Washing your bike??

[walnish]

I just bought an '05 YZ250 a few weeks ago and was wondering what you guys are using when washing your bikes to clean the engine, cases etc. This is my first new bike and I want to keep it looking that way as long as possible. So far I'm doing pretty good, but it is a work bike, not a show bike. I was thinking Simple Green or Royal Purple. Any suggestions?? Thanks, Walt

[Chadm89]

I use simple green on mine and it does a pretty good job. I just spray the bike with water, then spray with simple green and let it soak for a few minutes while I do something else (like clean my riding gear), then I use a sponge on the plastics and just hose the bike off.

I don't ever try to get my bike "show bike" clean, but it looks decent when I'm done washing it off.

No sense trying to get it perfect... I'm just going to take it right back out and get it dirty all over again next weekend!

[gear graphic]

This is a good thread on cleaning your bike... the first page anyhow. some good tips.
Better Washing Procedures?

[mad_biker]

I use Mean Green super strength degreaser. Just rinse most of the dirt/mud off ,spray it on,let it set for a few minutes and rinse it off.it will get the majority of the dirt and oil off without brushing.

[CowAsocky]

I use grease lightning now, it cleans just as the others, and i think is a bit cheaper

[scooter842]

Heres how i care for my tofiddy. ASAP, i clean my bike after every ride, I first take the airfilter out and replace it with a cover so that i dont get any water in the carb. (most of the time) Then i give it a good rinse to get all the dirt and mudd off with a powerwasher. Then i take full strength simple green and soak the whole bike in this for a few mins. Then i take a soft brush and start scrubbing plastics, wheels, tires, ect.. After a good scrubbing i then do another good rinse with the pressurewasher avoiding stuff like wheel bearings and linkage bearings and too much pressure to the carb cause it can do some damage if your not carefull. Now that it is all clean i take the leaf blower (if i do it at the house) and i blow it dry. Next i take a can of wd-40 and spray pretty much everything i can get it on. Dont forget under your fenders so that mudd wont stick to the fenders to bad and it will be easier to clean. After a good wd-40 bath i lube the chain real good so that it will disperse all the water out. And finally, sometimes i will take some armor all and coat the plastic pretty good to keep that new look and to keep it from fading.

[BlazinLdub]

I always use simple green, I guess I'm just a green kind of guy. Simple Green works very good at cleaning and getting nice and shiny, and it doesn't attract dirt after washing it. Go with the green, it's always right!!!

[CowAsocky]

I never thought to take my air filter out and put a cover on, im probably getting some water in there since i have a small whole in the back where i lost a bolt

[walnish]

Yeah man, cover that airbox opening. go to [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] and click on "products" then "accessories". You'll see some of their covers there. I'm sure UNI makes them too. [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] Good Luck, Walt

[walnish]

For those of you that are using Simple Green. Go to the washing your bike link a few posts up from mine. It says that the Air Force doesn't allow Simple Green to be used since it damages the aluminum on their planes. That is good enough reason for me to try something else. Good Luck, Walt

[CowAsocky]

I have an airbox cover, just never used it yet unless im gonna clean inside the airbox, i need to find a bolt to cover up that hole though :

[BIGEVIL]

Wash it off with more mud , whats the point to making it look new if you ride, it'll just get dirty again the next ride. The only thing you need to do is spary it off so the dirt doesnt stick and cover up any bolts or somthing like that

[RICHIE500]

Originally Posted by BIGEVIL

Wash it off with more mud , whats the point to making it look new if you ride, it'll just get dirty again the next ride. The only thing you need to do is spary it off so the dirt doesnt stick and cover up any bolts or somthing like that

more mud! your nuts!! After a ride I just jet it down with a pressure washer and wipe any stubborn bits with a sponge.

