Riding in Winter does not ruin bikes

[craigs23]

Everyone knows salt is corrosive to bikes, no question there. But that needn't be the reason to worry about riding your bike in winter. All it takes is a little love.

I'm a busy person most days. If I'm not working overtime at work (don't get home 'til half 7 most days), or continuing to polish my NC30 (it'll never be clean enough), I'm out and about doing other non-bike-related activities. i.e. I do like to keep my bikes in good working order, but I have a life beyond my forum nickname/reputation (strange as it may seem). Which means, I don't have a lot of time cleaning the R6.

But then again, it doesn't take a lot of time/effort to keep it looking fresh, despite it being one of the more unorthodox choices for winter commuting.

Unlike the NC30, which I gets treated to an array of accumulated cleaning products, the R6's cleaning routine uses more "budget" items.

https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/whers84/DSC00163.jpg

(Don't worry, I don't clean the bike with suspension fluid - it's just where I keep my chainsaw oil)

On a daily basis, I get home, leave the bike on the drive, have dinner (so the bike cools down), rinse off any salt with cold water off exposed parts. All of 5 minutes work.

The bike lives outside and only under a cover if it hasn't been rained on already (I don't see the point in trapping the moisture).

At weekends, once the hangover's cleared on Saturday (and it's not chucking it down), the bike gets washed, rinsed, dried and then polished (using Mr Sheene). Wheels, swingarm, exposed aly, etc, get a quick dousing of WD40. This all of an hour's work.

So, here we are, half way through winter on a not very winter bike. The odo read a couple of miles over 7,000 when I picked it up at the beginning of December.

https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/whers84/DSC00162.jpg

https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/whers84/DSC00155.jpg

https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/whers84/DSC00156.jpg

https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/whers84/DSC00160.jpg

https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/whers84/DSC00164.jpg

https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/whers84/DSC00159.jpg

https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/whers84/DSC00161.jpg

The R6 was in good nick when I picked it up. But then again, so should any bike 4 years or so old. My cleaning experience has usually been around restoration, rather than "prevention" that I use on the Yamaha.

It's a lot easier keeping something clean, than cleaning something up. I'm still confused about how bikes can actually get dirty in the first place.

[wikiwiki]

The best way to get a bike dirty, I've found is ride it when the roads are nice and wet, that way you get crap from the ground into every little nook and cranny, And if you ride the thing every day in all weather it soon builds up.

I clean mine whenever I cant see my tax disc anymore

[frode]

My problem is I can't find the bike

https://home.hia.no/~froden04/Pictures/20070222-Snow/p1010004.jpg

Nice post. though

[trevoriv]

It seems a shame to think that my zx6r was like that 2 years ago when I bought it.

It's probably been cleaned twice since and it's used all year round and has done about 10000 miles in those years.

Ah well it may look a bit of a state but it still rund perfectly just with the odd squeak here and there
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Past: '96 Thundercat, '02 ZX636R (A1P), '58 KTM 690 SM LC4 Current: '06 ZX636R (C6F)
Mudskipper wrote: Someone just has to sig that...

[DynaMight]

Its true, theres nothing wrong with riding bikes through the winter. General cleaning through the winter followed by a good clean in spring helps keep my bikes all nice and clean. Although I don't spend long cleaning mine, my general clean goes as follows.

Hose down with hose pipe, spray bike with Muc Off, leave for a few mins, wipe with tea towel, spray off muc off, dry with tea towel. Then I do the wheels with muc off. Thats pretty much it. Takes about 15mins max I'm not fussed about every little nook and cranny being spotless, if you cant see it the who cares . Sometimes I'll grease/WD40 the bolts, pegs etc but not all that often. I've never had any corrosion on my bikes.
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My bikes are at https://www.bikepics.com/members/dynamight/

[Al]

I keep all the moving parts and bits that serve a purpose clean and in good working order, the cosmetic stuff I don't really worry about that much.
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Yamaha FZR400RR 3tj
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[D O G]

You are my hero. More than McGuinness, Martin or Sheene, it is Craigs23 who knows what the essence of biking is about.

If I had a hose permanently attached outside my house I may spend some time hosing the bike down when I get home. Unlikely though, as I'd rather be catching the last 30 mins of my daughter's day.

If I had a spare hour on a Saturday morning I would be out riding the thing.

[veeeffarr]

I give my bike a blast with a hose every time I feel a bit guilty but I'm not really that bothered, it looks fine, I'll give it an ACF50 treatment soon then I won't have to bother until summer where I like to give it a thorough clean for the rideouts

[chris-red]

How much would you charge for a bike wash?
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[cypher]

Craig,

Where did your Mr Muscle's guide to cleaning your bike go? Been meaning to do some cleaning on mine. Plus the rusty forming on the front wheel is begging attention.

Cypher.
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NC30 Pilot | NO2ID Worcester Coordinator

[craigs23]

Now now, let's not get carried away. I'm only exhibiting a spot of TLC (no hosepipe was used in the maintainence of this vehicle - bucket of water and sponge only).

My old guide to cleaning (bit old now, learnt a few more tricks since then, and I don't go as in depth with the Yam): https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=108023&highlight=guide+cleaning

[Kris]

Yamaha's finish isn't that bad so not suprised that the R6 is kept tip-top with a regular clean. The fairing helps too. How often do you clean under that?

Try living with a budget naked or half-faired commuter at this time of year. Unless you're out there every night hosing the bugger off you'll start to notice the fasteners begin to go in no time at all, along with lots of crud accumulating in the nooks and crannies of the engine.

