I frequent a lot of motorcycle and detailing forums/groups, so I frequently see some pretty awful habits being shared and encouraged, so I thought I’d put together a list of the top 7 reasons why you’re not taking care of your motorcycle correctly. Read on for more!
Tyre Shine
Whether you’re considering putting tyre shine on your motorcycle, or if you’ve been doing it religiously, or any point in between – PUT THE CAN DOWN NOW. You are applying an industrial lubricant to the only two patches of rubber keeping your frail human body from becoming well acquainted with roadside paraphernalia. Cheap tyre shine is essentially silicone spray, great for lubricating door hinges and probably something your Grandpa applies a little too liberally to his hubcap shod Kingswood.
Perils of Using Tyre Shine On Your Motorcycle… Probably.
Don’t apply tyre shine to your motorcycle tyres, it just isn’t worth the very likely chance that you’ll end up getting more than just your knee down on a corner. Even boutique tyre dressings can be potentially hazardous, despite their quality they still leave an undesirable film that may rob your motorcycle tyres of their tractive ability at precisely the wrong moment.
Solution:
Tyres go brown and can look quite grubby, tyre shine only masks this problem. Clean your tyres with a soft bristled brush and a gentle cleaner like Gyeon Prep to keep them and yourself looking good!
Motorcycle Covers
From working in the Automotive retail industry since I was a lad, I can tell you that people have a strange obsession with covering their cars and motorcycles with covers to protect them from the elements. Perhaps it evokes some sort of mystique about what’s under the cover, but in reality; it’s essentially a giant scouring pad wrapped around your bike.
Avoid Crushing Your Motorcycle With The Weight Of A Cover.
No matter what quality cover you bought, you’re adding a moving layer of relatively heavy fabric on top of a fine layer of grit and dust. Over time as wind and other environmental factors move the cover around on top of the paint, you end up with spiderweb-like swirl marks as an awful thank-you from your bike for covering her up.
Solution:
If you’re worried about UV damage, your bike will benefit from quality paint protection from Gyeon and applied by dtaild – but as a general rule we recommend storing your bike away from the ravages of the elements all together!
Old Sponges
Picture an Australian driveway car wash, I bet the first thing you thought of was a primary coloured 9L bucket and that orange/yellow peanut shaped sponge. Australians treat their sponge as a family heirloom for some reason, as if the sheer fact that the miracle of this frail, floppy, foam nugget barely holding itself together after years of neglect is the sole reason you haven’t replaced it.
Throw Out Your Old Motorbike Wash Sponge. Wash mit or GTFO.
Take a closer look at your sponge, not only is it a breeding ground for disease, it’s harbouring a legion of particles that will make it their very mission to carve trenches into your paintwork when it comes time to wash the motorbike this weekend.
Solution:
It isn’t part of the family, throw the damn thing out. A microfibre wash mit is literally the only thing that I will allow near my vehicles, and the best thing is – they are machine washable and don’t cost a fortune. The Gyeon Q2M Smoothie is my favorite, buy it here at Car Care Products!
Not Using the Two Bucket Method
Dad probably showed you how to wash your motorbike, one sponge, one bucket, old chamois, beer, feet up. The last two points are correct, but ask yourself though, should you really be taking bathing advice from a bloke who is convinced that Cousins Imperial Leather applied exclusively to the armpits once a day is the pinnacle of human hygiene? Probably not.
Not Quite The Two Bucket Method I’m Talking About But KFC Tho.
Think of it like washing dishes, you rinse the dishes before you put them in the dishwater, then you rinse after that, dry them and put them away. Or if you’re at my house, it’ll be a jenga-like tower of dirty dishes until one person gets fed up and does them all en masse. The point I’m trying to make is that if you just put your soapy gross dishes right back in the cupboard without rinsing them first, they aren’t really going to be clean.
Solution:
What is the two bucket method? It’s not groundbreaking stuff, one bucket contains the detergent/shampoo + water cocktail, the second bucket is half filled with water, and a Grit Guard (with washboard!) to really get down and dirty with being clean. Put your wash mit in the wash bucket, do your best karate kid impression on your motorbike, then put it into the rinse bucket, agitating it to bring out all the dirt and grime you just picked up. After rinsing, repeat! You’ll be amazed at how much dirt you just prevented from being rubbed into your paintwork again, the proof is in the rinse bucket! I even did the hard work for you, Car Care Products actually have a really flash looking 2 bucket and grit guard combo here!
