How To Clean Your Bike Correctly?

Posted on: Feb 2, 2022 | | Written by:

How To Clean Your Bike Correctly?

Published on February 1, 2022. EST READ TIME: 3 minutes

As part of maintaining your motorcycle, a major component is keeping it clean. And not just keeping it clean, rather cleaning it correctly. An incorrect manner of cleaning can spoil your paint, lead to corrosion, and affect your engine and wires.

Cleaning a two-wheeler is no easy task. As they have corners, cables, switch gears, and creases, one has to be extremely careful while cleaning a two-wheeler. Today, we will be discussing the correct manner of cleaning your two-wheeler.

Cleaning tips

Before you actually start cleaning your bike, start by removing any accessory that you have on your bike that you think should not get wet. This is the foremost important step. This will ensure that you do not spoil any important gadget or accessory attached to your bike.

The next tip would be to keep your cleaning tools handy. You will be needing a bucket, liquid detergent or soap, tar remover, engine cleaner, degreaser, brush to clean the wheels, toothbrush, and microfibre rags along with abrasive rags.

Washing

Using a pressurised washer, adjust the flow to a lower setting and start spraying gently. You should not spray without any direction or control. You can start writing the bike from the top and move your way to the bottom.

While you are washing, try avoiding direct contact with mechanical and electric spots, to begin with. In case you have an old motorcycle, you can avoid pressure washing. A damp cloth should do the job for you.

Finishing Touches

No bike job is complete without properly cleaning all the parts and components of the bike. You must ensure that you cover all the single corners of the two-wheeler thoroughly.

Make sure you are gently scrubbing all the parts of the bike. There are certain areas that may be difficult to reach. This can be solved using a simple toothbrush. You can easily clean hard to get areas using a toothbrush, resulting in a clean looking bike.

Removing Road Salt

Road salt is primarily used to melt the snow during winters. Though it can do wonders for the road, on the contrary, it can severely impact your bike. Salt enhances the erosion process in motorcycles and needs to be removed at all costs.

You can remove road salt by rinsing your motorcycle with warm water for several minutes. Make sure to cover the exhaust pipe holes and the pod filters. Rinse your bike a bit longer than you think is required.

Next, using a motorcycle soap, cover your bike with the soap and let it sit for some time. Now again rinse off the soap with water. After a thorough rinse, you should be rid of any road salt.

Painted aluminium wheel maintenance

In case your motorcycle has aluminium wheels you will need to give special care to them. This can be done by taking a damp cloth and wiping the wheels. Next, you will need to wash it with water.

Once this is done, use a piece of cloth and wrap it around the spoke and pull it back and forth very similar to as if you were polishing a shoe. Once the wheels are all dried and dust-free, apply aluminium polish to it gently. This should leave you with a clean shining aluminium wheel.

Exhaust pipe maintenance

The exhaust pipe of your motorcycle is one of the most volatile components of your bike especially while you are washing your bike. As water entering the exhaust can prove to be risky.

You can clean your exhaust by using a motorcycle cleaning solvent. However, first, you need to rinse off any dirt from the exhaust using pressurized water from a pipe hose. Apply the cleaning solution and rinse the solvent with water again.

Now, gently wipe the exhaust using a dry cloth. You should now get a clean and shining exhaust pipe.

Looking after your machine

Washing and cleaning your bike are the two important elements of the overall care you can take for your bike. To ensure that your vehicle is always looking clean and running smoothly, ensure that you are maintaining it properly.

This can include lubricating the chain, checking your lights, timely oil change etc. Collectively, they will ensure that your bike is always running smoothly. You must also not forget your 2 wheeler insurance, an important step of precaution and legal duty you need to take, which can be easily done from HDFC ERGO.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

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