Pressure wash.

[Allan]

Is there any worries abouting useing the pressure washers at a coin-op drive through carwash? Im sure that you might want to cover the exaust. My air box intake is way up and out of the way so im not to worried about that. Anything else I should look out for?

[Smitty]

The pressure washers for cars are okay on a normal air cooled m/c. Stay clear of the truck ones with far more pressure.

Just do as you though in keeping the pressure & water away from the outlet of the exhausts, electric & such.

IF you have an air cooled bike or a bike with a old rad DO keep the pressure away from said rads as the fins are so light & will fold them in to make the rad almost usless.

[MikeInSLC]

Be very carful with it especially around electrical bits, carbs or FI throttle bodies and where you can "blow out" grease needed for lubrication...If anything there, I'd just use the low pressure rinse....but you're better off with an easy hose if you can get one.

[SabreScott]

Used a carwash pressure wash the other day and was fine. Just didn't concentrate on electrical, plug areas, leather and stuff I didn't want to get soaked. She started right up and ran fine.

[x_cuesme]

Mine and Jerry's favorite agruement!

He uses the car wash coin op's to clean his V-Star 1100- I refuse to use them. Wouldn't run my car through one if I had to try and avoid the exhaust, air intakes, blah blah and won't put my bike through one.

His bike, of course, survives quite well- and I continue to hand wash mine and they run just great too.

I use a combination of hand washing and spray cleaners for touch up inbetween. My bikes stay MUCH cleaner than his!

We do agree that the scooter should never go through a car wash spray- too many places for water to sneak in and sit (underneath seat storage, etc.)

[Cindy]

I've thought of using them to clean the wheels. I hate cleaning between all those *&$%*@ spokes. Anyone know if they will get rid of all the brake dust?

Cindy

[HotFix]

Anyone know if they will get rid of all the brake dust?
Cindy

1) Spray on cheap a$$ simple green.
2) Wait 10 minutes
3) rinse with garden hose
4) ride it around the block for an air dry

[Smitty]

I am a garden hose man with a gun nozzle on my end.

Iwill use any car/truck wash stuff on my shelves & basically any cage was does a good job. Fact is I use an old one call Nu-Finish as being as good as the more costly later ones. So have a lot of wax to use up in the next yrs.

As for Simple-Green I think(?) there is a more concentrated form for the automotive end. So in using that I go at the dirty parts like the rear wheel at the left & will hit it with a spray of water & then SG & wait around a minute or two then hit it again with the garden hose & in most cases 100% or at least 75% will come off.

If still some dirt on then the SG again (since it is already a wet area), to wait a minute or two & probably the next spray of water will remove the crap. THEN more on to the next section, which is telling you to not go all over the bike & then staring to wash it down.

So far since '89 I have had no backfires as some has hit plastic or painted areas though agree that this is the best cleaner I have used in yrs & believe me I have been searching since '46 & it was in '89 that two young riders told me, I looked at their bikes & especially the rear wheel on the sprocket area (in those days all were WHITE) & amazed at how clean they were.

I have three sportbikes in my garage & will be suffering some warm Spring day for I kept on riding & riding till it became to cold early in Nov to ride & really to cold to wash the bikes down properly so there sit three bikes plastered with dead bugs due to hrs & hrs of riding numeous days of the week from 4 to 8 yrs on each tun. Those gals will be a bit hard to clean in the Spring.

[LordSmoke]

I read somewhere, perhaps even my owner's manual, that if you pressure wash, you should especially keep the pressure away from the chain.

I prefer the drive-throughs myself, especially the big one down the road where afterwards a couple of our hard-working friends from south of the border dry and polish you up.

[Allan]

It souds like its a go, I really only want the pressure wash for the underside of the bike that get all the really bad road grime. The rest of the bike ill probiably hand wash.