It’s okay to park your bike outdoors and store it under a cover. (My own tips for washing your bike so it looks shiny)

Motorcyclists want to keep their beloved motorcycle in good condition forever. There are many half-century-old vehicles that are kept in pristine condition by being properly cared for. “But isn’t maintenance a hassle?” No, there are actually a few tricks to keeping a motorcycle clean.

Even if you wash your car regularly right after you buy it, it will become a hassle over time. However, to keep your car looking beautiful, it is necessary to wash it at least once a month. Washing your car is not only important for maintaining its appearance, but also for keeping track of its condition.

By the way, you may think that washing your car is as simple as applying detergent to a sponge, rubbing it, and rinsing it off with water. In fact, this is a mistake. If you wash your car the wrong way, your beloved car will not become cleaner, but will actually deteriorate. First of all, washing your car correctly is the basis for keeping your motorcycle in good condition.

Before you start washing your car, you’ll want to prepare the following items:

・Car detergent

・Car wash sponge

・Various brush-type car wash

brushes ・Wipe cloth (artificial chamois)

・Electric blower

・Several dry rags

First, detergent. Dishwashing detergent can be used, but it’s best to use a product specifically for cars. This is because car detergents don’t remove coatings or wax. These days, you can get the same effect from a wax when washing a car, but with motorcycles, there are areas that can’t be waxed, such as the back of the engine, so it’s a good idea to have some detergent on hand in addition to regular car detergent.

Although it’s a car wash sponge, I don’t actually use it that often. I only use it when washing the tank, seat, and wheels. For most areas, I use a brush-shaped car wash brush. Brush-shaped car wash brushes are often sold in sets of several brushes with different hardness, so all you need to do is buy this.

If possible, it is best to use a type of wiping cloth called “Plasaime.” Microfiber is fine, but Plasaime can wipe away surface dirt and leaves a different shine after drying.

The most important thing to have when washing a motorcycle is an electric blower. It’s used to blow away fallen leaves from the garden, but recently there have been many inexpensive, powerful small blowers available for removing dust from computers, so you can also use one of those. An air compressor blower will also work fine.

Once you have your car wash items ready, the first thing to do is make the “detergent water.” Prepare a bucket of about 10L and add just one capful of detergent. Wax detergent is applied directly to a sponge, but this is not recommended for car wash detergent. The ingredients are too concentrated, and even after rinsing with water, the ingredients remain on various parts of the motorcycle.

In fact, these residual components are the cause of deterioration of motorcycles. They damage the painted surface and metal parts, and in the worst case, can even lead to discoloration. Instead of using detergent to remove dirt, the idea is to use the surfactants contained in the detergent and clean it with water.

Water has surface tension, making it difficult for it to adhere completely to the surface of an object, especially on motorcycles that have wax or oil on them. However, adding a small amount of surfactant to water reduces the surface tension of the water, making it easier for the water to adhere to the vehicle surface and also facilitating the removal of oil.

Put a small amount of detergent into a bucket, then pour water forcefully into it from a height of about 1m using a hose. Create bubbles by mixing the water, air, and detergent well. Once large bubbles have formed, set the sprinkler head to “shower mode” and spray water onto the surface (water surface). This will make the bubbles very fine. The bubbles are spherical, so if they are fine, the surfactant will reach even finer areas. The bubbles will disappear as you use it, so if that happens, just make them again.

Before applying the foam to the car body, first spray it with plenty of water. If you apply foam directly to a dry car body, it may cause damage. Use water sparingly, just as if you were using water to remove dirt from the car body. Incidentally, when washing your car in the summer, it is important to do it on a cloudy day or in the evening when the sunlight is weaker. If the car body gets too hot, the water and detergent foam will dry out quickly.

The chlorine and detergent components that adhere to the car body as it dries are difficult to remove even with water, and if left unattended, can cause serious damage to the paint and metal.

Well, the general rule is to wash your car from top to bottom, but if you consider checking the areas you need to wash and letting the water dry, it’s easier to wash from bottom to top. In my case, I first wash around the tires, then the suspension, then the engine, then the tank and seat, and then the area around the handlebars.

Now, the trick to washing your car to keep it looking beautiful is to use a brush-shaped brush to wash every detail carefully. Washing even the crevices, screws, hoses, etc. that a sponge can’t reach will completely change the appearance of your car after washing.

There is a painting technique for models called “sumi-ire,” which involves pouring diluted black paint into recessed areas to give the mecha a sense of age and a more refined appearance. However, this is a type of “dirty painting.”

A beautiful motorcycle or car is the complete opposite of inking, with no dirt remaining in the details and an overall flat shine. It looks beautiful because every part reflects light.

Use a brush-type brush, but use a softer brush for painted or plated parts and a harder brush for other parts. For screw heads, poking with a harder brush will make it easier to remove dirt. For hoses, use a softer brush to trace the lines in the center, and a harder brush to poke the base. The trick is to use different brush hardness depending on the part you are washing. Additionally, it is important to rinse with water immediately after washing.

Areas that you should pay particular attention to washing to keep the body looking beautiful include the bottom fold of the tank, behind the headlight, front fork, brake calipers, brake discs, radiator or oil cooler, top and back of the engine, rear damper and coil, swing arm, back of the fender, drive chain, and wheels.

By the way, it’s a good idea to use a special brush and detergent for the chain. We’ll talk about chain care later, but thoroughly removing dirt from the chain will make a big difference to the appearance of your bike.

After washing each part, be sure to thoroughly rinse the entire body, especially the areas behind the headlights and meters, the back of the engine, around the rear suspension pivot, and behind the fenders.

Once that’s done, immediately blow off the water with a blower. When blowing with a blower, it’s most efficient to work from top to bottom and from front to back. Be sure to use the air to thoroughly remove not only the water droplets on the surface, but also any water that has gotten into the gaps. If water is left behind, it will dry and the chlorine will adhere as a white residue. Be careful, as leaving this will harden and make it difficult to remove.

Once you’ve thoroughly blown away the water with the blower, be sure to finish with a wiping cloth. The shine will be completely different if you just blow it away with the wind and if you finish it with a cloth. This is because even if you wash the car thoroughly with car wash water, a thin layer of dirt often remains on the surface of the car. This is what you need to remove with a wiping cloth.

While wiping, recheck the condition of each part of the car. You will probably notice oil and grease leaks when washing the car, but scratches are often not noticed until you are wiping. Remove scratches using scratch removal wax or compound.

Here again, it is important to use a small amount of wax and wipe it off thoroughly. Wax left on the car will deteriorate over time and cause it to lose its shine.

By the way, I try to avoid using wax as much as possible because even without wax, if you wash your car properly, it will shine and repel water well.

For the chain, wash it thoroughly with a special detergent and brush, dry it, then spray it with parts cleaner or chain cleaner and leave it for a while. After that, hold the chain between dry cloths and wipe off the dirt while rotating the tire.

Many people spray chain lube all over the chain, but this only makes it more dirty, so it’s a no-no. Spray a small amount between the links, and once it’s spread evenly, wipe it off again with a clean cloth. This way, the oil will remain only on the moving parts, significantly reducing splatter and dirt on the chain itself.

For plated parts such as mirrors, mufflers, and parts of the engine, you can polish them with a clean, dry cloth to improve their shine. Wiping the engine and muffler with a small amount of heat-resistant wax will help prevent deterioration over time.

By the way, the CB1300SF in the photo is three years old and stored outdoors under a cover, but it is only washed once a month to maintain this condition. Even without using expensive chemicals, it is possible to keep your beloved bike looking beautiful by washing it with a few simple tips.