Things Bikers Love (or Hate) > Bike Cleaning

Pressure washers

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Kbricks for me:
What are the general thoughts about using pressure washers to clean bikes?

After riding in the recent weather and road conditions, the undersides of my K1100 motor is caked with dried on, sorry baked on, salt and mud and other road detritus. I would not intentionally aim the jet at sensitive areas such as the grommets around the ignition sensor lead at the front of the motor, or the coils or the wheel bearings, but what about over spray?

I ned to clean the undersides before I attempt to change the oil.

bobtail:
No problems with using a pressure washer as long as you keep it away from the sensitive areas (as you say). I've got a Wolf which has numerous interchangeable heads and pressure settings so I'm always careful what I use. So far I've never had any mishaps. So far....so far.....so far.........

Bob

chriscanning:
On a competition bike where after washing you are going to strip it to the bare bones then fair enough but on a road bike nothing short of barbaric >:(

Go buy a dust pan and brush!! make sure the brush has long stiff bristles dump the pan  :D buy some road cleaner their are many spray underneath soak and then use the brush.

Buy hey if your relationship with your bike is on par with the one you have with a domestic appliance then maybe the PW is the way to go. :)

TomL:
I've always been anti pressure washers for cleaning motorbikes and mountainbikes and don't even use a hose unless things get very dirty.

Trouble was that at the end of last year Vax did a really good trade sale on their products and I ended up buying a pressure washer. I've only used it the once so far to clean the patio.

As well as the K1200S I also use a R1150GS off road and it gets pretty mucky at times. Hence the excuse to buy the pressure washer. I've treated the K with ACF50 to get it through the winter and don't plan to clean it until they stop putting salt on the roads. I'm not using the GS until I my collarbone is properly healed.

I'm now in a quandary about using the pressure washer and wish in a way that I hadn't bought it. When I do venture outside with this device of destruction, it will be in a very timid manner starting off with cleaning under the wheel arches of the van and cars. Then I might have a bash at the GS which is still dirtyish after its last off road trip. Then it will be off with Ks fairing panels and blasting at the tricky nooks and crannies.

I am aware that it I shouldn't aim the nozzle into the electrics or at the wheel bearing seals. Seeing how powerful the washer was on the patio, I would not be happy using it to clean the radiator fins which are extremely fine and rather fragile. I think that it has to be used with great caution and still wonder whether I did the right thing in buying it.

One attachment which intrigues me is a foam lance which I did see used on a bike a couple of years back. Not sure though if it is a gimmick and worth bothering with?

So at the moment the K is filthy and the pressure washer lurks in the garage waiting for the council to stop plastering the roads with salt in their effort to use up all this winters supplies.

Phmode:
I use mine all the time. Moss in the brick sett driveway, rear garden patio slabs and decking, door frames and windows after the winter muck and the summer bug shite.

Mainly it gets used under the wheelarches and underbody on the car.

I do use it occasionally on the bike. I use the least pressure without the dreaded K'archer rotating drill bit wotsit (that lifts lumps of wood off the deck if I use it there). If it warrants it, I soak with a hose first and leave to soak in. My hose at the front is fed from the cold water storage tank so no pressure to speak of.

I use a brush on the end of the hose for washing off and have one of some ancient vintage that actually gets into crevices, sort of. I use the PW from a distance, on full-blast with an 'open' fan spray, to mimic a misty rain and use it all over the cockpit and bodywork.

The bike is always finished off with a chamois and then a coat or two of Auto Glym Extra Hard Gloss.

It gets a full clay rub every spring and then the full treatment of Auto Glym products including their wonderful High Definition Wax which costs more than my bike is worth but even using the small tub on my car as well, it will outlast me. I use Vinyl and Rubber Care on the Sport Cases and black plastic bits and Instant Tyre Dressing on the rear drive housing and engine/gearbox cases.

There's pretty, see!

Brian (who was always taught that even before bearings, tyres were the really big no-no for pressure washers)

PS I always insist my bike is NOT valetted when it goes in for service/MoT

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