Honda PCX 125 Cleaning/Maintenance guide

[lewey1988]

Hi, I own a Honda PCX 125 scooter and I'm looking for detailed instructions on how to clean/care for my scooter as I'm a complete novice to motorcycles and I lack quite a bit of common sense when it comes to motorcycles in general. I've had my bike for around 4-5 years now only using it for commuting to work, it's fair to say I've neglected the upkeep of it. I recently had to have a metal plate welded on the exhaust because part of the bracket had rusted off, I think this probably wouldn't have happened had I taken better care of it. I store my bike outside with a cover so it doesn't have proper protection against the weather. I've read through the user manual and I find the maintenence guide rather lacking and I'm unfamiliar with certain components which can overwhelm me so I'd like to take things step by step in terms of what I should try to clean or maintain first with the most important things being the hghest priority.

I've only once sprayed my bike down with a hosepipe and I was a bit wary of doing so in certain places as I've read you're not supposed spray things like the disc brakes?

What should be my starting point be if I want to start cleaning my scooter for better upkeep? Which part should I scrub/scour/clean/apply lubricant/apply protective liquid first? Thank you, Lewis.

[WD Forte]

Buy then RTFM for starters
The PCX seems pretty popular so there may be online forums blogs etc to help with tips and tricks too
A quick google give this
https://www.hondapcx.org/
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bikers smell of wee

[MCN]

[lewey1988]

[Evil Hans]

Try this, since coloquial english doesn't seem your strong point:

For a start, we recommend you Buy, then Read, The Flipping Manual.

Haynes Service manual or similar.
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Triumph Sprint ST 1050. And it's Red.

[Easy-X]

Before someone loses their rag:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PCX125-Haynes-Service-Repair-Manual/dp/1785214470/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=haynes+pcx+125&qid=1581599576&sr=8-1

Buy this, read and understand, come back to us in 6 months
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[WD Forte]

Lewey
there are 2 types of manuals
User manuals which are a brief guide to the care and feeding,
how to put fuel in, where to kick the tyres etc
and Service or Workshop manuals which are far more technical
for more serious work.

The user manual will probably tell you how to clean it
The service manual will tell you how to take it apart, test and fix it
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bikers smell of wee

[Teflon-Mike]

I'm still pondering the common sense comment and trying to rationalise that with not washing discs brakes, that probably get more wet when you ride through a puddle.... I do wonder whether the care instructions in either owners manual or work-shop manual MAY be a little advanced here.....

OP... 4 years on 125? That suggests you must have repeated CBT at least twice, or, heaven forbid, got a full licence... in either case you SHOULD have been taught a thing or three about looking after a bike.. its a whole section of the CBT FFS, pre-ride checks, and routine maintenance like checking the oil etc.... ring any bells? If not, go re-do the training, you obviously need the revision, or never learned anything 1st time around! Beyond that.... leave the thing alone! Get some-one with some sense, and preferably the qualifications to use the dang thing to look after it!

Or go learn a thing or three.. and I'd suggest that CBT revision would be a good start... a Haynes manual, another, if you have acquired a bit of common cocum along the way...

YES you can was a brake disc... in fact, its a pretty good idea to get rid of accumulated brake pad dust, and stop the calipers seizing up... but.... that is but the start of a dummies guide to bike maintenance, you probably need here....
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[lewey1988]

Thanks for the replies I had no idea there were other more detailed manuals available for the pcx besides Honda's own I'll look to try and get one.

With regards to spraying the disk brakes I think I watched a YouTube video about a guy spraying his pcx down with a pressure washer (manual says hand wash) and one of the comments I think was about this and the concern being that it would rust.

I've done the CBT twice, but very little information about taking care of the bike was given besides check tyre pressure and wear, check dipstick, horn, lights, mirrors that's about it really.

I'm sorry if I've riled anyone up that was not my intent I'm just trying to learn and I obviously realise I should have done that some time ago. I do take it in for service every year and I've only done 6000 miles over 4 years, only using it on a route I'm comfortable with.

[Teflon-Mike]

If you weren't taught anything about motorcycle maintenance and care on CBT you either didn't do a proper CBT or weren't listening....

As to a bike rusting after being washed.... err.. yeah... back to that common cocum comment.... iron and steel does that when it gets wet.... its a chemical reaction called oxidisation, that will occur without water, its just that water catalyses or speeds up the reaction a bit... this is why we paint metal...... but the brake disk ought be stainless steel. This is an iron alloy that contains tin and a few other things TO STOP IT RUST!

