Spray and Wash

[angrygirafe]

14 hours ago, dazzler24 said:

Ha!  I am always a bit trepidatious when spraying anywhere around electrical bits as well but I'm thinking....  it's a motorbike designed to be out in the elements so should be OK? 🙏

It should be. God help us if riding in a heavy rain compromised the electrical system 😂

 

14 hours ago, betoney said:

Maybe I am overly cautious but that makes me nauseous to see the spray foam all over the gauges and the wiring below that in front of the tank.  I never spray water on any thing above the red line on your side panel.

You ever been riding through standing water and had a car come the other way? It’s basically the same thing, but with dirt and debris instead of soap. It’s fine 🙂

[rlambke19]

This is a subject that I think about all the time.

It may very well be another "what oil do you use" or "what tires are best" type of thing as it seems there are 2 camps.

Folks who spray cleaner or foam all over their bike and then power wash/rinse it off and then air or blow dry it. The fact that you don't end up scrubbing and rubbing dirt into the paint or clear coat is a bonus. The fact that water can get into crevices that you will never see or be able to dry with a cloth or blower is a bad thing as far as I am concerned. I know bike mechanics who say the same thing.

But to be honest, I may try the spray method this season as I am tired of how thin and delicate the finishes on modern vehicles are and how easily they scratch/marr. 

@Waldo Jeffers - what did you use to rinse your bike off after using the S100? 

What are others using? I've seen battery powered "power" washers - which are much lower powered (~300psi) than standard electrical washers. Something like this:

20V Hydroshot Portable Power Cleaner | 320 PSI (WG620) | WORX

---

 

 

Would be interested to hear others thoughts on cleaning their bikes?

And please no "I don't waste time cleaning my bike - I just ride it" comments. This is a thread on cleaning bikes and we admire your approach - but some of us have OCD that needs satiating! 😉

Cheers,

Rob

[Waldo Jeffers]

I used Evian bottled water. J/K, I sprayed it with water from the hose. I might add that we do have the best water in the world up here in the Pacific Northwest. 

[betoney]

1 hour ago, angrygirafe said:

You ever been riding through standing water and had a car come the other way? It’s basically the same thing, but with dirt and debris instead of soap. It’s fine 🙂

 

27 minutes ago, rlambke19 said:

The fact that water can get into crevices that you will never see or be able to dry with a cloth or blower is a bad thing as far as I am concerned. I know bike mechanics who say the same thing.

 

Overly cautious because, on a road trip a buddy and I got caught in a torrential downpour- riding for about 90 minutes in some of the heaviest rain I have ever experienced.  Several weeks later I was doing some maintenance on my bike and I disconnected a few connectors behind one of the side panels and let them hang down loose and was surprised that a few tablespoons of water spilled out of the vinyl over wrap sheathing.  When I wash the bike, its the motor, swingarm and wheels, I never spray water higher than the motor.  Personal preference. 👍

[2and3cylinders]

4 hours ago, Waldo Jeffers said:

Now I fear I’m gonna walk out to my garage and find a pile of dust where my bike used to be. 😀

Huh again..

[micah2074]

3 hours ago, rlambke19 said:

This is a subject that I think about all the time.

It may very well be another "what oil do you use" or "what tires are best" type of thing as it seems there are 2 camps.

Folks who spray cleaner or foam all over their bike and then power wash/rinse it off and then air or blow dry it. The fact that you don't end up scrubbing and rubbing dirt into the paint or clear coat is a bonus. The fact that water can get into crevices that you will never see or be able to dry with a cloth or blower is a bad thing as far as I am concerned. I know bike mechanics who say the same thing.

But to be honest, I may try the spray method this season as I am tired of how thin and delicate the finishes on modern vehicles are and how easily they scratch/marr. 

@Waldo Jeffers - what did you use to rinse your bike off after using the S100? 

What are others using? I've seen battery powered "power" washers - which are much lower powered (~300psi) than standard electrical washers. Something like this:

20V Hydroshot Portable Power Cleaner | 320 PSI (WG620) | WORX

---

 

 

Would be interested to hear others thoughts on cleaning their bikes?

And please no "I don't waste time cleaning my bike - I just ride it" comments. This is a thread on cleaning bikes and we admire your approach - but some of us have OCD that needs satiating! 😉

Cheers,

Rob

I spray the Yamaclean on my bike and rinse it off with a waterhose at least 3 times a month. Done it for the last 5 years and 100k miles. No problems at all and her lovely red paint still looks excellent. 

[dazzler24]

4 hours ago, rlambke19 said:

Folks who spray cleaner or foam all over their bike and then power wash/rinse it off and then air or blow dry it. The fact that you don't end up scrubbing and rubbing dirt into the paint or clear coat is a bonus. The fact that water can get into crevices that you will never see or be able to dry with a cloth or blower is a bad thing as far as I am concerned. I know bike mechanics who say the same thing.

I have two pressure washers.  One is a petrol motor driven high pressure machine for doing driveways, roofs, etc while the other is a Karcher electric low power machine for jobs that need the 'gentle' touch.

The Karcher is the one I use on the bike.  It's also important to realise that the foam nozzle is designed to reduce the pressure significantly and is really only a venturi device to suck up the cleaning agent and mix it with the water to apply.  So that part of the process is very gentle and really just 'places' the cleaning agent onto the bike.  It is less pressure than using just the garden hose alone.

