Motorcycle Riding Tips for Keeping Safe - Caution With Cleaning Products

thevillan (68)in #travel • 6 years ago

☠️ Caution With Cleaning Products ☠️

All motorbike riders know how frustrating it can be riding in or around winter time. It's almost impossible to keep your bike clean and it feels like your in a never ending battle to try and keep it clean.
You could either leave the bike and not clean it every couple of days after riding in the rain, which is what I prefer to do as it's only going to get dirty again. Or you can enter that constant battle.

But when trying to keep your bike clean every day, you may be tempted to cut corners and give it a high pressure blast at a drive in car wash or with a high pressure cleaner at home. Although when using high pressure cleaners you must also realize that your motorbike and especially naked bikes, that they are much more exposed that cars.
There are parts of the bike which can be fragile and hitting them with the high pressure cleaner is probably not wise.
By using the high pressure wash you may damage things like break lines or bearings.
On a motorbike this could cost you your life, if a part fails on you. So high pressure washers should be used with caution and I avoid them all together.

If I can't be arsed washing it all the time I usually just do it every weekend in winter, and I give it a quick hand wash to get most of the grime off.
No one will even notice the difference during winter because the weather is dull, so the grime is less noticeable.

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Also while cleaning your bike you should also be considerate of how you ride afterwards. So if you have been cleaning your bike and got cleaning products all over the tyres then when you first take it out for a ride don't go throwing it down in to corners.
I have had an associate claim that was what caused their accident, and it makes sense. If the edges of the tyres are slippery with residue from cleaning products of degreasing then throwing the bike around might cause it to slide out from under you.

When cleaning you bike you should also be cautious of what you use to clean hand grips and brake pedals, or controls for that matter.
Some products can make these parts slippery, so again when you first take your bike out after cleaning it you should probably take it easy for a bit until any of this residue has worn off from the controls.
I always wear gloves when I ride so gripping the hand grips is never a problem, but I know they can get a bit slippery without gloves.

I also consider what I use to clean the seat. Now in my case I use meguires natural protectant on pretty much everything that's not metal. This does make my seat a little slippery at first but it soon gets grippy again. So I take it easy with cornering for the first 10 odd kms of my ride.

I know these things are something most people overlook, but after nearly dying on a motorbike once before safety is number one in my book and I take everything in to consideration.

As always ride safe and look out for all motorists, and be considerate of one another.