How often do I NEED to clean my bike?

[Playsatan]

40k.

I've seen bikes with double or triple the mileage that look better on it but it's been a hard 40k. It's a daily commuter bike and has been used through 7 Glasgow winters (about 5 months of gritted roads). The roads are urban stop/start pot holed bike killers and to top it all it lives outside.

I should point out that while it looks grim it's in tip top shape mechanically, I spent over £700 on it in the last couple of months, as it has to be safe and reliable. Which it is. Totally.

My MOT bloke used to threaten to clean it as his blokes refused to work on it in case they got dirty but now they've taken it under their wing and it's like the garage mascot. The last time it was over there he told me one of his team had to clean a bearing to check it, he said the bloke was worried I'd be angry when I found out.

[Fat Rat]

You would probably get another ten MPG if you washed it  

Any chance there's a layer of ACF50 under there?

[tallpaul]

Blimey! Did you pull that out of the canal?

[Playsatan]

No acf50, just lots and lots of dirt.

I'm thinking about doing a deep clean on it someday but it's never going to look that good so why bother. More cost effective than a lock and alarm too.

[Brucey]

Hats off to Playsatan!

                     
                 
                   

Did you start as you meant to go on, or was there a series of weekends where you didn't quite get round to cleaning it and then ended up with what you've got now? Don't your brakes seize up?

[Playsatan]

It's a tool to me. It gets me to work and back and that's all it has to do. I take no pride in it (obviously) and for the 7 years I've had I've only taken it two place, my work and the MOT station, nowhere else.

If I'm going out for a fun run I take one of my other bikes, which are spotless BTW.

The brakes work just fine. Brand new discs, sintered pads, goodridge hoses, rebuilt master cylinder and fresh fluid see to that. I do need to scrub the pistons when changing the pads as pushing the crud back into the caliper did used to make them sticky but I've learned that lesson now.

[patropsley]

I wash mine every two weeks then acf spray in the winter I ride all 12 months, rain snow or shine- I'm happy spending the time keeping her clean but after seeing your picture I really want to let go and emulate you.... rock and roll

[Brucey]

Playsatan - you obviously share my dad's attitude to both his bike (and his car): it is his slave, not the other way round, and good luck to you. Nice to see a bike that gets used properly, not just the "average" 3,000 miles a year. Mine is also transport, but I feel guilty not trying to keep it in reasonable condition, at least for the first few years. (I did give up on my CBF1000, but I never really 'bonded' with that, unlike my earlier CBR600 which was bloody superb). The V-strom makes me smile when I open the garage door, so I sort of want to look after it a bit. For now.

Tomcat- I disagree. The answer to how often you NEED to clean your bike is: NEVER! (Respect to Playsatan - I like your stance)If you want to keep it pretty, then probably every week or two, with a bit of (lot of?) ACF50 and/or GT85 but aparently not WD40 (which is good though for getting chain lube off the rear wheel). Which leads on to:

Is a Scotoiler a cheaper/more effective chain lube system than lubing your chain each week and having to replace it every 15,000 rather than every 30,000? (Cost of chain and sprocket replacement + squirts of lube vs cost of Scottoiler and 1 or 2 bottles over the year). I've always had one and enjoyed long chain life, but for the first time, need to actively opt in to putting one on my Wee. Wondered if it was really needed - after all, it's not the most powerful bike on the road...

[tomcat]

An odd change in direction there Brucey.
Trying to calculate cost effectiveness of an oiler or lack of, over a 30.000 mile life. Yet happy in the previous sentence to neglect, to the point of reducing the effective value of the motorcycle to almost nil over a similar time period.
The cost of an oiler or replacement chains is negligible compared to the value you'll wipe from the machine over several years in depreciation by neglecting it to the extent of "never washing" .
30,000 miles is less than 3 years riding for me. As I can't afford to reduce my bikes to almost zero future value. I'll continue washing regularly thank you.

[Yoyo]

My bike gets washed before the MOT and that's about it, the scottoiler keeps the back end covered in a film of oil and road crud which protects the metal, AFC50 is a must under all the filth. I used to have a 100 mile daily commute and it really sorted my Bandit, before I washed it in the march it was black and caked but under all the crud was fresh clean metal BUT it one year I was late getting the AFC50 on and did it after a wet ride, it sealed the salt in a that was the end of that,  one corroded Bandit :(
Won't make that mistake again!