I'd sooner wash it every weekend and have a little corrosion than worry about it 'that' much.

-EDIT Just noticed you've owned it less than a month so whaddya you know anyhow?
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NSR125RR - ZXR750H1 - ZX9R E1 - GSF600S - GSF600SK3 - VFR400-NC30 - SV1000N - ST1100-R - CBR900RR-R - GSF1200SK5 - GSF600SK1 - VFR1200FA - GSXR1000K2 - ZZR1400 D8F
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[Whosthedaddy]

[funmonkee]

Doesn't rain clean the bike enough you don't need al those chemicals, the rain has acid in it

Well done if you can be arsed cleaning you bike when it's cold dark and wet...
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[MikeH]

A jetwash does the job in minutes, keep away from pointing it directly at the wheel bearings and brake pads and there's no need to be too anal about winter cleaning. What most folks neglect is their gear, salt soon eats the stitching on your gloves, leathers and boots so don't forget they need TLC too. A bit of polish, dubbin or baby oil does wonders for keeping everything in tip top nick.
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Busa Junkie

[trevoriv]

Thanks WTD, i feel much better now

I think mine may be worse than yours, these kawasakis hold up well though!!
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Past: '96 Thundercat, '02 ZX636R (A1P), '58 KTM 690 SM LC4 Current: '06 ZX636R (C6F)
Mudskipper wrote: Someone just has to sig that...

[craigs23]

[Whosthedaddy]

[craigs23]

Well, it's Saturday morning, so time for that weekly clean. As requested, here's a small write up on how the hour's work was spent. I've only focused on the back end of the bike - other than the engine bay, it suffers the most for built up dirt. I thought it best to focus on this for these photos, rather than the whole bike at this stage (despite me giving the whole bike a clean anyway).

The week's been wet and windy for the most part, including having to ride through several inches of water at times (during the night too, which was a little disconcerting as at first the bow wave didn't register due to poor visibility). I have recently run out of chainsaw oil, which I reguarly use to lube my drive chain. I was a little surprised to how quickly the aerosol chain wax had rinsed off, resulting in rusty chain this morning.

Note that even at this pre-wash stage, my rearsets and foothangers look cleaner than the surrounding items - this is down to rinsing these components before putting the bike under wraps each night. Wouldn't be wanting to scrub off corrosion once a week...

https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/whers84/dirty.jpg

Before washing, I've used paraffin here to get the worst of the built up road grime off. The rusting of the chain also meant that I took the liberty to wash the chain too (usually it doesn't need doing as frequently as once a week). I use quite a bit of paraffin to do this, and as the dirt/oily residue literally drips off, best put some newspaper down to catch the debris. Note that I've been a little careless and got some on my rear tyre - don't worry, I scrubbed this off with hot water later on, but be careful. Once the worst is off (using a paintbrush/tootbrush for application), I used WD40 for the remain areas (swingarm, wheels, etc), which starts to break down the road grime prior to washing. This is usually just sprayed on, paying attention not to get it near rubber or the brake discs/calipers, for obvious reasons.

https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/whers84/paraffin.jpg

Now it's time to wash the bike. I tend to use two sponges for this - one for areas that are usually greasey, the other for bodywork. The last thing I want is to spread the odd bit of grit or grime over the bike's bodypanels. Before washing though, I grab one of the sponges and squeeze it, without touching the surface of the bike - so that the clean soapy water can begin to work into the grime.

Then, using the 'dirtier' sponge first, I clean the bottom of the bike (swingarm, forks, engine, etc), before using the 'cleaner' sponge to work from the top of the bike. This also allows the soap to work as it runs down from the top, so I then return and give the lower components another clean. There's not a lot of pressure used in this stage, by now, the dirt literally runs off the bike.

I then rinse the bike once again with cold water from a watering can.

https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/whers84/rinsed.jpg

Then, dry with a combination of old towels (lower areas) and microfibres/chamois (for the bodywork). All components, where necessary are checked for maintenance and then relubed. I use WD40 sprayed onto a rag to keep the wheels/frame/forks/swingarm/shock/fairing infills/etc staying shiney and protected (also eases the next time the bike's washed) and Mr. Sheene for the bodywork. I usually treat the paintwork to a layer of wax once a month.

https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/whers84/finished.jpg

Just gotta restock on some chainsaw lubricant...

[colezxr]

do you do a drop in cleaning service, so that way you can make some extra money and us lazy bikers dont have to get our hands wet or dirty.
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Its better to live your life for one hour as a tiger, Than it is to live your whole life like a worm.
past: gilera dna125. kawasaki zxr400h1, honda cbr 900rrr fireblade (currently being sold for parts). present honda hornet 900

[craigs23]

The thought has crossed my mind as a lot of people do ask me, but don't think I've got that much time.

[McGee]

Gotta love those huge hero blobs
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◙◙► K6 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 1000 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► 96 RF600r ◄◙◙
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Its pronounced Jixxer!

[J.K.R]

You cant fool me Craig, It's obvious you've carefully placed that dirt all over the swinging arm and washed it off 30 secs later, And you've dwindled the hours away spinning the front wheel on a paddock stand.




Just kidding, Good to see bikes getting ridden and looked after all year round
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www.oldskoolsuzuki.info

[craigs23]

[trevoriv]

I think you would cry if you saw the state of my ZXR
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Past: '96 Thundercat, '02 ZX636R (A1P), '58 KTM 690 SM LC4 Current: '06 ZX636R (C6F)
Mudskipper wrote: Someone just has to sig that...