Cleaning after a winter ride?

matchbox

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You go for a ride on your lovely shiny GS and when you get home it is covered in crud! Interested to know what others do to clean it all off, especially the salt.

My present routine is to hose down with cold water and if it is not raining leave it outside to air dry for a while. Then into the garage and a wipe down with microfibre cloth. But it does not look great and the GS seem to get soiled in so many nooks an crannies! I'm not a great spit and polish guy but do like to try and preserve the bikes finish!

Interested to hear how others cope!
 
Don't get me started!

Before :eek:

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After :beerjug:

d94e6ffc8b8a49bafa204316f12be785_zpsb0080c73.jpg


Only took 3 hours!:comfort:D
 
Firstly clean the bike thouroghly using warm water and a quality motorcycle cleaner. I use Autoglym, not because it's better than other products but as I buy it in gallon containers at wholesale price.

The GS has a lot of nooks and crannies I.E the find on cylinder heads which is where the wife's toothbrush comes in handy. I also use an alloy wheel brush and a wash mitten to get into difficult areas.

Do a small area at a time and rinse off to stop the crap drying on the bike. When finished dry it then apply a quality hard wax on all the painted areas, autosol on exhaust and other shiny metal followed by silicone spray or gel on the black plastic trim.

The next time the bike gets covered in crud and salt it will he a lot easier to wash it off when the bike has been waxed. Then dry off with a leather
 
Acf50 then no need to wash :)
However, my preservative of choice is lather everything with waxoil ;)
 
Don't think ACF50 is suitable for plastics and paintwork. Even if it's applied to metal areas you still need to wash the salt off
 
FBF said:
Don't think ACF50 is suitable for plastics and paintwork. Even if it's applied to metal areas you still need to wash the salt off
Click to expand...
It's fine on paint and plastic although probably pointless.

You don't have to wash the salt of either. I never wash the bike once it is coated in ACF for the winter.
 
Hose down during the week then a proper pressure wash, muc off and brushes, then hot wash with autoglym, then microfibre cloth off, duck oil spray over everything except brakes seat and bars, wipe down and then repeat over the next week until summer!
 
I use a garden hose with an adjustable gun attached, only pressure wash if bike is absolutely blathered with mud & even then I would turn the lance down not to give full blast & not put the lance too close. I also use a product called Hi Tech-D traffic film remover, it's non acid non alkaline but even so, water down about 50% & only use about half way up the bike. After that I wash again but this time with a wash n wax, hose off again. Dry bike with air if it's cooler weather. Then use auto glym on painted parts & good old Mr Sheen. The rest of the bike, frame, swing arm, handlebars & switch gear I squirt some WD 40 onto a microfibre cloth & wipe round. My Triumph tiger was almost 3 yrs old when I px'd & still looked mint. I've heard not to use warm water if washing salt off as this would react & make the problem worse.
 
Warm/hotwater desolves road salt which then runs into all the nooks n crannies around the bike.

Coldwater washes it off in its solid form. All car...motorcycle cleaning products that ive ever used have instructed to use coldwater not hot.
I dont normally ride when the roads have been salted. Cant be arsed with all the cleaning.
 
Wash with cold water from garden hose, oxidation increases with temperature so keep things cold.

I wash the bike once a week using something like Castrol Greentec, chamois it as dry as I can then give it a liberal coating of FS365.
 
Great replies! Not too keen on jetwash as I worry about water being forced into places it should'nt be. Garden hose with reasonable pressure should be enough.
Actually not thinking here of full works clean, more a quick once over to stop the rot setting in. Have used Muckoff in the past and it seems effective and claims once used further cleans get easier. Some say it is harmful but not in my experience on my R1200R.
Regarding using warm water, the GS handbook advises against it as it makes salt more active.
 
i've always washed my bikes off with hot water, those that haven't been covered in acf50 and never washed anyway. it gets the shite off much much better than cold.

they're not rusty or corroded.

another triumph of experience over theory :)
 
matchbox said:
Great replies! Not too keen on jetwash as I worry about water being forced into places it should'nt be. Garden hose with reasonable pressure should be enough.
Actually not thinking here of full works clean, more a quick once over to stop the rot setting in. Have used Muckoff in the past and it seems effective and claims once used further cleans get easier. Some say it is harmful but not in my experience on my R1200R.
Regarding using warm water, the GS handbook advises against it as it makes salt more active.
Click to expand...

That's not the way I would do it, definitely not the MucOff stuff either

Pressure washer is fine, used one for 25 years and all my bikes have been fine and on my dirt bikes, I have replaced bearings less frequently as they are sparkly clean, any shite on the spindle gets in the seals and then through to the bearings potentially

Anti Pressure washer brigade, should get a grip:D

Still it's up to you
 
cookie said:
i've always washed my bikes off with hot water, those that haven't been covered in acf50 and never washed anyway. it gets the shite off much much better than cold.

they're not rusty or corroded.

another triumph of experience over theory :)
Click to expand...

Spot on Cookie
 
Haven't heard of it recently but plenty in the past of dealers telling owners to get stuffed with corrosion claims due to the use of muck off. I have seen first hand how acidic it is and although it gets the grime off I would never use it on a corrosion prone BMW. Castrol greentec is more than good enough. If you want to push the boat out get sdoc 100. It's better than green stuff but a lot more expensive and harder to get. Greentec can be got in most car places including Halfords.


Edited for crappy predictive text :-/
 
did they have pressure washers 25 years ago...in SA we had a different name for them...:)
JohnnyBoxer said:
That's not the way I would do it, definitely not the MucOff stuff either

Pressure washer is fine, used one for 25 years and all my bikes have been fine and on my dirt bikes, I have replaced bearings less frequently as they are sparkly clean, any shite on the spindle gets in the seals and then through to the bearings potentially

Anti Pressure washer brigade, should get a grip:D

Still it's up to you
Click to expand...
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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