[james.t]

washed 2 time a year if its dirty

[Brucey]

I'm actually in the 'keep my bike clean' camp, and clean it 9 out of 10 weeks. Getting up close whilst cleaning it is good to have a weekly check on things and stop me getting filthy when I check the tyre pressures. The Scottoiler query was just a sideline as I'm getting one at the bike show anyway as I've always had them and never had any issues, and doubling the chain life is a good thing! The ease of only having to fill the tube/reservoir every 600/1000 or so miles makes it worth it for me. Coming from a history of Hondas that were well made I'm more concerned about defying Suzuki's reputation for crap finish and build quality, although people say this has improved in recent years... I have to say that once I'd brought the finish back to 'good' (previous owner was a bit lazy about cleaning it) it's kept it's shine really well with liberal use of GT85 and ACF50 (which seems to be universally recommended). Having said that, it's only a year old, so it will be interesting to see what it's like after the winter.

Tomcat - how long do you keep your bikes for? Surely if you keep it for 3-5 years and put 30 odd thousand miles on it the value plummets anyway due to the "excessive" mileage? Or is it that because you keep the condition you get away with the mileage? Have you had more than one V-strom and what's your bike history?

[Brockett]

I was cleaning the Glee yesterday and thought I'd start with the rear wheel. Hmmm chain wax splattered over the rear wheel and back end of the bike. I used WD40 which I sprayed onto a series of paper towels ( yeah OK I used kitchen roll) and wiped the wheel, S/A and plastics around the rear end just fine. I am not sure if it is OK to get WD40 on the plastics but it does bring the grease oil and wax off nicely.

[Jacko]

WD on the plastics makes the water bead off them nicely too.

[tomcat]

Tomcat - how long do you keep your bikes for? Surely if you keep it for 3-5 years and put 30 odd thousand miles on it the value plummets anyway due to the "excessive" mileage? Or is it that because you keep the condition you get away with the mileage? Have you had more than one V-Strom and what's your bike history?

I probably border on ocd in bike cleaning terms. Fortunately I enjoy the process.
Since my riding increased substantially after commencing blood bike duties, I have always run two bikes to balance out the mileage. I tend to change one each year now in rotation, keeping each bike 2 years.
This was my first Strom. Previous bikes were, (I'll probably forget the odd one.)
Suzuki GT250.
Honda 125 Superdream.
Honda 125 Superdream.(another)
Honda VT500
Kawasaki GPZ500S
Kawasaki GPX750
Yamaha FZR1000RU
Then a 12 year gap.
Yamaha XT600.
Honda VFR800.
Aprilia Pegaso 650 Trail.
Yamaha XJ900S.
Yamaha XJ900S (another).
BMW K1200S.
MotoGuzzi Stelvio 1200 NTX.
BMW F800GT. (currrent)
Suzuki DL650. (That was until Monday when my eldest son adopted it.)
I currently now have his 2009 Aprilia Pegaso that I was instructed he had px'd me towards the DL?
The Pegaso is now on ebay to make garage room for another DL650 when I locate a nice orange or red 13/14 example.

[Brucey]

Great mix of bikes there Tomcat. I considered the F800GT before settling on the Glee - the extra cost of the BMW made it unfeasible. I enjoyed riding it though. Did you get better mpg on the Beemer or the Glee? BTW I was also a Bloodrunner years back, for SERV (Service by Rider Volunteers). Enjoyed it a lot, but not when I was carrying something really important/urgent.

[tomcat]

Fully luggaged I did the coastal route round Ireland on it earlier this year and the F800 averaged 71 mpg.
A ride and route I would heartily recommend if you are into touring on the bike. It was my second trip round the island, each after watching the NW200. If you ever decide to go, I have some excellent B&B's I patronise.

[DonnyBlue]

Bloody hell, I think I must be a bit a anal!
I get heart palpitations if I don't wash the vee after every ride. Went touring for a week in the summer and spent 4 hours cleaning and polishing when I got back  

My other bike, which is my daily work hack, gets washed fortnightly and treated with ac50 monthly though the winter, but if either of my bikes looked that that, I think I'd .......... Well I don't really know! :wtf:

[tomcat]

Don't worry, you're not unique. On my last 5 day trip round Ireland I took the opportunity to wash the bike at a garage on day 3. I looked at the month old bike, the grime all over it and just felt guilty.