Washing my new beauty

[SVTNate]

Soap and water works well, or so I'm told.

I use one of those motorcycle air blower things to dry my bikes. An electric leaf blower will work great as well. Make sure to blast in the side vents on the fairings to get all that water behind the radiator out or it'll drip all over the place later.... down by the header, the fans, etc. get in there good and about a gallon of water is going to end up on the back side of your front fender so be sure to save the front wheel/fender for last. I also make sure to remove the seats after and dry the bottom of the seats, and use a microfiber towel to dry under the seats. Use the leaf blower/whatever to get the gap cap good too, it traps water in the bolt heads.

I've washed, polished, waxed mine many times and aside from making sure you don't get water in the exhaust (let it cool and cover each one with a large Ziploc bag or grocery bags) there really isn't anything to worry about.

 

[RadioHowie]

Jebus! Put grocery bags on yer mufflers? Christ, why not just put a giant, Howie-sized rubber over yer whole frickin' bike and leave it in the garage?

Fookin' ghey-assed "use Q-tips on the chain rollers, baby wipes on the tires" BS!

Ride the damn thing! Whaddabunchagawdamngurlz!

Funny thing is the cleanest, shiniest Feejers on this forum, the ones washed and waxed every 20 miles, have 5-10 thousand miles on 'em.

The dirtiest, nastiest, disease-carryinest Feej on the forum has over 220,000 miles on it.

Nuff-said!

:****: [SIZE=12pt]![/SIZE]

 

[Leskid]

Jebus! Put grocery bags on yer mufflers? Christ, why not just put a giant, Howie-sized rubber over yer whole frickin' bike and leave it in the garage?
Fookin' ghey-assed "use Q-tips on the chain rollers, baby wipes on the tires" BS!

Ride the damn thing! Whaddabunchagawdamngurlz!

Funny thing is the cleanest, shiniest Feejers on this forum, the ones washed and waxed every 20 miles, have 5-10 thousand miles on 'em.

The dirtiest, nastiest, disease-carryinest Feej on the forum has over 220,000 miles on it.

Nuff-said!

:****: [SIZE=12pt]![/SIZE]

I'm gonna call bullshit on that one Steve - that's profiling right there

yeah, mine may be gheyer than many but I rode my '03 15000kms (just under 10k miles) last season, almost exclusively on twisty backroads in the hills up north and a couple of track days. Also used her for thankless in-town commuting. Only one 700 mile slab-run (where I actually got to try out my cruise control). IE I was out any chance I could, riding the hell of her, waaay over on the 'sport' side of sport-touring.

And yet, my bike is among the gheyest out there. So let's not be stereotyping ghey bikes as ornamental-only. I guess it's a matter of how much you like riding it AND how much you like to see it all shiny. I like both, it seems. Wait, maybe I'm not entirely ghey... maybe I'm bikesexual?

So norcal1, never mind these unkempt forum slobs who show no appreciation for their fine rides, you keep that nice shiny new bike of yours gleaming every chance you get. If you let it go, it's easy to get discouraged. If you're on top of it, it's always a quick wipe-down & rinse.. and an occasional 'detailing' session once or twice a season.

Some of us actually take pride in our gheyness click

PS: A "Howie-sized" rubber? I'm trying to think of where that might come in handy but even I don't bother covering the brake-bleeding nipples.

 

[Bungie]

Funny thing is the cleanest, shiniest Feejers on this forum, the ones washed and waxed every 20 miles, have 5-10 thousand miles on 'em.

Hey, don't be bashing the garage queens! When it comes time to buy another feej, I want a nice selection of clean low mileage bikes to choose from so I can treat them like dirty whores they're meant to be!

 

[Bungie]

PS: A "Howie-sized" rubber? I'm trying to think of where that might come in handy but even I don't bother covering the brake-bleeding nipples.

 

[Bustanut joker]

PS: A "Howie-sized" rubber? I'm trying to think of where that might come in handy but even I don't bother covering the brake-bleeding nipples.

:blinksmiley: Bwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! :rofl: :rofl:

Good show Bungie! :clapping:

:jester:

 

[RadioHowie]

:****: :finger: :****: :finger: :****: :finger: :****: :finger: :****: :finger: :****: :finger: :****: :finger: :****: :finger: :****: :finger: :****: :finger:

 

[JimNtexas]

It's interesting that our FJRs are such delicate flowers.

My friend Tracy, who is a hard core LD rider, washes his Busa like this:



Impatient types fast forward to 4:30.

This was taken a year ago, and Tracy has not had any problems with his bike since then. Or his 'Stich.

