[meds1]

I bought a can Of S100 cleaner this weekend. It says that it needs to be rinsed with plenty of water and it suggests using high water pressure...I know a lot of you use this product. This board is were I heard of it.

How does everyone feel about turning a hose lose on a motorcycle? Especially with all the electronics,gauges,etc. Monsters can be finicky already, even before water is added.

 

[JimGnitecki]

I'd use lots of water, but NOT high pressure water.

Water is needed to do the following:

- Gently dissolve dirt and grease, when used with the S100
- Rinse away that dissolved dirt instead of rubbing it into the finish
- Thoroughly rinse away all soap residue

But, I strongly disagree with high pressure water being used. It gets into too many places it should not. Bikes are designed to shed wind driven rain, but NOT high pressure jets.

A couple of other things to keep in mind:

- Anyone who tells you that dirt and grease can be removed without gentle physical wiping is either lying or does not care what a powerful enough chemical to do it will do to your bike's finish (i.e. a powerful enough chemical will remove almost anything chemically, but that includes doing damage to your finish)

- You need to rinse in the SHADE and dry with a soft chamois or soft cotton cloth, to prevent water spotting.

Jim G

 

[Duc_N_Har]

I've been told, places to keep water at a minimal is , gauges, ignition, temp sensor( the little plug like thing down by you oil fill cap) I wash my bike all the time with a hose!

 

[ducatania]

I've never washed a bike with anything more >

high pressure than my thumb over the end of the hose.

 

[Monstergirl]

YES do keep water away from those things or you may have to have service. I will tell you a little story that happened to me right before I put the bike away for the winter.

I washed my bike like I always did. Keeping water away from the electrical and the oil pressure sensor, after washing and storing for the night I started it up to a constant oil pressure light. Needless to say I didn't know why that was happening since I knew my oil was ok. I removed the sensor and blew it out with canned air thinking that it was water but nothing changed the light, still glowing red. It scared me as to maybe I had something else wrong. I gingerly rode it to my dealer and my mechanic did all the same things I did. He actually thought it might be a faulty instrument panel and actually said I might have to get a whole new set of instuments. YIKES!! Finally as a last resort, he took a sensor off of a model bike and put it in mine and the light went out. Water had actually gotten up into the seal and had created a film so that the sensor wouldn't return to normal. He could have spent a half an hour cleaning mine but decided that giving me a new one was quicker.
It didn't take a large amount of water to do that either.
Watch out with the water.

 

[DaffeDuc]

... you can also get an old toothbrush (manual one)... don't use your sonicare... and scrub away at the engine crap underneath.

 

[AlexB]

I hose mine down all the time.. the only thing I've noticed is that the neutral indicator light will glow a bit sometims after washing.. but when I disconnect the 'all weather' connectors from the kickstand switch bypass and blow the water out, it goes back to normal..

should probably use some conductive greast or something to keep the moisture out...

 

[S4_newbie]

yeah, I pressure wash mine all the time...of course, I only pressure wash the wheels and stuff like that. even then, I'm prety careful not to get the bearings, sush drive, etc....

 

[Gman86]

I have the stuff and I put a baggie over the instrument cluster and use a garden hose to thoroughly wash off the stuff. It works great.

 

[MonsterHooligan]

I use plastic wrap over the open airbox/battery/coils
and rubbers on the pipes [smiley=cheeky.gif]

and then spray with the regular hose nozzle thingie

 

[DaffeDuc]

everyone keeps saying to keep the pressure away from the wheel bearings!

 

[troyslap]

I always pressure wash mine at home with a small Karcher washer, but not at the car wash as that is too high. I have had no problems with it.

 

[zeus]

Washing with high pressure water hasn't been a problem for me either.
However, be careful with the S100. I've used it about a dozen times on my bike so far and started noticing that it's starting to deteriorate a few of the parts that are cad plated. Anyone else experience this?
Lately I switched to car soap mixed in a spray bottle. No problems.

 

[technogrunt]

I don't know how everyone else feels about this, but after I wash my bikes and rinse them I use a "leaf blower" to get rid of the water. After the bike is dry I use some of the other s100 products..engine brightner, S100 touch up wax and spray silicone. I haven't had any problems..