[BIGEVIL]

Hey it works, but sand blasting the mud off in the desert works best :

[walnish]

I just SAND BLAST it. It's amazing all you can get off with an industrial strength sand blaster

[BIGEVIL]

LOL

[Florida 393]

It is tempting to use the cleaners like Simple Green or Royal Purple but they carry a heavy price if you use them carelessly of to excess. Simple Green has had an air worthyness directive issued on it. If not completely removed by a through rinsing it causes corrosion of aluminum surfaces. A white coating will appear after drying and eventually you will have pitting of the surface causing weakness. It will give aluminum cases, levers and rims a film that is almost impossible to remove. The clear coat may be eaten away after a time so it does not guarantee protection. The pitting will feel like a blasted surface at first. You don't get all the cleaner off or out of mating surfaces by a water rinse, it just builds up. The seals at aluminum mating surfaces can be made less effective. Pressure washing makes this worse.

The pressure washer is a fork and shock seals worst enemy. We use only faucet pressure and a bike wash formula. As stated earlier remove the air filter and install an air box cover for your bike. Leave the seat off and clean it with a damp rag instead of soaking the foam. A muffler plug should be inserted to prevent water from pooling in the exhaust low spot or from soaking the muffler/silencer packing.

Dry everything and be sure you lube the chain, even better remove it and place it in a soaking bucket to remove deep dirt from the rollers before you begin washing the bike. A pressure washer will blow junk past an O or an X ring chain, also. This just wears out the ring and roller faster.

This routine makes maintenance time much easier and if you need to go into the top end you have less chance of dropping crud into the engine.

Bill

[scooter842]

Hey bill, great write up there i didnt know there was an AD issued on simple green. So you have your a&p or what? I am currently working on mine and caint wait to get my certificate. I think alluminum takes a whole lot to corrode, thats what i gathered in ground ops class (the corrosion part). My group did an inspection on a Ryan L-17 navion once and it was amazing how many diffrent corrosions we found on that thing! Anyways i had no idea that simple green had that effect to it. What if you dillute it? I bet that would help a little. I surely dont want that that stuff eating my bike because its like a 7 step process removing it off of allum.

[scooter842]

OH yea and what about the Simple green made specifically for aircraft use? Is there an AD for that too??

[Florida 393]

Scooter,
I am an engineer for a GC that specializes in Naval Air NAVFAC work and I am around aicraft daily. I found out about the AD on plain Simple Green from Tyler Guidice, he founded this site. He owns aircraft and was in structural engineering before he went into IT. He got the F.A.A. AD on his aircraft during an annual. He did some inspections and checked on several aircraft arounf his hangar and found what they were talking about.

I see the Master Chief for CNATRA aircraft maintenence all the time at work and he confirmed their own AD on the stuff. They share with the Air Force, Army Aviation and Coast Guard Maintenance so it went service wide I guess. As to the aircraft specific formulation I imagine it is okayed but so many people got burned by the original formulation and having structural damage that it does not get much use. My experience is that anything aircraft specific in formualtion is too dang expensive for daily use. Simple Green is a good and safe product when used as it should be.

I am very familiar with the multi step cleaning of metal surfaces having contamination so I understand your apprehension. My teams superintendent was a metallurgist and welder/machinist for a nuclear coomponent mfgr before he came into construction. He has gone through these processes. I encountered it in constructing RF shielded structures with stainless steel pan. It got acidic flux on parts by mistake and the Air Force engineers and USACE put me through the wringer to get it cleaned by the responsible subcontractor or replaced at their cost. Not fun and aluminum is harder to clean than stainless steel is, especially if it is machine surfaced and not polished.

Check your aviation school's technical library for current AD or rescended directives. If they went to the trouble of formulating aircraft specific cleaner I'll bet it is still advised against and probably has been on the manufacturers' lists to not use.

Good luck with your studies and on getting your A/P certificate. Soounds like you really know your stuff. My son is going to go to MMI as a mechanic and I respect the schools like you and he are using. Good programs.

Bill