 

[FJRBluesman]

It's interesting that our FJRs are such delicate flowers.My friend Tracy, who is a hard core LD rider, washes his Busa like this:

That's one way of doing it I guess. Also checks the rain gear for ya.
Was the motor running while it was getting washed? :blink:

 

[majicmaker]

Soap and water works well, or so I'm told.
I use one of those motorcycle air blower things to dry my bikes. An electric leaf blower will work great as well. Make sure to blast in the side vents on the fairings to get all that water behind the radiator out or it'll drip all over the place later.... down by the header, the fans, etc. get in there good and about a gallon of water is going to end up on the back side of your front fender so be sure to save the front wheel/fender for last. I also make sure to remove the seats after and dry the bottom of the seats, and use a microfiber towel to dry under the seats. Use the leaf blower/whatever to get the gap cap good too, it traps water in the bolt heads.

I've washed, polished, waxed mine many times and aside from making sure you don't get water in the exhaust (let it cool and cover each one with a large Ziploc bag or grocery bags) there really isn't anything to worry about.

Hey Bust, Did you read this post?! Now, That's what I'm talking about! This is a man who knows how to do it right!! :clapping:

A Detailed Bike, Is a Happy Bike :yahoo: I'm not Alone! I'll bet there are many FJR Owners here who feel the same.

It's Not "GHEY" Dammit!!

 

[CAJW]

Compressed air works good also for getting trapped moisture out from all the crooks and nannies. Park on the side stand to drain the lower pan or wife will point out later you bike aint' house broke!

 

[phroenips]

I keep mine nice and pretty too. I work from home, so I usually take a 30 minute break, run out and wash it real quick. I can't go for a ride, but I can keep it pretty

As for how? I've got a secret: soap, water, and a sponge (as others have said, be sure to use a car wash, not dishwashing liquid)...just like washing a car, except smaller.

 

[FJRay]

There will probably be a bike wash at WFO again this year. Just register and show up and for a small donation you can get your bike clean and help out some high school kids with their sports programs. Everybody wins. If your not going to WFO then you are missing the prime FJR event of the year. :yahoo:

 

[FRJ Jc]

Some lik'em clean other's lik'em dirty....

Just hope the dirties don't apply the same theory to their undies....

 

[Frisson]

I wash my bike partly to keep it clean - but it is a great way to inspect the bike.

Good way to check for anything loose, missing or leaking.

 

[Leskid]

Maguire's Car Wash. ( Don't use dishwashing liquid )

as others have said, be sure to use a car wash, not dishwashing liquid)

Until this last year, I always used a pail of hot water with a good squirt of sunlight, then rinse properly. In fact, for detailing, I have a squirt bottle of really concentrated sunlight & water that I spray-on for grimy or hard to reach places, let it soak, then spray-off afterwards. Works great, that I can tell.

What's wrong with dish soap?

btw, anyone notice we haven't heard a word from the OP since? I think we scared him off

 

[phroenips]

Maguire's Car Wash. ( Don't use dishwashing liquid )

as others have said, be sure to use a car wash, not dishwashing liquid)

Until this last year, I always used a pail of hot water with a good squirt of sunlight, then rinse properly. In fact, for detailing, I have a squirt bottle of really concentrated sunlight & water that I spray-on for grimy or hard to reach places, let it soak, then spray-off afterwards. Works great, that I can tell.

What's wrong with dish soap?

btw, anyone notice we haven't heard a word from the OP since? I think we scared him off

Dish soap will do an absolutely great job in taking off any road grime, etc. The problem is, it also takes off any wax/polish you may have applied, leaving your paint vulnerable to UV rays, acid rain, etc.

Whenever I get a new vehicle (like my new FJR), I like to wash it with dish soap to get everything off, clay bar it to clean off any impurities (for instance, this FJR was used for a two hour commute each way, and had a bunch of road salt and other crap in the paint...it felt very rough to the touch. After the claybar, it's smooth as glass again), wash it again with car wash (I use Meguiars), then apply my polishes (I like the Zaino line: https://www.zainostore.com/)

 

[autobahn]

The ultimate solution to bike washing is to use a rinseless wash, like Optimum No-Rinse.

Basically you add a couple capfuls of the stuff to a 5gallon bucket of warm water. Then use a QUALITY microfiber wash mitt to wash the bike like you would a car but taking care to dip the mitt and agitate it often to get the larger dirt particles out of the mitt. (The ONR makes the dirt stick to the mitt instead of the bike). Then, once you're done, just dry the bike with a microfiber. No spraying and basically no risk of getting water anywhere it shouldn't be.

And this technique has indeed passed the rigors of the detailing community in terms of not putting any swirls or scratches in. I was dubious at first but some of the world's finest detailers use this stuff on their own cars. In fact it's pretty much the standard for mobile detailers in states that have very rigorous laws against discharging carwash rinse water. The alternative for these guys is to park on a boom mat and recover the water for proper disposal with a vacuum.

Off the top of my head here's a place to find it, many other detailing sites will supply this stuff too. There's a couple other brands but ONR is what I have experience with:

https://www.autogeek.net/optimum-no-rinse.html

 

[autobahn]

Also if anyone else has detailing questions I'd be happy to assist

 

[norcal1]

Thanks for the tips. I'm not a clean freak about my bikes (I've had my Triumph for 3 years now and I've waxed it once) but I do like to get the bugs and dust off.