Clean Bikes


deadb0y

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from another post:

deadb0y said:
On a completely removed subject.. I do get so envious of the pictures you guys post of your bikes... They are always so clean :)
I ride my bike every day accept for snow. Come rain or shine, hail or fog I ride it 30 to 35 miles. 15 to 20 miles to work from Faversham to Ashford. 15 to 20 miles home from Ashford to Faversham. Along the same roads, all year round:

See this map!

Currently just shy of 30,000 miles on her and still going strong.. Feels a bit more lumpy first thing and vibrates more than she used to but I change the oil and filter every 4 to 5k without fail...

On rainy days or days when they have salted the road I oil the chain and wash the bike down with a watering can when I get home. When the bike gets dirty... Really dirty, I dig out the pressure washer and connect it up to the hot tap and give the bike a blast off and soft brush... No soap, just hot water and a brush.

When I see you all's bikes they look so shiny and clean... Mine never looks like that even after I've just washed it :) The exhaust bolts/flanges are a sight to see I can tell you! I hope I never have to undo them..

Do any of you do a daily commute?
 

Otters Pocket

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I used to, but not much these days.

I spent my 20s and 30s with bikes as my only transport, so rode in all weathers year round (did a bit of courier work too) but now my commute is the M11 which is boring as anything on the bike. It doesn't save me any time either, in the car I'm actually quicker as I don't need to change clothes either end, so I may as well enjoy sitting back with the heated seats on and listen to audiobooks.

I only really commute on the Tracer now when the weather is really nice and I fancy the back roads simply for the fun of it, and my ZRX1100 is a bit of a garage queen and only comes out in perfect conditions as I want it to remain a bit of a modern classic in nice condition.

Great to see people commuting all year round, but I also wont be 'fair weather' shamed. I did my time in all weathers during my 20 and 30s :)
 

kev

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I ride only for pleasure but all year round if it's reasonably dry, do around 8k miles a year on the two bikes I have, most on the 09, thinking of adding something else, don't know what, my birthday is in April so I might treat myself.
 

andz

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Living in South Africa we don't see salt on the roads and being 5,500ft above sea level and 360 miles from the sea, rust is non-existent so my 15 year old FZ6 (55,000km) still looks brand new and my 2017 Tracer (8,100km) is also spotless. I hate washing bikes so if I lived in a grimy environment I would be screwed.
 

Otters Pocket

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We haven't had much salt down in the UK this year (so far) as it's been really mild for winter, however it's more just the general grey wet weather at this time of year means there's hardly ever a day without grime being sprayed over you.

I don't bother washing my car at this time of year as within a day or two it's just covered in muck again, so easier to leave till spring and give it a full on deep clean.

Previously when I did ride through winter I found using ACF50 all over the engine etc really helps avoid corrosion, but it's a losing battle keeping bikes nice in the UK riding through winter unless you work hard at maintaining them :(
 

stevecbr

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I use mine all year round (its a 2013 MT09, now done 35000 miles) but I have 2 bikes, so if the weather is really crap I tend to use the 2nd bike (Yamaha XMax 250). To be fair, my MT still looks good, even at this mileage, but it is garaged, and I use acf50 and scottoiler fs365
 

deadb0y

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IMG_20200113_130013.jpgIMG_20200113_130023.jpgIMG_20200113_130104.jpgIMG_20200113_130126.jpgIMG_20200113_130137.jpg

I only washed it on Saturday morning... This is ONE journey to work (accept the ruse of course)!

It makes me sad :(
 

Littlebruv

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That needs one good degrease and scrubbing up jobs with a good dose of Scottoil 365 on areas where necessay
 

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Blimey, the state of that exhaust - have you parked that in the sea ;)

Wouldn't look forward to having to take the exhaust off with the state of those studs/nuts.
 

deadb0y

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That needs one good degrease and scrubbing up jobs with a good dose of Scottoil 365 on areas where necessay
That's the thing... If you do that it'll just end up like this again in 3 or 4 weeks unless you find the time to thoroughly wash the bike every night after work.. It's almost impossible to keep it clean clean...
 


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