How often should I clean my motorcycle?
Daily washing of a motorcycle is not a good practice. Excessive bike wash might cause rust in different particles. You can use an air blower and a soft rag to wipe off the dust from your motorcycle instead of avoiding daily wash. How often you wash your bike can only be told by how frequently you drive your motorcycle, where you are driving off the road or highway. It also depends on the weather. If it is monsoon you need to wash your motorcycle every day. If you do not wash your motorcycle every day, gathered mud will make your motorcycle particles rusty. Here are some tips you can implement for washing your motorcycle:
1. Use normal water
Use normal water to get wet or take off loose dirt from your motorcycle. Be careful about the water pressure. I avoid pressure washing because it can damage bike components, water can enter the wrong place on your bike and wires can be damaged or displaced by high water pressure. If you want pressure wash be careful about the above-mentioned stuff and always Make sure that water is not entering through the exhaust pipe. Also be careful about the battery chamber, spark plug, and air intake area or ignition hole. You can wrap this area with duct tape before washing.
2. Use suitable Soap cleaner or shampoo
Especially for mat painted color you need to be more concerned about motorcycle cleaner or shampoo. Shampoo is the safest option if you don’t have a specific cleaner. Apply your bike cleaner and leave it for 5-10 minutes so that you easily can remove dirt or greasy type stuff. When you are scrubbing a bike use a sponge or any soft cloth that will not make any scar on your motorcycle body. At this stage of washing, I suggest using a bucket for splashing water on your motorcycle or you can use a garden hose with a pressure nozzle instead of pressure watering because a pressure watering might damage your motorcycle paint.
3. Engine, tires, and Chain
Now wash the lower part of your bike. The lower part of a bike has more debris, oil, and grease. For washing this area you can use shampoo and only for the chain you can go for the chain cleaning liquid otherwise, you can use shampoo as well. Use a sponge, rag, and a soft breaches brush. Note: Don’t use the same sponge and rag for the bike’s body, engine, tires, and chain.
4. Dryout
After you are done with water, dry out your motorcycle by using an air blower or take a short drive so that the water drop can’t leave any mark on your motorcycle body. Note: Apply the brake carefully when you are driving after washing because brakes do not work the same when wheels are dry or wet.
5. Lubrication
After completely drying out your motorcycle Lubricate the chain.Wax- Now apply wax on the motorcycle body to protect the paint from dust, sun, and water and it makes the paint more shiny. Select the Preferable wax according to your bike paint.