Kerosene
If someone told you to clean your bike with petrol the next time you fuelled up at the servo, would you do it? Probably not, that goes in the tank, not on it! For whatever reason you’ve come up with for not washing your bike with petroleum, apply that logic to kerosene. Stemming from the same derivative chemical, they have excellent degreasing properties, however they are also hazardous to bare plastic, porous paintwork, rubber seals and most clear coats.
Kerosene On Your Motorbike? This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things Kyle.
I’ve read horror stories of people using kerosene and toothbrushes to clean wheels of $30,000 modern Italian motorcycles, completely oblivious to the damage they are slowly causing. Kerosene will break down plastics and the majority of modern paints, some quicker than others, and cause yellowing & cracking of clear coats. This might not happen immediately, but that isn’t proof that it’s not doing untold damage at a microscopic level – just like cigarettes, one won’t kill you, but a lifetime of them will cause serious problems.
Solution:
Kero should be left to lamps and powering jet engines. Gyeon Tar is perfect to remove stubborn tar/grease from paintwork, even cleaning your chain. Kerosene will rot your chain’s o-rings too, which is often overlooked by most people. Keeping your wheels and paintwork coated with Gyeon Can Coat is a great and inexpensive way to make them easy to clean on a week to week basis. For a step further, a coating of Gyeon MOHS paint protection will make washing brake dust and road tar off your bike as easy as pressure washing it away!
Mr Sheen
I have a pathological hatred for the Mr Sheen mascot, his soulless, dead little eyes and gleaming, Costanza-esque bald spot staring at me as I pass his section in the grocery store. Judging. Watching. Waiting. There’s something to be said about buying car care products from a grocery store, I’ve always wondered who has actually purchased the store brand engine oil for purposes other than killing their neighbour’s trees.
Mr Sheen – Not Good, But Not Bad Either. The Nihilist’s Choice.
There’s nothing inherently bad about Mr Sheen though, the caveat is that it’s formulated for polishing indoor furniture, not motorcycle paintwork; which battles with the elements on a day-to-day basis. The key ingredient that everyone seems to love is Dimethicone, an oily liquid that evaporates to leave a fine silicone coating, usually used in cosmetics to give skin a smoother feel. This is complimented by a microcrystalline wax to boost the surface’s shine, and all delivered as a fine spray rather than a thicker application method. No UV stabilising agents or long lasting benefits here folks, just a lot of temporary ‘fixes’ – but hey; no harm, no foul, right?
Solution:
Leave Mr Sheen to furniture. Washing your motorcycle regularly with Gyeon Bathe and using Gyeon Wet Coat periodically will offer far superior results that were actually intended for your bike, not your Nana’s china cabinet. I’ve heard people use it on their riding jackets, but it just doesn’t contain the nourishing compounds that leather requires for long life. For that I’d use Gyeon Leather, which won’t load the pores of your favourite jacket with silicone, and keep it hydrated and supple for longer.
Chain Lube
Did you know too much chain lube can be just as bad for your motorcycle as not enough? Applying too much, especially without cleaning the chain first can cause large grime deposits up near the front sprocket, which in turn creates drag on your chain, robbing you of horsepower. Not only does it hamstring you, using too much will more than likely result in large amounts of it flung onto your bike and those dope Timberlands you bought so you could look more like Rob Kardashian. Kerosene has been the mainstay for chain cleaning in the past, however as I mentioned earlier, it can cause premature wear of chain o-rings, also resulting in lower performance.
Y’all Better Lube Up – Don’t Be Like Ainsley, Use Chain Lube Sparingly.
Solution:
Not all chain lubes are created equal, I’ve had success with Ipone chain lubricant, a low-fling, coloured fluid that loses its coloured appearance when it’s time to reapply, pretty neat! Apply sparingly and directly to the row of o-rings as you spin the wheel, clean with a gentle tar remover like Gyeon Tar and a chain brush.
Bonus: Automatic Car Wash / Car Wash Brushes
Ok, sometimes a pay-per-minute DIY carwash is acceptable, like if you’re in a place with heavy water restrictions, or if you’ve borrowed your brother’s ute to take it to Bunnings and decided a quick trip to Landcruiser Park seemed like an acceptable detour. Provided anything in those places doesn’t physically touch your car, you’re fine (unless you start taking into consideration the dollar-store detergent), but for the cringeworthy abuse the handheld brushes and their larger, mechanical cousins dish out to your paintwork; using them should be punishable by death.
Solution:
Pressure washer only, and that’s being generous.
Leave A Comment