Detailing Ritual

[Busa Jules]

What is your ritual of detailing your bike? Do you always start at the same place and finish at the same place? What kind of products do you use? Do you use a bike cover in between rides? Do you detail it EVERY time you ride?

I know some of us have more chrome than others... and some of us are more anal than others.. I wanted to hear your opinions and suggestions.

(Personally my bike is allergic to water and every time I WASH it, something bad happens)

 

[SAMBUSA]

If I've got time to wash it, then I should be riding it instead

 

[Mr Bogus]

Mr Clean wash thingy for me and my weed blower.. (removes water from all those hard to reach things.

Wax Job: every third wash
Detailing: all winter?

I will ride in the rain, not a big deal unless it is only a light sprinkle, then the bike gets unreal dirty, a down pour at least leaves the bike pretty clean..

 

[Bo_]

I clean and lube and check the chain before or after every ride, which means it gets checked every 100 to 150 miles, clean chain with wd-40, lube with motolube. Clean faceshield with windex before every ride. I wipe the whole bike down using PLEXUS on metal, plastic and windscreen before every ride. I clean the wheels before every ride using wd-40 then windex, no I don't get any wd on the tires. I'm most anal about the chain.  

 

[PDBusa]

The first time I washed bike with water was at 10,000 miles, only because I had to  ride in rain. Usually just detail with spray detailer(Mothers). She's about the only woman I don't prefer dirty...  

She gets dusted clean before each ride and detailed at every oil change. Usually at 1-1.5k miles. In the spring she gets a full body plastics off cleaning. She also gets a more thorough cleaning when chain gets done which is religiously in area of 600 mile mark.
As I spiff her up pre-flight I am looking for any problems(loose bolts, etc.) that may have arisen that I should know about.  

 

[frisbee]

I wash mine whenever its dirty, soap and water then a spray wax .

 

[dadofthree]

No ritual, wash her when she's dirty, wax her once in a while, use liquid car wash with sponge, towel dry. I use stands, it makes it a lot easier especially the wheels.

 

[jboogey84]

wash every week wax every wash i use that new purple wax NXT in a spray and use a wax cloth
and polish my 240 kit each wash too

 

[GSXcite]

Only time I will wash mine is if it was in the rain. Otherwise when I get off of it I will blow off the dust with the air compressor. I use Honda Polish cleaner. I start high and work my way down as to not bring the dirt and grit from down low to my windshield, tank and other painted parts. I spray` the cleaner on and wipe off with a microfiber cloth, then buff again using another dry microfiber cloth. I start on the windshield and nose, inside of windshield gauges and controls, tank, hump and rear plastics, front fender, side plastics. At that point I will change microfiber towels and do the exhaust, then wheels. I have this down to about 10 min. I do the same thing when I get ready to ride, plus I service the chain, check the pressure in the tires and check for nails etc., and check the oil.

 

[mike04busa]

I clean and lube and check the chain before or after every ride, which means it gets checked every 100 to 150 miles, clean chain with wd-40, lube with motolube. Clean faceshield with windex before every ride. I wipe the whole bike down using PLEXUS on metal, plastic and windscreen before every ride. I clean the wheels before every ride using wd-40 then windex, no I don't get any wd on the tires. I'm most anal about the chain.  

+1 I was going to put my .02 in but you allready said it for me.It's almost like you here reading my mind.

 

[Busaman5000]

Sometimes I will take soap and water to her but usually I just use that "protect all" I think its called its got wax in it. You just spray it on dry and take towel and wipe it off. Works really well! Usually I do the tank first and work my way down. Because the further down you go the dirtier the bike gets. I do the wheels last.

 

[kml]

cheers
ken

 

[whitesmokeyzf]

Mr Clean wash thingy for me and my weed blower.. (removes water from all those hard to reach things.

Wax Job: every third wash
Detailing: all winter?  

 

I will ride in the rain, not a big deal unless it is only a light sprinkle, then the bike gets unreal dirty, a down pour at least leaves the bike pretty clean..

Luv the weed blower Idea

 

[VaBusa]

I am fond of watching Mike was the Busa for me...the Mustang too, then I send him off to clean the toilets and do some laundry

Honesty, I do a quick wash either with just water and a rag, or pull out the newly formulated Honda Cleaner and get the big bugs off...lately, riding time is scarce, so I choose riding over cleaning most days

I try not to put Caesar away dirty, keep him covered with a Suzuki cover when not riding...he looks pretty good for almost 5 years old

 

[rockadaous]

products I use
wd-40
simple green
mothers chrome polish
maguires spray detailer
leaf blower

I tend to just spot clean everyday

 

[BlueHaya]

I wipe her down with Plexus after every ride.

Lube the chain after every ride. I have cleaned the chain with Kerosene once. it looked real good after that thorough cleaning.


Use blue magic on the billet parts.

 

[bigoltool]

The only time my bike ever see's a hose id when I have ridden in a lot of rain. For the most part I do all my cleaning on my work stand using a rear stand and wheel chock, which gets the bike up about 16" off the floor for a lot(!) easier cleaning and part examination. I almost always start by cleaning the chain with WD-40 a grunge brush and an old extra soft toothbrush. Since this invariably winds up getting "stuff" on the rear wheel, frame and swingarm I proceed onto those areas next with my handy dandy Lemon Pledge. Then on to the mufflers with "Goo gone" (citrus cleaner, works best for the stock mufflers). From there I will try to get as much of the front wheel and rotors as possible while still in my wheel chock, again I use the Lemon Pledge on a paper towel. Then I proceed onto the body work, which gets a liberal coat of Lemon Pledge to loosen up any road debris or insect corpses. Let it stand for about 5 minutes before wiping. Then I use a dab of Zymol Leather conditioner on my Corbin and let it soak in while I am wiping down the bodywork. A little Mothers Mag and aluminum polish on my bar ends and footpeg mounts and I am done.

 

[gtrpimp76]

soap, water, wax once every 2 months, or everytime before and after a trackday. If it's dirty, no big deal to me. But, I get kinda anal about having her very clean at the track.

 

[TIMMYDUCK]

Power washed as needed.

 

[Un-Caged]

If I'm doing a soap and water wash, I start out with a good chain cleaning with diesel. Then clean any lube fling from the wheel and frame also with the diesel. Then a good scrub with soap and water, dry with leaf blower, chain lube, spray wax.