And You-Tube... err more yeah.. you want to learn something DONT use you-tube as your go-to fountain of all knowledge! Anyone can stick anything up there.. they don't have to know bog all!

But like I said, its a whole topic on CBT, which you need bot have done twice.. more common cocum, but... CBT is Compulsory Basic Training, and the DL196 'completion cert' you get at the end validates your 'provisional' licence entitlement.. also ought to have been explained on the course, IT'S NOT A LICENCE its a 'Learner's Permit', so that you can go learn, and practice for tests.... which only cost about £120 to self book and do, and only have to be done ONCE, so actually cheaper to take the chuffin tests than re-do CBT to pretend to be a learner.....

While on my hobby horse.... IF you are safe and competent enough to ride regularly.. you are safe and competent enough to pass tests... that's what the tests are for... if you cant pass tests, you are NOT safe and competent.... see the sense here?

Pass tests, no need to repeat CBT ever, or waste money doing so, or have to display L-Plates and risk pulls and points if they are cracked or damaged or fall off. Plus you may, if you wish, use motorways, carry pillions, and ride abroad. Its all 'win'.

Fail tests... well, bit of a kick in the proverbial... b-u-t tends to cost less and hurt less than CRASHING! And the fail ticket tells you that you are not safe and competent enough to be let loose solo, and are most likely an accident looking for a place to happen... on the bright side examiner will tell you why you have failed and tell you what you need to do to pass 'next time'... ie it's all grist to the learning, and as suggested, designed to save you crashing.

Back to the bike maintenance.... FOUR YEARS and you have ducked out of not only doing tests, but doing any meaningful maintenance to your machine.. giving it to a mechanic.....

A decent mechanic will charge upwards of £50 an hour to look at your bike. If you are doing bikes for the cheap... this rather dents the possible economy.. OR you cheapskate even that, and don't do any regular maintenance until something breaks... which tends to lead to a bike being run into the ground... which is something of a fools economy when you end up either having to pay that 'expensive' mechanic you have been avoiding even more money to fix something that needn't have broke... and or replace the bike cos its not worth fixing, let alone the potential hurt to you or others when something that breaks makes you crash!

And washing the bike is THE most basic of basic basic maintenance! And the owners book does NOT tell you not to wash it because the thing might rust! It actually tells you TO wash it to STOP it from rusting! Dirt and salt is another 'catalyst' in that oxidisation reaction, and getting rid of it with soapy water is the fundamental rust prevention!

Have you read the owner's manual? There's a reason they go to the trouble and expense of writing them and printing them, and not just putting on a sticker that says "See You-Tube before operating this machine"....

Comment about hand washing vs pressure washing suggests you have, possibly, and briefly... b-u-t... I suspect much like what you ought have been taught on CBT, you have taken in only what suits your own agenda... and hand washing suggests getting your hands dirty and applying effort.. so why cant you keep them clean and bve lazy using a pressure washer.. don't know... Oh-Kay.. be even lazier dont wash!

The 'reason' the hand-book doesn't endorse pressure washing, is that the pump squirting water at the thing 'could' be at incredibly high pressure.. and the high pressure stream of water might do damage. At close range a pressure washer can cut flesh.. and even a consumer freindly thing from Halfrauds or Ardex can take off decals or paint is used clumsily.. meanwhile, squirted in at high speed water will get into places it is never intended to and contaminate oil or petrol, wash out the grease from bearings an things, or short out electrics.

This is why to save liability claims they say hand wash.

If you have some comon sense.... and that is still in question here I think... you CAN use a pressure washer on a motorcycle 'relatively safely'... but if you do the job properly this is NOT a substitute for hand washing, just and augmentation.... you still need to get hands dirty and put in a little elbow grease doing the niggly bits by hand with soapy water and a sponge....

There is your first lesson in the dummies guide... bikes need washing... its not something that will degrade the machine, quite the opposite, and is the start of all other basic routine maintenance....

So get off U-Tube, get a Haynes Manual, and get your hands dirty. Go learn a thing or three and develop common sense.

Not only can it save you money, it can also make you safer, and it can be FUN! Making a connection with the machine beyond just using it! But that's to go above and beyond at this point I think...

Back up and consider your whole approach. Starting with that learner's permit and the connotations... then worry about looking after the bike, and washing it from time to time... as prescribes by the owners manual! BY hand.... stop being lazy, apply some common sense, and be prepared to but in a little effort rather than looking for some press-button, no effort cure all!
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'