Hi All, Just come up from cleaning my Thruxton for the Laverda show at Cleveland ( Who in SE QLD is going??) and I thought I would share with you a thing that I do that works fantastic with making your bike look really clean.
When I wash my bikes I take off all the in the road bits that are easy to remove, seat, side panels, fuel tank, chain guard, chain etc and this exposes a lot of the bike and makes it easy to clean but once it is all washed and dried (I air blow it) I spray the motor with WD40 and wipe off some of the excess with a absorbant paper towel. Now that the towel has WD40 on it I then go over all the black bits, frame, swing arm, fork tubes, head set, switches etc. I even give the brake callipers a once over but I always remove the pads before washing and give them a good clean with brake clean and then after doing the callipers with WD 40, I give the disc a good clean with brake clean. This just stops any of the kero and truck wash getting on the pads during the wash, just have to make sure not to squeeze the brake lever when moving the bike around, it also allows you to keep an eye on the pads.
I may already be preaching to the converted but the WD 40 brings up the black bits like new. I then continue with the cleaning of the chrome, polishing the paint, blacking the tyres and then give it a good blow off to remove all the rag lint etc.
When the bike is started all the residual WD40 on the motor heats up and smokes off leaving a nice wet look to the black but it is actually dry, even all the hoses look new and all the other bits frame forks etc if they are still a bit wet just give them a wipe over with a clean dry towel, the WD40 does evaporate with the heat from the bike. This really finishes the bike off and gets rid of that shiny guards and tank but dull dirty frame appearance after a bike has been washed plus a bit of WD40 in the switches and pivot points does more good then bad, it actually beads up the water and allows it to run out instead of sitting and rusting the parts.
Oh yeah and to stop your goggles / glasses fogging up, use dish washing liquid. Apply some to a towel, wipe the inside of the lense with the detergent until it is all gone, do not rinse with water just use the raw detergent and wipe it until it is all clean. Do this once a fortnight or more and they will never fog up again, I will bet my left nut on it. Cheers TD
When I wash my bikes I take off all the in the road bits that are easy to remove, seat, side panels, fuel tank, chain guard, chain etc and this exposes a lot of the bike and makes it easy to clean but once it is all washed and dried (I air blow it) I spray the motor with WD40 and wipe off some of the excess with a absorbant paper towel. Now that the towel has WD40 on it I then go over all the black bits, frame, swing arm, fork tubes, head set, switches etc. I even give the brake callipers a once over but I always remove the pads before washing and give them a good clean with brake clean and then after doing the callipers with WD 40, I give the disc a good clean with brake clean. This just stops any of the kero and truck wash getting on the pads during the wash, just have to make sure not to squeeze the brake lever when moving the bike around, it also allows you to keep an eye on the pads.
I may already be preaching to the converted but the WD 40 brings up the black bits like new. I then continue with the cleaning of the chrome, polishing the paint, blacking the tyres and then give it a good blow off to remove all the rag lint etc.
When the bike is started all the residual WD40 on the motor heats up and smokes off leaving a nice wet look to the black but it is actually dry, even all the hoses look new and all the other bits frame forks etc if they are still a bit wet just give them a wipe over with a clean dry towel, the WD40 does evaporate with the heat from the bike. This really finishes the bike off and gets rid of that shiny guards and tank but dull dirty frame appearance after a bike has been washed plus a bit of WD40 in the switches and pivot points does more good then bad, it actually beads up the water and allows it to run out instead of sitting and rusting the parts.
Oh yeah and to stop your goggles / glasses fogging up, use dish washing liquid. Apply some to a towel, wipe the inside of the lense with the detergent until it is all gone, do not rinse with water just use the raw detergent and wipe it until it is all clean. Do this once a fortnight or more and they will never fog up again, I will bet my left nut on it. Cheers TD
