If you are a motorcyclist, you probably take pride in the appearance of your ride. Gleaming chrome, polished fairings, and slick leather are part and parcel of the biking experience. But cleaning a motorcycle is more than mere cosmetics. It is an essential part of maintenance.
Cleaning your bike keeps salt and other corrosive substances off your parts. It is also an excellent opportunity to perform an inspection. When you are up close and scrubbing, you may notice issues you would never see during everyday riding.
Here’s how to clean a motorcycle efficiently and effectively.
Before you start cleaning, you will need to get all of your gear together. Here’s a list of cleaning supplies you are going to need:
Before you start, consider your location. In addition to water access, you ideally want to clean your motorcycle in the shade. Direct sunlight speeds up evaporation, which increases the risk of streaking and spotting.
If you have just been riding, let your bike cool off before you get it wet. If you spray cold water on a hot engine block, the temperature change could shock the metal and crack it. Thankfully, a lot of the cooling happens while you are rounding up your supplies.
If your tailpipes are angled upwards towards the back, they can get flooded during the washing process. This is undesirable since water in the pipe can cause your bike to rust. If you have a tailpipe in this style, then stuff a rag in it to keep water out. You can even buy an aftermarket rubber plug if you want to get fancy.
Before you give your bike a good, deep cleaning, start with a pre-cleaning to break up the bulk of the dirt and grime. Spray your bike with motorcycle spray cleaner all over, and let it sit for a few minutes. Read the instructions. Note, different brands require different treatment times.
When the cleaner has done its work, rinse your motorcycle with the standard garden spray setting on your hose. It might be tempting to use a power washer, or at least the jet setting, but that would be an unwise decision. It is easy to damage your motorcycle’s finish, and there’s no real benefit to high pressure for this application.
During this process, you probably have spilled a bunch of dirty water and gunk all over your chain. That’s ok! It’s a blessing in disguise, as this is an excellent opportunity to clean your chain.
Use a degreaser or WD-40 to loosen up the grit and wash away any wax that has accumulated on the chain. For those who own a shaft-drive bike, there is no need to worry about this step.
Next, it is time to clean out all the grooves, nooks, and crannies around the engine. Use a toothbrush and soapy water, and spritz some WD40 on any stubborn grime.
While you are doing this, be careful to avoid the bearings and brake lines. It is easy to get water inside these parts, which causes corrosion and other serious problems down the line.
Now, it is time to give your motorcycle a thorough washing. Fill your bucket with soap and water, and get to work with your sponge. It helps to have a spare sponge. If there is dirt in the sponge, clean it out or exchange it for your spare. Otherwise, the dirty sponge can scratch your clear coat and wreck your finish.
Along the same lines, swap out your water periodically. Dirt will collect in the bottom and contaminate your sponge, which will once again cause damage to your clear coat. As for the soap you use, any automotive soap will work. But avoid household cleaners or anything else not explicitly designed for automotive use.
Inevitably, soap and water will drip all over your bearings and brake lines. But like the earlier instances, you don’t clean these parts. Scrubbing them could push water inside, whereas water simply dripping over them will likely just roll off.
Finally, it is easiest to work by starting at the top and working your way down. This way, you won’t be dripping dirty water over areas you have already cleaned.
Once you have finished washing, you will need to move quickly. If soap dries on your motorcycle, it can leave spots, swirls, and streaks that need to be buffed out. Use your hose, and once again, use the gentle setting. However, gentle rinsing doesn’t have to be a lackluster rinsing. Use as much water as you need to remove every last bit of soap.
After rinsing, you should also dry as quickly as possible. A leaf blower or snow blower works wonders here, but microfiber and chamois also work very well. Just remember to be thorough. Water left in the cracks and crevices can cause corrosion, and water left to dry on chrome can leave spots.
Many bikers like to ride their motorcycles to air dry them, and it’s a perfectly valid approach. But you need to be careful.
First off, if you ride a chain-drive bike, you will need to reapply your chain wax before riding. Second, dirt and dust can get stuck on your bike while it is still wet and before you have the chance to wax. For this reason, riding your motorcycle dry is usually a sub-optimal drying method.
Much like a car, a motorcycle needs to be waxed if you want the finish to last. Wax protects the paint from sun damage and protects the clear coat from everyday dust and dirt.
Be careful, though. A wax levels out imperfections in the clear coat, while a polish will wear the clear coat down until it is smooth. Make sure you are using wax and not polish. Otherwise, you can wear off your clear coat years before its intended lifespan.
Lastly, don’t forget to re-lube your chain if your bike is a chain drive. An unwaxed chain can easily jam, snap, and rust, so don’t skip this step! Once that’s done, you are ready to get back on the road.