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How do YOU wash your bike?

One more time, with feeling. Hand wash with warm water, car wash (choose you own, I use Meguiars Gold), microfiber cloth, and soft toothbrush to get the bugs out of the various collection points. Honda spray polish to shine and protect, because it doesn't harm anything on the bike (at least in my experience of using the stuff for decades). I'll pull the panels off every so often to clean the inside of them and the parts I can't get to because the panels are there. The reason why I hand wash is to inspect the bike. Touching the bolts, looking for leaks, and making sure the hoses and other rubber bits aren't cracked etc.
 
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Wipe mirrors, speedo/tach...maybe the windscreen after spraying with mist of water.

Done.
 
Like this.
 

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russ69 said:
WD40 has a lot of uses around a bike. The one thing to remember is that WD40 will attack anodized surfaces so don't spray it on those parts. (black parts get that purplish hue).
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russ69
- As per its use; that ^ has not been my experience. Can you substantiate your claim.
I did a Google search; finding wd40 can be used used to protect aluminum from oxidation.

Among its other uses. https://wd40.com/uses-tips/removes/all?pdf=true

guy on the internet
 
Street bike,Wet a microfiber towel and just wipe it down. Dirt bikes get the hose!
 
A ride in the rain that I hope gets most of the dried bugs off. I'm really bad about washing my bikes haha.
 
Much better if you wash it in the shade.

Road King:
S-100 on the undercarriage and anything with gunk or grime. Let that sit while I get the bucket full of soapy water, and fire up the air compressor.
Wash the bike from the top down, doing all the painted parts first. Rinse off, then use the air hose to get most of the water off (It has gobs of chrome so it's a lot easier to get it spot free than just hand drying), then finish with a towel.
Usually takes a half hour, maybe 45 minutes if I'm being particularly fastidious.

RZ:
S-100 again, lots of oily bits on a two-stroke. Fill bucket, wash from the top down starting with the painted parts.
Rinse down, wipe painted parts with a towel. Ready to go in about twenty minutes.
 
mean dad said:
Much better if you wash it in the shade.
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+1

I'm OCD but I don't use any specialized products. Meguiar's standard soap from Costco, 2 buckets, microfiber spongy thing from Oreilly, Costco yellow microfiber cloths to dry.

Typical routine:
Bar Keepers Friend to polish the downpipes
Kersone on a rag to clean the rims
Then water the bike down making sure to get all of the above off
Soap the bike up
Rinse
Dry with cloths
Ride around for 10 minutes to blow water out of the exhaust (OCD I know)
Check for anything I missed
Lube chain
 
My ride deserves nothing less. :)

5TPiChK.jpg
 
doc4216 said:
Wash with soap and water. Then, I get my leaf blower out and dry it out so that I get in every nook and cranny. Then use a shammy to dry off and avoid water marks. I do this about 3 times a year.
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What he said. And I drive up and down the street for a bit just to get that engine hot for whatever the blower missed. When this is all done, I get down to the hard part, the rims, pipes, etc etc. Soap and water are nothing to chain lube throw. Bike cleaner degreaser, wipe off, chrome or alum polish whatever.
 
For the plastic bits, Goo-Gone and a cloth for the stubborn stains - chain lube fling, tire fling, that stuff. Simple Green and a new soft cloth for the rest of the dirt, some sort of polish (the Honda and Yamaha stuff is both good) with a clean microfiber at the end. Goo-gone followed by Simple Green with a rag for the engine and wheels.

Washing is a great way to keep on top of your bike, see any maintenance that needs doing, make sure everything that needs to be tight is, and spot potential issues while they're still small and easy to address.

I used to have a chamois, but I went to all microfiber. :)
 
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