cleaning of your wheels helps to remove grease, brake dust, road grime, oils, mud, sand, salts and any other contaminants your wheels come in contact with, which can possibly accelerate the deterioration process of your tires. It also helps in removing damaging brake dust, oils and chain grease from your brake components. Brake dust is your enemy. Washing motorcycle wheels and the engine can be easy if it is maintained from the start. Simple cleaners designed for motorcycle tires and painted wheel surfaces or Dawn dish washing detergent can help reduce the amount of dirt on wheels and engine and make the cleaning process easier. Simply spraying on some mild cleaner, allowing it to soak and remove the dirt, hose it off with water or little wiping with a soaked rag, does a lot. After a washing make sure the bike is really dry. A short ride can remove water in spaces where you can't reach.

Finish up with a good wax to bring back the luster and shine to the bike.
I use either one of these, depending on what the seller has.



Most dealers use this stuff to keep the bike shiny. This stuff has been around for years and is really good.

I own a detail shop so I have all the equipment needed to do the job, but most of the time I do it at home with just two microfibre rags. One wet n one dry ( wet with water ). I actually clean it after every ride. May seem excessive but it only takes about a half hour. The microfibre rag, when wet, removes bugs easily. That's usually where I start, on all upper painted areas n work my way down. U don't want the rags oily or sandy n start rubbin the paint. I go over the entire bike, all paint, engine, exhaust , rims, tires, windscreen. Once done cleaning, I take another two rags n wax it, any wax, polish, sealant will do. I usually apply several coats, the more the merrier. For scratches , there are many types of compounds, always use water with compounds, to avoid hazing the paint. Farecla, is one compound I use, works great, I keep a spray bottle of water handy. Wet area to be compounded,rub in compound, not aggressively , rub off compound , repeat as much as needed. Then apply wax. Don't armorall anything, including tires, armorall attracts dirt cause it is oily. Keeping things in their natural state will make them last longer,maintenance is the key. I'm not saying that I know it all , but I've been at it for 26 years and have cleaned n shined everything that has wheels , wings, n hulls.