Cleaning Suggestions

[taint]

Well I got my Divvy 600s in April and, as well as a great bike, I also appear to have inherited 12 years of road dirt and engine grease

I'm vaguely familiar with the concept of car washing (not that you'd guess that from my car ) but I'm not so sure about cleaning the bike.

Having seen all the photo's on the site and all the clean looking bikes, I was looking for advice/suggestions on what to use/how best to clean my Divvy without damaging the exposed parts and leaving it protected.

My frame has a couple of rust spots at the joints and the swing arm. My exhaust is a single 4 into 1 stainless steel can. My stands look like they need a treatment to cure the rust, followed by a paint.

Any advice/tips would be welcome,

Thanks

T.

[aardy]

I'm no expert but I always just clean the bike with hot soapy water and rinse, then I usually polish with some wax polish on the paint work and fork slidders.

Some WD 40 applied to nuts and threads works o.k.

The stands - I rub them down with emery paper and I find some black Hammerite (smooth stuff) seems to work pretty good on them.

Rusty bits on the frame - rub down with emery paper and touch up with a touch up stick. For the engine I use VHT silver paint on the fins. I wouldn't say my bike is imacculate but it looks quite tidy.

I suppose it depends on how much time you want to spend cleaning the thing. The above methods are not that time consuming but if you want concours stuff I think Pooh is the person to ask

[yorric]

If your bike is so greasy and mucky you will probably need more than soap & water. - Obviously try it first then use Jizer, Muck Off or Gunk - just spray it on, scrub it with a fairly stiff brush & hose it off with water. A couple of goes with that should get you down to the paint level. Be sure to wash whatever you use off well, as some cleaners can etch the paint if left on. If you use a pressure washer be careful not to blast too heavily into bearing areas (axles & swingarm etc) as it will force the water and muck past the seals and into the bearings - not good for them!
Beware of washing up liquid - it contains salt and is VERY corrosive.
After washing the bike always start it up and let it warm up and dry itself - don'ty leave it to dry cold as trapped water won't evaporate as well.
After washing I use Scottoiler FS365 to inhibit corrosion and make it all look great - just be sure to keep it off your discs and calipers and your tyres also. It is oily so if you want to do any repainting leave this till you've done that.
HTH
Ian

[cam7777]

I use engine cleaner, usually sold in car shops for about a tenner for 5 litres.

I then use a jam jar and small paintbrush to apply to the nasty dirty areas (dont do the whole bike at once) concentrate on a small area, leave for a short while then rince with a hosepipe (never use a jet wash!!).

Afterwards I spray some GT85 and ACF50 to protect.

I also use 'autogleam' products to polish the large areas.

Hope this helps

Regards
Clive

[molestrangler]

Obvious answer to this question is to ask Pooh, he of the permanantly clean machine.
Ian

[nobby]

I use autoglym motorcycle cleaner.
comes in a large spray bottle.I think its very good.
I use it on my FJ1200,gets all sorts of road grime off.
I spray that on first all over the bike(engine included) then with that still on I get a nice bucket full of hot soapy water and go over the bike with that.Then hose off.I usualy do the wheels/swinging arm chain guard last.