inventive cleaning tips??

[bart9505]

Anyone have any tricks for cleaning the hard-to-reach areas of the 426?

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'01 426 with yz stop and baffle removed. No other mods yet.

[Dougie]

I just spray the entire bike down with Simple Green, let it sit, hose down and all dirt and oil washed away without using a brush. Quick and easy.

[PMAUST]

Yea, Simple Green. I also picked up a good tip from this site about removing the spark plug. Dirt can get down into the area around the base of the spark plug. Before removing it, pull off the rubber cover and shoot some pressured air through the little hole on the side to blow it out. That way when you take the spark plug out nasty stuff won't fall into the hole. Fortunately, i saw that post before changing my plug. I was blown away at how much dirt managed to find it way there. Paul

[aftershock]

Paul, just curious why did you pull your plug. I had my bike for a year & never even pulled the boot off. Doug

[PMAUST]

Doug, I was messing around with my White Brothers E-series to see how my bike would perform if I went down from 12 disk to say seven(try to quiet it down a little). I noticed that there was black soot on the disk when i removed them! I thought wow, I wonder if I am running too rich? So I yanked the plug to take a look at it and clean it if needed. It looked fine so i haven't changed it yet but keep a spare with me all the time. By the way, how is your leg doing? Paul

[Dan_Lorenze]

Bart, I use a toothbrush for my engine and other hard to reach places, but make sure you clean it afterwords (it'll leaves a bad taste in your mouth). I use car wash in a bucket of hot steamy water for my soap. I've seen some pretty odd shaped brushes over the years for places like hubs and spokes. Check out Pep Boys,they might have some brushes, I think those guys ride WR's too. Good luck, Dan

[Ron_in_SoCal]

After the bike is squeaky clean, I use a leaf blower to dry it off. I'm sure it looks kind of funny, but the thing has just the right amount of air pressure and puts out a huge volume air for a quick blow dry.

[Guest Guest]

Ron,

You are a freak, I'm not sure if I want to ride with a guy that dries his bike with a leaf blower? Hmmm I think I'll try the next time, sounds like a good idea! My father will think I've completely lost it!!

Khris

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When in doubt, GAS IT!

[Hick]

I use an air compressor and blow air in all the tight spots. A small air nozzle @ 125 psi will dislodge any amount of dirt unless it has dried solid.

Cover your eyes.

Call me crazy, but I won't let a power washer anywhere near my bike (air good, water baaaad), but I live and ride in the dez and mud is never a problem.

[mike_dean]

Ron, you got me laughing at my computer thinking about the leaf blower, the wife and kids think I'm crazy for sure now. mike

[Brian_in_Long_Beach]

Ron - you & I must be long lost brothers. I thought I was the only one that used a leaf blower to dry the bikes ? I just can't bring myself to leave the bikes wet.

The air compressor works better but I haven't gotten around to rewiring the garage with 220...

Brian

[PMAUST]

Hick, why is water bad? This past winter the few time that I managed to get out I was always encountering clay mud. It sucks. Its hard to get off and when you do it still leaves a film. I wet the bike down then spray copious amounts of Simple Green and let it sit awhile then rinse and do the detail work. I do use the compressor to blow off the hard to get to spots. Is there a better way to do it? I don't have a leaf blower but do have a shop vac. I might try that in blow mode next time to air dry. You got me curious now. Am I screwing up here? Thanks in advance. Paul

[darbsitton]

pmaust

High pressure water is bad, like at the local car wash, especially when directed towards your bearings, chain, linkage, etc.

Deep water is also bad ?

Garden hose and bucket of suds is no problem.

[Ron_in_SoCal]

Khris,

Anyone who reads my posts here knows I'm a freak. If you think the leaf blower is weird, you should see what I use to change tires! ?

Hick has a good point - pressure washers will ruin your bike. Leave the grease where it belongs, don't use a pressure washer. The only time I wash my bike is when I'm going to work on it, unless it's got 50 pounds of mud on it, then I will just rinse off the mud.

[Ward]

I like to baby my bike when I’m not riding it so I use a baby bottlebrush to get to the hard to reach areas, liberal amount of Simple Green applied first.

[Team_Towrope]

I hear ya' Ward!

I use tear-free soap and a rubber ducky glove to lather her up. If she's fussy then I use bedtime bath by Johnson & Johnson -- works great for me! ?

[Rich_in_Orlando]

I hose my bike down, spray it with simple green and let it soak for a few minutes. Then I use a long handled brush I bought at Home Depot to scrub everything and hose it off. For the hard to clean parts, I use one of those sponges with the netting around it so I can scrub. (I have to be carful to not catch the netting on the bike's numerous hose clamps.) To dry it, I use my air compressor and the blower nozzle attachment. It really works well in getting the water out of the chain links.

[John_in_Long_Beach]

S100 cleaner and a tooth brush