To rinse off I still use the low power Karcher with the least aggressive nozzle and importantly, do it from a distance so that I'm really only rinsing off and not blasting the machine.  I don't hang around on any spot with the water stream and keep it moving over the machine in rapid strokes from top to bottom.  It kind of acts as a blower at the same time.

There still has to be an element of common sense of course and I'm very aware of the parts to 'go easy' on.  As mentioned earlier I place plastic bags over what I consider places of ingress to hopefully minimise any potential issues.

Finally, I usually (but not always) go for a short ride to shake off and evaporate any remaining water that's found a place to hide.

I've not had any problems with water damage to date but hey, as always, YMMV. 🙂

 

[2and3cylinders]

If I've ridden in the rain and the bike really gets filthy, I'll then pre-wet with a light garden hose spray, then carefully apply auto wash soap in a hand spray bottle, use a hand mitt rinsed in a clean water bucket, then dipped in a soap and water bucket, then lightly hose rinse, and chamois hand dry and a carefully use a blower. I otherwise use my "spot cleaning" techniques.   Due to our less than forgiving locale using a garden hose is not always practical or comfortable in cold weather, so I resort to spot cleaning.  In all cases I then follow up with hand and spray applied protective treatment to accessible surfaces.

And all my bikes still look near new as a result.

[rlambke19]

1 hour ago, 2and3cylinders said:

If I've ridden in the rain and the bike really gets filthy, I'll then pre-wet with a light garden hose spray, then carefully apply auto wash soap in a hand spray bottle, use a hand mitt rinsed in a clean water bucket, then dipped in a soap and water bucket, then lightly hose rinse, and chamois hand dry and a carefully use a blower. I otherwise use my "spot cleaning" techniques.   Due to our less than forgiving locale using a garden hose is not always practical or comfortable in cold weather, so I resort to spot cleaning.  In all cases I then follow up with hand and spray applied protective treatment to accessible surfaces.

And all my bikes still look near new as a result.

What's your go-to "protective treatment"? Wax? ACF50? Ceramic coating?

Rob

[PhotoAl]

I've used S100 on previous bikes and never had a problem although I was really careful with it and generally used it only on the engine and then let it sit for just a couple of minutes before throughly and carefully rinsing it off.  As for water have ridden many miles in hard rain on my previous bikes.  My BMW saw many miles in very hard rain and never had a problem.  LOL I didn't keep it as clean it was a BMW and therefore supposed to be nasty and dirty. :-)

I love my Tracer GT and it stays nice and pretty but I'm sure it will see days of rain when on a long trip and will get nasty and dirty but I'll be enthusiastic about cleaning it.

[Wintersdark]

On 3/17/2021 at 8:38 PM, dazzler24 said:

Ha!  I am always a bit trepidatious when spraying anywhere around electrical bits as well but I'm thinking....  it's a motorbike designed to be out in the elements so should be OK? 🙏

As someone who rides year round, I can absolutely assure you that all my bikes switches and such get thoroughly soaked regularly and work just fine.  There's definitely places you don't want to be directing high pressure streams into - that is, with a pressure washer at close range - but obviously the bike is absolutely fine with water being pushed around at what amounts to highway speeds.  Never had a problem due to this on any bike.  But again, with the caveat that I keep pressure washers at ~5-6' away from the bike, like you would a car you care about too, so you're not forcing water into places it shouldn't be forced into. 

I don't even care about the exhaust, as I always start the bike up and let it run after.  Any water that finds it's way into the exhaust is getting evaporated in minutes anyways. 

[hammer]

I'm interested in the Yamaclean and checked it out last night. Its says to mix 1:1 and pressure spray it on. Is this accurate (I know it is because it says it is but...) Or can you spray and soak it on without the pressure washer like the S1000?

 As it's supposed to be 15c here this weekend, that's warm enough to have the first wash and ride of the season.

Edited March 19, 2021 by hammer

[micah2074]

2 hours ago, hammer said:

I'm interested in the Yamaclean and checked it out last night. Its says to mix 1:1 and pressure spray it on. Is this accurate (I know it is because it says it is but...) Or can you spray and soak it on without the pressure washer like the S1000?

 As it's supposed to be 15c here this weekend, that's warm enough to have the first wash and ride of the season.

 

2 hours ago, hammer said:

I'm interested in the Yamaclean and checked it out last night. Its says to mix 1:1 and pressure spray it on. Is this accurate (I know it is because it says it is but...) Or can you spray and soak it on without the pressure washer like the S1000?

 As it's supposed to be 15c here this weekend, that's warm enough to have the first wash and ride of the season.

I buy it in the 32oz spray bottles. Never mixed it. I spray it straight on to the bike. let is work for a couple of minuets then spray it off.

[peteinpa]

So what is the Yamaclean...Really? Can you buy its equal elsewhere cheaper?

Just like they don't make their own oil, coolant, etc.

[rlambke19]

1 minute ago, peteinpa said:

So what is the Yamaclean...Really? Can you buy its equal elsewhere cheaper?

Just like they don't make their own oil, coolant, etc.

Unicorn tears, likely. I hear they are good for removing road grime while being gentle on modern finishes. 😉